If there's one thing you need to know about me, it's that I love rocks.
I love looking for rocks. I love reading about rocks. I even love painting rocks...
Every year for spring break (that elusive week that teachers dream about all winter), we pack up the dogs, hop in the truck, and head down to the high deserts of Southeast Oregon and Northern Nevada. While we're there, we find agates, opals, sunstones, petrified wood, and even once, a meteorite. Last year on our annual pilgrimage, we went to a location in Nevada known for a special type of rhyolite, called wonderstone. Wonderstone is indeed wonderful, for the many different patterns accenting each rock (you might have seen some of the items in my shop photographed with some wonderstone in the background!).
One rock in particular caught my eye. To me, this remnant from some extinct volcano was more than just a rock....it painted a picture in my mind.
I looked at both sides carefully, and then slowly began shaping this stone into a square form...I had initially thought I would place this stone in a lapidary setting, but then I started painting...
....and painting, and painting....
I couldn't erase this beautiful scene from my mind, and I could imagine it being a sunset in the desert, on some remote and dry barren land...
I painted it in acrylic...
...and I painted it in watercolor...
I painted this scene over and over again, each time playing with different blends of color.
Then one night, while coasting around Etsy looking for new items to favorite, my eyes came upon this scene, and I recognized it immediantly...
However, I couldn't have recognized it, for this was a real photo...of some unknown place that just happened to look like the world I glimpsed while looking at a rock. This photo was taken by Patty Stafford, and when I saw it, I knew I had to have it. So now my collection is complete, at least until I pick up another rock, and take a closer look...
Feel free to check out Patty's shop at the link below, and see what other treasures might be lurking within the wardrobe...(but that's a story for another day...)
"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."
-Michelangelo
Well, I must say ... this post of yours really "ROCKS !!!" What a phenomenal coincidence between your landscape painting and my photo, absolutely stunning ... from the more obvious mountainous profile even right down to the shadowing on the sands and the matching of textures. Just amazing! The wonderstone desert you visit is an incredibly special place, and you sure know how to make the most of what you find there.
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