So, I am doing The 100-Day Project Challenge again; my second attempt at this creativity "habit building" exercise. You can read more at the above link; or just choose "a creative thing" to pursue for 100 consecutive days... and then use #the100dayproject as one of your first three tags so others on Hive and other social media can find you!
Today is Day 21.
One of the "medium" sized stones I painted yesterday, sitting atop a very large blank.
Starting Something Big:
So, today marked the three-week point in the 100-Day Project.
So far, everything I have done on the creative front has been somewhat modest, primarily in the interest of being able to show at least a little progress every day. However, I have reached the point where I thought it might be cool to start in on one of my really big stones.
Whenever I sit with one of these in its blank form, I can imagine how a skilled diamond cutter might feel when faced with making the first cut on something that might become a 20 carat faceted diamond once finished. You automatically become a little more careful and measured in what you're doing simply because you're undertaking something you don't do every day.
Put a US penny in this shot for a sense of scale.
Very large stones that are not only quite flat (and thus suitable for painting) but also have very smooth surfaces (and thus suitable for painting) are actually quite rare. If you visit your local beach or riverbank, you'll notice that the larger a stone gets the rougher and more like coarse sandpaper its surface becomes... and the more likely it is to have cracks, breaks, uneven shapes and mixed textures.
In a sort of parallel to the diamond cutting metaphor above, I always feel like I am starting in on a ”rare treasure.”
I seldom get to paint more than maybe two or three of these a year, not for a lack of wanting to, but because I simply don't find any more appropriate blank stones to use.
The center point, and center design has to be super accurate, since everything else builds from these points!
The finished x-large stones become part of what I call my "Signature Collection," and they end up being centerpieces in our displays when we go to festivals and fairs, and they typically end up selling surprisingly quickly given that they're often priced between $150.00 and $400.00. Maybe that sounds like a lot of money for a painted rock, but if you consider that I may have as much as 50-100 hours of actual work in them in order to complete a design entirely free-hand, perhaps your price perspective would change.
Today's Creative Endeavor:
So I got started on the big stone today.
Where is I normally do all my painting entirely by feel, on really large pieces like that I do use string and a pencil mark to lay out the exact center point, because starting even a little off center means the entire design is going to turn out weird.
And given how rare such large stones are, I can't afford to screw up.
The very center is being done in hot or warm colors, and once that's laid out I start laying out the dot pattern that will end up forming the basis for a spiral, during the next stage.
Adding the spiral dot pattern.
Now, this big stone did not represent everything I worked on today. I also wanted to paint at least one smaller stone today, while I will conitnue the project with the large stone just being worked on a little bit every day for the next couple of weeks.
For that one, I decided to keep it pretty simple, with a smallish Throat Chakra Stone in the typical colors. Turned out very nice and "contrasty," even before getting its finish coat.
Small Throat Chakra Stone
Minding the Store(s):
To be perfectly honest, any intentions I had of doing work on the stores were lost to the 4-hour oddyssey that is watching the Super Bowl — and processing the attendant junk food coma — and it's all I can do just to focus long enough to finish this post and publish it.
I did take a moment to check in on Etsy, only to be reminded that I have $13.60 fee bill due on February 15th.
Social Media Musings:
Not much to put here, for the same reason as the above... did get quick updates out on twitter/x and Instagram.
Final Thoughts for Today:
I'm glad I decided to get up fairly early today, and tackle my creative tasks first thing rather than saving them for later in the day.
Even though I'm putting the finishing touches on this post quite late at night, most of what is here was actually put together before 2:00 PM.
My brain perfectly works best in the mornings and during the early afternoon.
I appreciate you coming to visit and please do leave a comment if you feel so inclined!
Thank You!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
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Thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support!
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2025.02.09 AS-TXT-322/292