A selection of superb sculptures goes on display at Tenby Museum tomorrow (Saturday, August 8), as Goodwick-based sculptor Darren Yeadon presents 'Out of the Rock', an exhibition of sculpture guaranteed to make you smile.

Darren's work is art without pretension; his sculptures are mainly figurative and celebrate not only the beauty but also the quirkiness of nature.

The centrepiece of 'Out of the Rock' is an enormous elephant hewn out of white marble, trunk raised above its head.

As part of his research for the sculpture, Darren travelled to the Skanda Vale Buddhist community and, after obtaining permission from the monks, spent a day with the community's elephant, Valli.

"I was amazed at the gentle strength of Valli," said Darren, "and the determined elegance of the way she moved. I wanted to capture this in stone, it seemed like marble was an ideal medium to use."

Alongside the magical white elephant on exhibit in Tenby, there is an underwater garden of delights: shoals of marble fish swim alongside seaweed unfurling in marble and Preseli bluestone, a sandstone crab and octopus lurk in the shallows and a giant limestone ammonite draws you into the exhibition.

Darren became a sculptor after he suffered a serious car accident in his 20s. After weeks in a coma, he fought his way back to life, a severe head injury meant that he had to relearn almost everything.

It was at this point in his life that he realised that he wanted to use the skills he had already acquired as a stone mason, quarrying and dressing stone, to enrich other people's lives.

"I make sculptures because I believe that something has to be given back for what we take from life," he says.

"A moment, a feeling, the strategic logic and brilliant design of nature are things to be celebrated."

The variety of stones used by Darren acts as a diary of his career to date: golden sandstone from his native Whitby where he trained as stonemason in his teens; lustrous white marble from Michelangelo's quarry in Carrara, Italy, where Darren worked for two years; rare black and gold portoro from a recent trip to Italy and Preseli bluestone from Pembrokeshire, where he has lived and worked for the past decade.

Unlike a lot of stone sculptors who employ artisans to rough out their sculptors using precise measurements and maquettes, Darren's work is his own from start to finish. He free carves the rock, using chisels and saws to draw the sculpture out of it.

"I like a challenge," he says. "A rock, once very carefully selected from quarries and then shipped home, presents quite a few problems.

"First, it is heavy. Second it is hard; it has to be broken and split using sledgehammers, mauls and splitting chisels. Then shaping begins; the stone is chiselled, ground and filed using a variety of sharp tools, mallets, sweat and time.

"I always go home covered in grime and dust, tired and mentally drained but the next day I wake up early, enthusiastic about how my sculpture is progressing and what I have to do next; I cannot wait to get to my studio to begin work." 

"There is no problem in life-I can see the answer in the stone."

'Out of the Rock' runs from tomorrow (Saturday, August 8) to September 6 at Tenby Museum and Art Gallery, open 10 am to 5 pm daily. 'Phone 842809. For more information on Darren's work, go to http://www.chipchip.net">www.chipchip.net.