Great Scott, it's a local landmark! (From Penarth Times)

Great Scott, it's a local landmark!

A VALE lecturer will celebrate two years of hard work when his sculpture is unveiled by Princess Anne in Cardiff Bay this Friday.

Although John Williams' real interest lies in two-dimensional work, he saw a competition advertised by the Scott Society to design a sculpture.

He told the Times: "I was interested in the whole process of coming up with an image, and then putting it into practice.

"So I came up with my design and submitted it. When I was notified that I had taken first prize, I couldn't believe it.

"It never even crossed my mind I would do so well for my first large piece."

The sculpture is made of fibreglass resin, and is called Antarctic 100, commemorating the expedition that set of from Cardiff Bay with Captain Scott as leader.

"It reminds the viewer of ice caps, and the figure at the top looks south.

John added: "It has taken around two years from start to finish. The end result is covered with hundreds of ceramic tiles, which took a year to do.

"It's exciting that I'm going to have such a high-profile launch to my first-ever publicly commissioned piece of work. But it's also going to be a huge relief that it's all over."

At 3pm tomorrow (Friday), John will welcome Princess Anne to Cardiff Bay, where his work will be officially unveiled at 3pm.

A reception for invited guests in the Norwegian Church will follow.

John, who has taught Art and Design in Barry College for four years, added: "I have had huge support from Barry College.

"Not only have they given me every encouragement and positive feedback, but they have let me use their workshops.

"And I seem to have found a new kind of cool with my students, many of whom have actually come to see my work. It could be the start of a new direction for me."