It's showtime, once again!
The 4th quarter is typically the busy season for our creative endeavors, and this weekend we have another event; actually starting with set-up on Thursday evening.
As per usual — after 2 1/2 years of "no-shows" due to Covid — the nature of doing public events with art is such that most of my attention has to ben focused on making "little stuff."
One of the best selling items at shows: our "Faerie Stones." Each will sit comfortably on a US Quarter.
Making "Little Stuff" is not really my favorite thing from an artistic standpoint, but I do recognize the importance of it, from a commercial standpoint.
The little "Faerie Stones" pictured above sell for $5 each, and are very popular at shows. They are somewhat of a pain in the butt to make... when you have large hands and fairly thick fingers, as I do.
However, the single most popular item is actually our "Pocket Hearts."
Freshly minted "Pocket Hearts"
Again, these are fairly small, selling for $6 each... something about them just seems to appeal to people of all ages.
I've probably painted well over 1,000 of them over the years... for this upcoming show, I just created 36 more!
It starts with picking the right size and shape stones
Mostly my "limitations" on these is being able to actually find enough really smooth stones of the right size and shape... not always possible.
It starts with simply painting a heart in the center of each stone
Of course, I am also limited by time and my own boredom, to a certain extent. But once I get going, I can paint 5-6 of them an hour.
Ready to get their shiny protective finish coat — sorry about the harsh lighting!
Part of the fascination for people is that they are all entirely free-hand painted, and even though they may look similar, no two are ever quite the same.
The following morning, after the finish coat has dried. It will then "cure" an additional 48 hours.
They will end up loose in one of our lined baskets where people can pick the one(s) they like the best. It's not unusual for us to sell 20-30 in the course of a weekend show.
Last event we attended, we end up with just four left over, at the end.
With these out of the way and ready, I can take a little time to work on larger and far more complex pieces — that'll be for the rest of this afternoon and tonight, which will be just enough time for me to bring them in on Friday or Saturday morning,
Thanks for stopping by! Do leave me a comment if you feel so inspired — interaction and engagement are always welcome!
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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2022.10.12 AS-TXT-123/091