Sculptor Eve Shepherd picked Professor Stephen Hawking as the subject for her latest piece of work.

Staff at Cambridge University were so impressed with Eve’s depiction of Professor Hawking that they have commissioned a larger version to be made.

When it is finished, the 3m tall bronze statue will be displayed permanently in a contemplation garden at the university where Professor Hawking works.

Ms Shepherd, an award-winning sculptor from Woodingdean, Brighton, has spent more than a year working on the project, which she described as one of her most challenging commissions to date.

She said: “The thing with Stephen is that it is all in his mind and trying to sculpt that is a really challenging task. But I didn’t want to base it purely on his work, I wanted to put some of him as a man in there as well.”

The sculpture shows Professor Hawking sitting in his wheelchair surrounded by a spiral and being held up by a vortex rising from below him.

Ms Shepherd said the design aimed to reflect Professor Hawking’s work as well as his energy of mind.

She said that Professor Hawking, who has one of the keenest mathematical brains in the world, had a great sense of humour and was “a very special man”.

She said: “There’s a lot more to him than meets the eye and it’s difficult to get to know someone who has very few mannerisms. That was quite tricky.

“He is a very special man and a unique person.”

Professor Hawking is said to be delighted with the piece and eager for it to be included in the garden at Imperial College, Cambridge.