CARVING stone is described as a "slow" art form in this hectic modern age. EMMA MACKINTOSH went to try her hand at this ancient past-time.

MOST workshops, when they are not being used, are a haven of calm, and Matt Caines' art studio on Hereford Road, Abergavenny, with its white walls and wooden floors is no exception.

Set beside the house which he shares with wife Amanda, the studio is filled with beautiful carved objects he has made over the years and the sketches and maquettes he used to base those on.

A table covered in intricate chess-piece-like carvings document Matt's recent trip to visit the Inuit in the North West Territories of Canada, while dozens of pots of carving tools are dotted around the room and a few aprons hang behind a door.

Once I'd finished ogling all the pieces of art I donned an apron and a pair of plastic goggles, while Matt, who studied and worked in London before making the move to Abergavenny a year and a half ago, set up a piece of Portland stone on a work bench for my first foray into stone carving.

He advised me that Portland stone does not produce a lot of dust and therefore does not require a mask, and is soft enough to be ideal for beginners.

Wielding a claw chisel, which has grooves cut in it like teeth, I looked down at the book-sized block of stone on the bench in front of me and tried to persuade the chisel to follow the neat, wavy contours of the lines freshly etched into the stone face by Matt.

Try as I might, my lines were pretty scruffy and too deep into the stone, and creating the desired wavy line seemed a tough task.

It was easy to imagine how many hours and hours of practice it would take to become accomplished.

But I needn't have worried. The art of stone carving does not stop at wielding a chisel.

When an artist takes on a commission they first make a maquette or clay model of what they plan to make, in order for the buyer to take a look and see what they think, and to give the artist something to work from.

Also the beauty of terracotta clay is that it is malleable and you can change it on a whim - unlike stone.

"People find this very therapeutic," explained Matt as he set up a block of clay on the table ready to carve and change.

"It's good for people to feel an organic material and interact with it, bringing out that creativity. It's amazing what people make and it's a great leveller."

In this area - working with clay - I do have some previous experience, having spent a day throwing pots at Ned Heywood's studio in Chepstow. I also made an oversize pot using coils of clay during A-level art (some years ago) so this felt like more familiar territory.

Working with the clay to make a small statue of a person, I soon realised why they call stone carving a "slow art" - compared to the instant nature of clay, and how quickly it can be changed, it must take a great deal more patience to work with stone.

The image of a person soon appeared in the clay and I could have spent several more hours making it look more life-like, as Matt does in his day-to-day work, but for the work experience kid (me) it was swiftly on to the next task.

Moving back to Portland stone, Matt sketched out the letter 'E' (for Emma) in order to let me have a go at letter cutting, a delicate process which requires a flat chisel.

With the stone mounted up on an easel, I tried to keep the chisel at a shallow upward angle, not cutting too deep into the stone.

The first thing to do, Matt explained, is to eke out the stone from the centre of the 'E' shape to prevent the rest from cracking when you start to really take chunks out of the letter.

Making a straight line up the centre was surprisingly difficult as the tool kept jumping off to the left or right (that's right - blame the tools).

But when I started to chip out the downwards shaping into the letter to give it depth, the letter started to really stand out, in a relatively short space of time. Not such a slow art form in this instance.

Of course once you've created your work of art, there are more mundane tasks to be dealt with - like filing and polishing.

I sat down with a piece of pink-coloured soap stone which was half way to becoming an animal and filed across its flank to create a sort of arch between a limb and the main body. It's not the most glamorous aspect of creating art, but it's necessary, and you can imagine I found it easier than chiselling.

The same is true of polishing. One of Matt's completed pieces stood on an easel so I was given the task of buffing it up and making it shine. It's especially important for bigger, smoother pieces which may have a classical theme to them - you want your buyer to concentrate on the beautiful finished piece, not on any scruffy finger marks on the surface.

As my day at the studio drew to a close I took a closer look at the delicate Inuit-inspired carvings made from shed antler and noticed, out loud, how the techniques used are similar to those used by tattooists - etch the design then flood it with dark ink before wiping it away.

"I hadn't thought of that, but yes," said Matt. It just goes to show that carving and sculpture, like the 3D art it creates, is not one-sided.

Matt holds regular classes on Mondays and Wednesdays in sculpture for all beginners and offers a long weekend of art sessions once a month from Friday to Sunday, 10.30am to 4.30pm.

Email mattcaines@hotmail.com or visit www.mattcaines.co.uk for details.