This week, I have been doing my best to "stay active" on the creative path, although it feels a bit like I am living in Limbo Land.
Limbo Land being that place of waiting for new art supplies to show up and really not feeling terribly inspired to do much because "better options" seem to be right around the corner.
Just a few crows to keep me company
A Short Beach Trip
It was a nice day yesterday, so I decided to stop by one of our many coastal parks on my way home from running an errand to the post office.
It was time to stop talking about going to find more stones to paint on, and actually head out there and see what I can find.
This time of the year our tides are not super favorable for being on the beach... mostly, the high tides are during the day, leaving only a very narrow band of beach to explore, while low tide is during the dark of night.
Still, the least hour or so before sunset the water receded a little and I was able to find a few things.
Very few of these are suitable for painting
Our local beaches here are not ideal for finding paintable stones. Most of the rocky debris here comes from old glacial clay that makes up the majority of the landmass here and our sheltered bays means that the rocks rarely get tumbled by large waves and rough handling.
Which means most of them are somewhat angular and rough... and less than ideal for painting.
I have always been very particular about only using stones "as I find them" without putting them in a tumbler at home. I am sticking to that.
In the end, I brought back about 20 "usable" stones, of which 10-12 will probably end up being OK, once I get them under a strong light for a detailed inspection.
All in all, I'm not unhappy with that!
Evening mood from the parking lot
LinkTree
Because Alchemy Stones has so many different presences on line — both in terms of marketplace shops and social media accounts — I decided that perhaps the best way to refer people to our venues would be through a centralized location.
And so, I ended up creating a LinkTree account because that seems to be the platform most creatives and artists use to consolidate their links.
It definitely will make it easier to point people there with a QR code on all our printed materials and at shows.
And yes, this Hive blog also has a link on the new LinkTree!
Amazing how nature can scratch out an existence on a rocky beach
Podcast Opportunity
Informally "in the works," it looks like I might get a chance to be on the podcast of a fairly influential "mover and shaker" in the metaphysics and alternative healing industry.
What's cool about this is that this person is not only an existing fan of my artwork, but she's also a former client of mine — I was the editor of her first book, a few years back.
More on this, as the story unfolds! If it does come to pass, it will likely happen in the next few weeks.
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!
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2024.10.10 AS-TXT-283/253