Welcome to day 16 of the 100-day project!
I have heard it said that if something is important to you, it's never a question of whether or not you "have" time for it, you "make" time for it. It's the proverbial "choiceless choice."
These are what I call "dream stones. They were made for the 2023 holiday shows, and actually sold almost completely out!
I am feeling a lot like that applies here... it just remains to be seen how "important" I will still consider this, once I am 60 days or more into it. Of course, the idea here is that I am trying to build good productive habits for the long run.
So far, I am only partially succeeding in the sense that my social media habits are definitely not keeping up with my creative output! And that was actually the part of this experiment I the most wanted to keep up with.
But hey, there's still a very long way to the finish line!
Beginnings of today's effort...
Day 16 Stone Painting:
Silly me, I went ahead and chose something more ambitious to paint this evening. My wife and our son are watching a movie on TV, so I figured it would give me about a couple of hours to go do my thing... much as I did Marvel comics, sometimes the eternal iterations and side quests they keep producing are more than I feel inclined to give my time to.
I wanted to do something with red, in spite of the fact that I hate working with red. The problem with red is typically what I think of as "weak" pigment, meaning that I often need two to three coats to get decent rich opaque cover.
Very time consuming.
I'm fond of the "sunburst" idea, these days...
So I'm working with a few shades of red and orange, and already having a love-hate relationship with this piece.
It's going to be really eye-catching, I can already tell, and it's going to take a really long time to complete, so this is going to end up being a two-day project, again!
Trying to work in several shades of red on this one.
Like most red decorations I have attempted in the past, it will be super bright when it gets its finish coat!
The rest of the painting will be for tomorrow's post.
Day 16 Summary and Social Media Bits:
One stone in progress: The remainder to be done tomorrow, and that will simply have to be good enough!
Daily Twitter/X post: Check. Picture of some recent work; still looking for interesting people. Actually crossed the 100 followers mark today... for whatever that is worth!
Daily Facebook Page post: Fail. Out of time.
Daily Instagram post: Check. Posted a nice collage of Dream Stones from before Christmas; one of my better pictures.
Other Stuff: As usual, this Hive post; otherwise nothing new... too much other stuff going on today. Daily shoutout to 
Thought of the moment: Is simply "putting the name and images out there" lots of time an important part of building awareness? I hope so, because that's what I am doing here!
Day 16 completed; Still going pretty well. Allegedly, it takes 28 days to "build a habit," so more than halfway there! Started to put together an art supplies order at Blick's; now I just need to come up with about $100.00! It'll have to wait, alas, as this month is property tax month.
I appreciate you coming to visit and please do leave a comment if you feel so inclined!
Thank You!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support!
My Alchemy Stones Patreon appeal
Alchemy Stones web site and blog
Regardless, your upvotes and comments are always appreciated!
Thank you for supporting independent art!
2024.03.05 AS-TXT-212/180