His work is based on the ancient Greek myth of Dionysis, god of the vine, who presided over the growing and drinking of wine, intoxication, loss of emotional and physical control, and sometimes great creativity. For the purposes of the project, Shaw has portrayed the god as a bull

Three years before he began the Eden Project sculptures, Shaw spent three months in residency in Spain. There he created "La Corrida ~ Dreams in Red", a series of sculptures of bulls, matadors and flamenco dancers inspired by the bullfights he witnessed in Andalusia. Shaw explored the "tension between excess and restraint-the pleasure principle and the death drive" through the scenes he constructed with the many models of racing bulls, surrounded and tormented by the elegant figures of dancers and matadors raising their swords. This work was shown around this country in contemporary art galleries, as well as in Spain and Ireland.

Since 2000 he has been working solidly on the Eden project. Each huge model for the Eden display (some the same size as an average adult, and some the size of bulls) takes about eleven weeks to produce. Shaw's workshops in Mabe are rented barns equipped with large tanks of gas which produce the ferocious heat needed to work and blend copper sheets together. The buildings also house the pieces he is currently working on. When I went to see him he was working on Nos. 10 and 11 of a total of 13 in the project. At the end of March, these will be added to the vine plateau where a few already stand.

Shaw never works from fantasy; oddly, his inspiration comes from real life, not myths or legends. He explains that ancient myths were based on the reality of their own time, and that we therefore should look to the reality of our own time to find their contemporary meaning.

Hours of highly skilled work has gone into each of these figures in any case. Shaw rarely uses assistants. Apart from always keeping expenses to a minimum, he likes to finish things himself, with his own style.

Two years ago Shaw set himself the objective of becoming nationally and perhaps internationally recognised within 8 years. He is hoping the Eden project will propel his career in that direction. I ask him whether he would do anything differently, if he could do it again. "I would perhaps have gone to London and begun my career there," he said, "I have many friends who have become successful that way, but then, I would have to leave this area, and I was attracted to this part of the world because it seems to be beating a different drum to the rest of the country, so perhaps I wouldn't change it."

And even if the Eden project is a huge success and you need to move for work? "Oh I will move for the work, yes, but I hope I can always have this here, as my base, where I would work from."

Shaw has sold many of his works, but admits that making a living out of being a sculptor is hard. He says he never lets the financial problems affect his work; how much material he can afford to use never comes into the equation. As a practitioner for 15 years Shaw has found it hard at times, and understands that he could make a living a lot more easily restoring sculptures than creating his own.

www.timshawsculptor.com links to the Eden project and Axis Artists.