SET in and around a beach hut on one of Dorset's wildest pieces of coast, a trip to see Sarah Gilpin's art is a wonderful way to have some fun family time together.

The former zoologist works on and exhibits her stone sculptures and wire mesh figures at her hut near Portland Bill.

On stormy days it is a wild, uncompromising yet peaceful place to visit but on a sunny weekend it is buzzing with families and couples enjoying their free time together.

"It is a fabulous place to work and last weekend was just brilliant," said Sarah. "Because the weather was good the place was full of families and many of them came over to have a look at my work.

"They could all have a go at carving a piece of stone and at one point I had a queue of children lining up to have a try. I think that's great because they are not on a computer, they are not stuck indoors, they are outside trying their hand at something - and they will remember it."

Sarah's work varies from stand-alone sculptures to delicate shadow art', where fragments of chipped rock are stuck on to stone slabs where they catch the light and create different, moving shadows.

"I did a zoology degree but never really used it," said Sarah. "I went to Kenya to work and a friend gave some watercolours with the instruction to paint, not take photographs' and that's where it started.

"I then did sculpture training and it went from there. The aesthetics of art and science are related."

To reach Sarah's beach hut, drive down the track directly after the Portland Bird Observatory on the way to Portland Bill and follow the Dorset Art Weeks sign. She is open tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday.