Each artist's brushstroke has a little bit of his energy and when it is painted with love, the gift contains love, like these little rocks.
What could be better than to give something made by us as a present for the holidays. I have always placed great value on the handmade gifts I have been given. They are not only a thing, but that thing, whatever it is, is made with love and takes time. Time that the person could have spent on something else and yet they give it to us in that gift.
It may not have a great monetary value, but it has a value of the heart. At the end of the day, that is the most important thing.
When I read about the initiative I loved it, because it gives me the possibility to paint, which is one of the things I am most passionate about, but also to give a little piece of myself to those I love the most.
This time I didn't make complicated mini paintings but simpler drawings, because my idea is that each stone has an object, which will be given to my family and friends. And each stone has a message behind it. A single word, but each word contains many things.
I always say that a painting is for me a child, they won't be super big paintings, but they are part of me all the same.
I thought of various objects that signify Christmas, such as the campaigns, the star, the tree, the mistletoe, decorations, a hat and a present. They were not difficult drawings, on the contrary, I had them drawn in a jiffy and I hadn't even noticed.
While I was drawing, it always happens to me, I go back to my student days and when my teacher Gloria, I always have her in mind and that is thanks to Hive, since I returned to painting after a long time, she taught me my first steps, with simple drawings.
The ones I did in black stone don't look very good in the light, but in my mind they would look great when I painted them. It always depends on the colour you choose.
I started to draw and paint last night, I bought a white light so that it gives me better light and the pictures come out better and as it is behind me it doesn't affect the view. Lighting is very important.
I had already drawn all the stones and the first one that called me was the mistletoe, I knew that this stone would be called love. I think it's my favourite along with the campaigns.
I painted it super fast without realizing it and then I painted the Christmas hat, I always like to paint cloths or fabric, the folds are interesting with their lights and shadows, you can create the relief you want. I remembered when I studied and painted that kind of things in live still life.
I painted the tree in two stages, the first one in the evening, I needed it to dry a bit, and today I painted the coloured balls. If I did it the same day the colours could mix too much and I didn't want that. A simple but colourful tree. The stones are very small and it is difficult to paint something with too much detail.
Then came the decorations or Christmas balls, first I wanted them to be white, but as I was painting I added some colour to them. Up to this point it was yesterday evening. And I decided to continue in the morning.
Today I started with the campaigns and I loved the result, they have a lot of colour and call out with their music, of course I would imagine.
The star is also simple and painting it freehand without resting my hand... a five-pointed star, made me go back to the past, I used to draw this kind of things a lot. I wanted it to be gold and yellow, a symbol of wisdom and light.
Finally I painted the gift, with the typical Christmas colours and a big bow, inside there can be whatever you can imagine, imagination has no limits and is wonderful. Whatever you wish for this Christmas can come in that gift.
When I finished, I looked at each kindness rock, and my idea is that people choose one and when they turn it over they see the word, as a gift. I have no idea why, but it was very emotional to paint these rocks, maybe it's the time of year, memories of people who are gone... I don't know, but it's been nice to pour emotions into my paintings.
The messages on the rocks are: Love, light, joy, union, peace, life and heart. I already told you one, love is the mistletoe. And the others? I leave it to you to guess, choose a rock, your favourite one and I will tell you the message it contains.
Thank you all very much always, I send you a big greeting, have a great day. See you soon.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.
