The ArtStart stone carving workshop was for participants aged between 15 and 25, who worked on individual stone sculptures carved from the soft coralline limestone from Mount Gambier.

“Each person designed and worked on an individual design that was either planned and drawn or arose spontaneously on the day,” Mr Hutchinson said.

Gallery: view photos from the workshops.

Instructi on on soft stone carving techniques and occupational health and safety procedures were provided by Hutchinson. Basic hand tools were employed throughout the two-day workshop with a demonstration of hard stone carving techniques including the use of the Catrui air hammer on the Sunday.

"The quality and creativity of the work was wonderful and the work ethic shown by all of those who participated was just amazing. It was hard work getting the participants to stop for a break on both days," Mr Hutchinson said.

The following weekend Ken Hutchinson’s sculpting yard was taken over by members of the Rogue Sculptors, a collective of artists from around the Central West.

Also using the coralline limestone from Mt Gambier, the artists began using tomahawks, scrapers and rasps and then progressed to some rather hard local marble sourced by one of the Rogues.

“This stone has a delicate pinky-grey-white colour, sometimes plain, sometimes shot through with veining in pink or orange - quite beautiful, though a challenge to carve!” ” Rogues Sculptors member Carol Endean Little said.

“There was also sandstone from the Blue Mountains and a much harder variety of limestone on hand as well.

Ms Edean Little was amazed at how much was achieved during the two days.

“It was extraordinary how rectangular blocks of limestone could be transformed in the space of two hard-working days into such a variety of forms - a sheep’s head, a wave, two figures, a snail shell, bird bath, a woman’s head, a hand, and abstract forms,” she said.