A SCIENCE teacher has stepped from the schoolroom to the art studio to show off his intricate stone sculptures.

Rye St Antony’s head of science, David Williams, displayed creations crafted from limestone, pebbles, stone and slate alongside two other local teachers, Sue Side and Stephanie Monteath, who spend their spare time in art and design.

Making use of found, quarried and rescued stone, Mr Williams works to find the organic forms that are revealed within the materials such as plants, animals, words and pictures.

Talking of his hidden talents, the teacher at the independent school in Headington said: “It may be somewhat unexpected for a science teacher to spend their spare time creating art, but I find the two very much go hand-in-hand.

"Alongside my work in science, I also teach the school’s photography course as part of A-Level art.”

Spending the mornings before school traipsing the fields and hedgerows around Bampton with his two dogs, Mr Williams takes inspiration from the patterns and landscapes of the Oxfordshire countryside to inform his imaginative and thought-provoking work.

The teachers' work was on display on Saturday and Sunday, at Oxfordshire Christmas Artsweeks in The Garden Studio, Cumnor.

Oxfordshire Artweeks is an artists' organisation that promotes the work of Oxfordshire artists with a countywide May festival and a season of Christmas exhibitions.

It was founded in 1981 by a group of professional Oxford-based artists who, having seen the model in the United States, thought that a festival of ‘open studios’ could work well in the UK.

The first Oxfordshire Artweeks festival took place in 1982 and now includes nearly 500 sites each year, as well as special exhibitions and events, tours, talks, workshops and demonstrations for all ages.

Throughout November and December many of the Artweeks artists and designer-makers hold pop-up exhibitions and Christmas Fairs or open their studios to give people the chance to find unique gifts for the festive season.