Several years ago, as I stood looking at the four small wooden sculptures on display at the Marlborough Antiques Gallery, I felt I was present at the creation of something big.

I was right. Today wood sculpting has become an integral part of the creative work of artist Antonius Roberts, as I discovered on a recent visit to his Prospect Ridge Studios.

What distinguishes these sculptures is the artist's respect for the integrity of the wood.

An ardent environmentalist. Mr. Roberts seeks to give new life expression to trees levelled by the developer's saw. His kinship with his material is evident in the way he allows the contours of the wood to dictate the design.

The naturalistic forms that emerge from those severed tree trunks are quite surprising - the lower half of a human torso, a mermaid, the lower extremities of a limbo dancer.

Equally surprising is the type of wood used. Most of the sculptures are carved from sapodilla trees chopped down during construction of the Old Fort Bay housing development.

Another wood used is the rare lignum vitae, once plentiful throughout Exuma, Mr. Roberts says, but now being ruthlessly destroyed by developers.

But sculpture is only a part of what is on view.

Mr. Roberts is preparing for his next exhibition, scheduled for the year 2000, and the several paintings already completed are quite breathtaking, especially that of two female figures gliding through a forest of colour.

Having followed Mr. Roberts' artistic development from its early stages, I compared in my mind's eye the tightly controlled lines and sepia tones of those first paintings with the bold strokes and brilliant colour of his present work.

No doubt about it. This is an artist always in progress to the next dimension.