THOUSANDS of gannets flying, hanging on the wind, diving, sky-pointing, landing and bowing in greeting, helped to inspire Midlands sculptor Madeline Goold whose exhibition opens in Hereford tomorrow, in conjunction with the annual Traherne Festival.

Madeline was moved to try to draw the gannets, as they landed on the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, on her first field-sketching trip to the gannet colony in 1998.

She recalls: "Borne on the wind, out of a heavenly blue they came, with the light of the sun shining through upswept wings.

"So many thousands of them, moving so swiftly that I could draw only the simplest, most characteristic shapes in a hieroglyph of wild calligraphic marks."

Later, in her studio at The Birches in West Hagley, while developing these rushed sketches into working drawings for stone carvings, she first heard 'Dies Natalis' by Gerald Finzi.

His music, together with the words of Thomas Traherne - "How like an angel came I down" and "The lively, lovely air" - fused with the recollected imagery and inspired the work on show.

The exhibition at the Kemble Gallery contains examples of the various media in which Madeline works - glass and print as well as her first love, stone. There are more than 30 exhibits in all.

The exhibition runs until June 22 and includes a talk by Madeline on June 14 at 4.15pm.

For details contact 01432 266049.