SCULPTOR Ed Elliott is clearly a person who’s loving angels instead, to paraphrase the famous Robbie Williams song.

And his vision of the angelic host, and other works currently on exhibition in Malvern Theatres, will not fly away until the middle of August.

This is Ed Elliott’s second exhibition with Malvern Theatres and the largest display of his work ever seen in Great Malvern.

A spokesman said: “In recent years, his ambitious sculpture work in wood and bronze has been globally collected and has received a Royal endorsement.

“To launch his first collectable bronze cast pieces, he has collaborated with the prolific Malvern Theatres once again and installed a solo exhibition of his work. There are 16 pieces on display in total including the launch of five limited edition small collectable pieces cast in foundry bronze.”

Mr Elliott works with a variety of materials, but he is noted for his sculptures in wood, which have helped to create a national reputation.

He said: “Sculpture is a language for me and I aim to create a memorable presence with my work.

“Finding the right environments for sculpture is crucial in finishing many pieces and making them sing.”

His approach in recent times has revealed both a respect for traditional craftsmanship and a willingness to experiment.

In 2012, the locally based artist, a former pupil of The Chase School in Malvern, hit the headlines when he decided to burn one of his amazing angel sculptors on Castlemorton Common, with the Malvern Hills as a backdrop.

Mr Elliott was looking to give the wooden angel a scorched velvety black finish, and he succeeded.

He said at the time: “I like the surface texture of charred wood and felt it would enhance this piece of work. The sculpture has been widely exhibited already with national exposure and I try to avoid showing the same work. It was an unknown outcome really but I am chuffed to bits with how dramatic it looks now – a completely different energy to before.”

National fame came to Mr Elliott with high profile commissions for the National Trust, and he has exhibited as far away as New Zealand, Italy and Vietnam.

His best-known sculptures are perhaps indicative that the figure of the angel is not yet willing to wave goodbye to an increasingly secular society.

In the Bible, an angel is an envoy of God. The word angelos is Greek for “messenger”, and it seems they might still be around, at least in a protective role.

According to a 2008 Gallup survey, some 55 per cent of Americans thought they’d been protected by a guardian angel at some point in their lives.

In a National Geographic article in 2011, sociologist Carson Mencken said. “People talk about close calls like auto accidents, especially accidents in which someone else was killed.

“Based on our study, many of the people who survive those close calls attribute their survival to their guardian angels.”