INDIVIDUALISTIC notions of Celtic art (pictured) as seen by - among others - sculptors from Bulgaria, Poland, a Czech Republic and China, are drawing curious crowds as the Caerleon Festival of Art reaches its climax.

The heads of Roman soldiers and of Welsh maidens, of dragons and figures from the Arthurian myths which hint at the dark and mystical side of the Celtic nature are emerging from the yielding oak.

With much of the chainsawing and chiselling done, the 10 wood sculptors from half-a-dozen countries are now refining their works of art.

David Johnson, an Englishman, was last night near to making the three sides of his work, The Eternal Triangle, meet up. Lancelot and the King had been hewn from two large blocks of oak and Guinevere, as of last night, was waiting for her final sanding and splash of Cuprinol.

Philip Bews' Romano-Celtic head is that of a Roman soldier melding into that of a Celtic maiden.

Prague-born Milan Vacha abandoned his recent pre-occupation with egg shapes and opted instead for a group of huddled figures which express the secretive side of the Celtic character.

One of the most immediately striking works is by Anthony Rogers, a tall, twisting dragon's tail with the oak at the tip of the tail so finely carved that it could almost be lace. The tail sticks out from the ground, rising to a height of more than ten feet, prompting one spectator to observe "That dragon must have been going at heck of a lick when it crashed".

Zhaolei, from China, was working on some intricately-carved scales which also appear to be part of a dragon.

Since a dragon is a motif the Chinese and the Welsh share, this seems entirely appropriate.

Elsewhere, Alexander Ivanov from Bulgaria chose to set a Celtic head into a large, vertical structure which resembles a totem-pole while Lidia Rosinka, a Pole, teased the potential from a large forked piece of oak.

Ed Harrison, sculptor-in-residence at the Ffwrrwm arts centre in Caerleon, seemed to have made a late start on his piece but was making up for it with a stupendous burst of energy.

All were watched by Dr Russell Rhys, officially no more than a first-among-equals on the committee of the arts festival but widely acknowledged as its inspiration.

"It's everything we could have hoped for," he said.

"The festival has caught the public imagination and proved that the whole village, from individuals right up to the major sponsors, can work together," said Dr Rhys.

When the sculptors return home after this weekend, their work will be left to further beautify the village.

An emerging issue, though, is that at 10 sculptures a year, Caerleon will amass 100 huge pieces of work over the space of a decade.

Still, this would be an embarrassment of riches.