Rocks have been essential to art ever since the first people started to make beads, fertility symbols and cave paintings.
Sculpture uses whole rock and painting uses pigments derived mainly from minerals.
Without our rich variety of rocks there would have been no art on this planet. Here, though I just want to give some ideas of using rocks as objets d'art at home. Some specimens are like natural sculptures in themselves, and crystal geodes are a good example of this. Pictured is Philip who runs a crystal shop called Isis in St Albans. Geodes like this are formed in cavities in lava.