The many firsts achieved by Dame Lois Browne-Evans have been inspirational to sculptor Carlos Dowling – who has used them to create his latest work.

Dame Lois was Bermuda's first female barrister, Bermuda's first female Attorney General, and the first woman to become Opposition Leader in the British Commonwealth.

She was the first black woman to be elected as an MP when she won the Devonshire North seat in 1963, a seat she held for 30 years during which time she led the Progressive Labour Party twice from 1968 to 1972 and then from 1976 to1985.

She stood down from office at the 2003 general election after helping mastermind the switch to single-MP seats, something she had long championed. She died in May 2007 just before her 80th birthday.

But remembering all those firsts led Mr. Dowling towards his latest creation, a bust of Dame Lois which he is crafting at his Dockyard studio.

"She made changes that benefited everyone and that is often our legacy, as when we free ourselves, we open the door for everyone.

"We are about universal justice and that is what she represents to me."

He said the piece was one of the easiest that came to him. "But you never know whether you are going to capture that essence or the likeness of that person, because it is more than just shaping the face and the different features, it is the personality that I like to bring out in a person.

"Lois was a person that when she gave her approval, she gave a lovely little smirk on her face so I thought that by adding that, it would show a hero that was satisfied with the changes that we have made and hopefully the smile would indicate that changes we will continue to make in the future. Plus that was her beauty – that smile."

At the moment the sculpture is still in wax form, but Mr. Dowling said it would take about two months at the foundry for the bronzing process.

Mr. Dowling, who taught sculpture and papier-mâché to inner city children in the New York and New Jersey, is interested in teaching young Bermudians how to sculpt.

He said it was through the intervention of the three women in his life, his mother, his grandmother and the sculptress Byllee Lang, who did most of the re-redos at The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, that his life took on a different course.

He apprenticed with her and she was instrumental helping him to receive a full scholarship at the North Staffordshire College of Technology in England when he was aged 18.

He is best known in Bermuda for his sculpture of Sally Bassett, but he also created the St. George's coat of arms on the gate leading into the Old Town.

Mr. Dowling is also a potter, who not only teaches his craft, but also still provides a selection for the Clayworks Pottery, the Bermuda Craft Market and at the Clock Tower Mall's Littlest Draw Bridge.

"This Island is bountiful with talent and undiscovered talent, but basically it would be nice for them to come to an artist like me and say, 'I made it'."

For a private viewing or information on his classes, contact Mr. Dowling on 338-6088 or visit www.carlosdowling.com.