"Woman Smelling Flower"
Painted Rock
I participated in Craftster's Craft Challenge #114: "Craftster Rocks". The object of said contest was to paint and hide at least one rock for other people to find and enjoy.
I selected my rock to paint from a trail by a creek on July 27th, but I didn't start painting it until August 5th. I suppose I probably should have spent a little more time trying to find a smoother/flatter one, but the one I picked, while a bit uneven and pockmarked, worked out alright. The stone looked like a dirty potato when I pocketed it, but it cleaned up into a lighter shade. I'm guessing it's granite, but I'm no expert on rocks.
I was going to do the base coat black, but I ended up doing gold instead. That way, I can pretend I'm a miner that struck it rich!
I decided to paint a woman smelling a flower. Why? I don't know, that's just what I felt like doing at the time. The art was done completely with acrylic paint and ink. I sealed the stone with spray & wipe furniture polish (orange oil, so, my rock even smells nice!), which worked out okay and gave a very glossy finish, but the paint tends to get damaged while you're rubbing the stone with the polish, due to its relatively rough surface texture, so, I wouldn't recommend it. The gloss also made the rock hard to photograph, especially with flash, and I even mentally told myself to shoot my photos before I sealed the stone to avoid that, but, when do I ever listen to sensible advice from anybody, especially myself?
I also wrote a quote, from the late Carrie Fisher, along the top, that reads: "I don't want life to imitate art. I want life to be art."
I got said statement from my copy of 2001's Funny Ladies: The Best Humor from America's Funniest Women by Bill Adler.
And here's the back with the #CraftsterRocks tag.
After voting in the Primary early this morning, I decided to leave the stone in a pocket park, situated between two businesses, off of one of the main streets in my town. I put her on the ground, next to the trellis. That area sees a fair amount of foot traffic throughout the day, so, I'm guessing that it won't take long for someone to find and claim my rock, as it's in plain sight.
Of course, some people just like to vandalize rocks . . .
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