Hi! It’s another summer and rocks have been on my mind…that is painted rocks! Throughout the year I collect flat rocks, which work well for painting tangles or mandalas. I search for the “perfect rock” on Alaska beaches because the waves naturally smooths them for me.
I usually teach a Zentangle® Rock Painting Workshop at the end of the summer but I’m not sure if I can swing it this year, so I’m sending you this blog post. ♥ I absolutely love to teach the classes but it’s such hard work preparing the rocks. I find them, wash and really scrub them clean, dry them, paint them (usually I spray paint them white but I can’t do that any more because I sometimes end up with pneumonia), and then truck them to the classroom. They are soooooo heavy!!!
Just the other day I saw this adorable painted rock outside Blaines Art Supply, which reminded me of how much FUN it is to paint rocks!! I went on Facebook and traced it back to Chugiak/Eagle River Rock Group, painted by Beverly Evans. Anchorage also has a large rock group and you can find groups all over the country! These groups “hide” painted rocks all over the place and unsuspecting people find them! They are little gifts from nature, from me to you, with love! You can re-hide them or exchange it for one of your own rocks. And yes, I’m keeping this cute chicken! 🙂
One of my rocks from last year. The tangle is “Spoken” by Zentangle®.
Here are some tips, but you can find tons of tips and videos on Pinterest and You Tube!
My favorite rock painting tools are POSCA Paint Pens (acrylic paint), Sakura Identi-Pens, and Faber-Castel B Markers as they are all easy to use and permanent when dry, and plus you can find them at Blaines Art. I sometimes seal my rocks with Golden Gel (no smell) or very-lightly spray a layer of varnish. Mod Podge works too but is too smelly for me. If you seal them, you can have fun hiding them all year!
So, get out there and find rocks to paint and hide them where ever you go!! This is a short video I made after my Zentangle® Inspired Art workshop 2017, called,“Random Acts of Zentangle®”. Have a GREAT SUMMER!!
♥ Donna
Dream catchers are arts and crafts of the Native American people. Traditionally dream catchers were made from willow branches bent into rings or oval shapes and sinew for the web. Feathers decorate infants and children’s dream catchers, but all dream catchers are embellished with totem animals, beads, and small stones. (I love to embellish!) The ring is believed to represent wisdom, strength, and unity.
One legend tells of an elderly spiritual leader who had a vision of Iktomi, the great trickster and searcher of wisdom. He appeared in the form of a spider and spoke to him. As he spoke, the spider picked up the elder’s willow ring and began to spin a web. He spoke about the cycle of life and and many lessons. The ring represents the cycle of life, for as we come into life as infants and grow into adults, as elderly adults we must be taken care of as infants, thus completing the cycle of life.
When the spider finished, he had spun a web inside the ring and told him that when the dream catcher is hung above ones bed, good dreams will float through the web’s holes and down the strings of beads and feathers, placing good dreams into your head while one sleeps. Bad dreams are caught in the web and tangle up in the web & beads and stones and with the first rays of daylight, they evaporate and disappear. Pretty awesome don’t you think!
Wishing you good dreams and peaceful sleep.
