I wanted to understand Eddie and his accomplishments, motivation and drive. To realise where in his journey he was at the time and his future vision. I studied his personality during my interactions with him as a person, also taking note of his body type proportions and characteristic features.

On meeting him I was dwarfed by his physical presence, but taken aback by his gentleness.

How does one sculpt a bust of a strong man?

Truthfully 18 months prior to meeting Eddie I had been planning how I could execute such a bust.

In my time in Rome and particularly after visiting the Musei Capitolini, I was moved by the busts in the two chambers of the museum, which dated back to Greek times.

The pieces had stood the test of time, the heads were still breathing and living raw. There were Generals, many nameless busts, though each one of them told a story. I kept a mental note of this and over the next year came to a conclusion as to how I would sculpt the bust.

The first meeting with Eddie happened at the wedding of a friend, following which he commissioned me to sculpt his bust. He trusted me with my vision and let me sculpt. We had a few sittings and in those, I recognised that he just wasn’t Mr Strongman. There was ambition, drive and a business sense in him, and we listened to inspiring audio books during the process. I tried to sculpt what was presented to me; my view of him as a powerful regal accomplished person with a soft soul. I added and subtracted aspects I felt would work best for the sculpture staying true to nature.