I may be able to help with the first question. It’s possible those websites put up samples of the kind of stones they sell, and not pictures of exactly what they have on hand at the moment. If that’s the case, they wouldn’t need to update their website very often. So contact them and see what you can find out. It’ll only cost you an email or phone call. You can also check the Better Business Bureau for the town where they’re located and see what their grade is. If they’re doing business properly, they should have an A. If they don’t treat customers well, etc., they’ll have a D or an F, usually. Don’t do business with anyone whose grade is less than an A. There’s no point in asking for trouble!

You can find stone at sculpt.com (The Compleat Sculptor) and SculptureDepot.com (Sculpture Depot), both of which are in New York City. Sometimes you can find scrap stone (like the dropout from where they cut a hole for a sink) at marble and granite shops that do counters, etc. I’ve gotten some nice stone that way (which I had cut to shape and polished to be on the bases of some of my early works). Buy a copy of Sculpture Digest Magazine (or sit in Barnes and Noble and read it) and look for ads for stone suppliers. It’s a nice magazine, you should subscribe to it.

I can’t answer your question about your marble. Have you tried working it? Remember to use a double-tap of your hammer on the chisel to make sure your cut will be true. I have only taken one stone workshop, and that’s the main thing I remember from it, that double-tap. I enjoyed working in stone, but my carpal tunnel didn’t, so I’ve stuck with plastilene ever since.

I hope this helps!