So, here's the deal of why I paint rocks then give them away for free.
I have a degenerative physical condition that has slowly taken away my mobility and my ability to continue as a professional artist. My stamina and strength were also impaired which made it pretty much impossible to continue being paid to do what I've loved my entire life, being an artist. My mind and my creativity weren't a bit affected and my desire to be creative still burned as brightly as it had for over 60 years, I just didn't have the ability to handle the long hours, physical demands and stress of my previous art career(s). For nearly a year I contemplated the worth of a life without a purpose and endless couch potato hours of - egads! - reality TV. Poor Bailey became a cat who got way more attention than he wanted ...
Then I stumbled on a Facebook group of enthusiastic rock painting folks who - get this - were gleefully painting away on rocks of all sizes and nature and then giving them away. I also saw posts showing the joy, happiness and outrageously huge smiles of little kids and regular people who were thrilled to find a simple little painted rock on their daily walk, their visit to the doctor or wherever they stumbled on one. In that moment I saw my perfect opportunity to once again dive headlong back into my greatest joy AND bring some positive energy into our world at the same time.
The next day I wheeled myself down my street with my grabby stick-thingy and plopped about 10 pounds of dusty road rocks into a bucket, wheeled myself back home, grabbed my dusty tubes of acrylics and got busy. I may not paint a rock every day or do more than a few at once, and my simple little creations are nowhere near the complexity or level of the technique and detail I created in my professional life, BUT I'm getting my art on again, sharing it with friends and strangers and feeling just as much satisfaction as I did back in the old days when a painting sold or one of my book covers came out at City Lights or B. Dalton's. I'm just happy to have paint brushes, pens, paint, design and color to play with again, and (for the first time since childhood) I'm painting exactly and only what I feel like painting at the moment!
Nothing but good vibes all around and all day long. So, don't thank me when you find or receive one of my rocks, instead let me thank you for giving me back a reason to wake up, get up and get on with life!
P.S. All these pictures were some of the first rocks I painted on those dusty road rocks I nabbed in my neighborhood.
