Enjoying Camp Calistoga

    I think we are truly blessed to be living in such a wonderful community. It's like summer camp year round here. However beautiful it may be here, we are in constant vigilance with regard to what is happening in what is now our Global Village ( most especially the devastating floods in Texas and other points south ).

     Taking life one day at a time is what seems to be working for most of us now. Getting the exercise and rest needed is what seems to be bringing tourists here to this area from all parts...State wide and country wide.

    Admittedly, I have not ventured too far from home this summer, not only because of the price of gas, but because there has been other ways to stay busy under my own roof.

    Latley, getting back into watercolors and uploading some of them to Chat GPT is a new and curious pursuit ( there, I admitted it ) Not being particularly apologetic about the results produced;The technology is at least making me appreciate the rendering quality and interpretation of what I ask it to do before uploading one of my sketches. 

    The image they composed below mine is absolutely mind boggling.This scene existed only in my mind before I sat down and put it on paper. The medium(s) I used were watercolor, prismacolor pencils, graphite and black ink. Just pushing colors and lines around on paper, later to be scanned and saved as a .jpg 

    My request was to have the image look more uniform and to have the colors more accurately displayed. The result speaks for itself. Their painting is in my opinion, museum quality. Yet being a novice with this observation ,I can hardly say that I know what I am talking about.

    Now, taking this final composition it has been pretty easy to arrange and resize the prints on my computer and then output the file on the Epson printer, to create stunning gift cards that are now being sold at the Farmer's market along with my rocks.

Rock Solid

 Yesterday, at the Farmer's Market here in Calistoga I had the great pleasure of meeting a group of women known as "The Rock Solids". It was/is my guess that they all went to high school together and have remained close friends throughout the years. Kat mentioned that they all were from Denver, Colorado to which I had to ask if they felt a nice boost of energy being down here at ( almost ) Sea Level. They concurred and began to explain the origin of their meeting. It was brought to my attention that one of the women was having her birthday, which I remarked, " Happy 29th !" To which they chuckled at the suggestion. In fact, it was more likely that they were middle-age, but were like teenagers as they giggled at the absurdity. It was a true joy spending a little time with them, and I had to give them one of my favourite gag rocks that read, " Turn me over" to which the other side also reads the same thing. It was my sneaky way of keeping them around for a while... and don't you know, they ended up purchasing some of my favourite rocks! Oh joy! My hope is that they will make this an annual getaway so that we can share some more smiles together. Best wishes to them all,

... and the Birthday girl

It's what I do

     Painting and selling gift rocks is what I've been doing for the past fifteen years.Many childeren and adults have purchased them to give to others or to keep for themselves.I am honored and blessed to have such a following.The rocks are called "Spirit Rocks" mostly because they glow in the dark, and to which some will cradle in their hands for "focusing" in their meditation practice.

    The rocks alone make unique, one-of-a-kind presents. They are heirlooms that have been passed on to subsequent generations.The rocks are mostly from California beaches. They are particularly smooth, flat and round. Preferably a size suitable to carry, like what has been called a "Worry stone" that some will hold when doing a public speaking engagement for instance. 

    Others are small enough and light enough for making keychains,pendants and even earrings. Refrigerator magnets and bottle stoppers have also been added to this list of creations.These rocks offer a lot to one's imagination.However beautiful, they are not to be confused with gemstones which have their own precious qualities. 

    The large rocks have been coated with resin so that they can be placed in a garden pond or even a fish tank because they are not only water proof, but non-toxic after they've been hardened.These rocks make great desk ornaments, door stops, place markers and last-minute reminders.

   When a rock gets sold, I usually offer a pretty bag and an Ultra Violet (UV) blacklight with an important and informational/ affirmation sheet.The colors get activated under any kind of light, except infrared. The glow on the rock usually fades in under five seconds, but will continue to glow in the pitch darkness.The UV blacklight will make flourescent (i.e. super bright, Dayglow) colors really pop out. However, these same colors will NOT glow in the dark without a UV blacklight. Some will recall the Jimi Hendrix or Chesire Cat posters back in the day.

    If you scroll back to the main page, you will see a list on the right of all the posts since I began doing this in 2010. The first one tells the story of how this all began. I encourage you to read it. Since then, I've enjoyed visiting the beach to collect rocks.In a sense, they have chosen me to embellish them with metallic acrylic and puff paint to add texture. I've even played with glitter gel and invisible ink to enter secret symbols and messages on the back.

    Other artists like to use dotting tools to create mandalas on rocks they've used for these purposes. I respect and admire their work. Although I've had my hand at this, It's just not my particular style.

    Lastly, I've taken to hiding rocks from time to time in places like knot holes in trees,behind buildings or other enclosed spaces. Occasionally  I'll add on the back a bar code that when scanned will enable you to arrive at this web site. It's fun to have youngsters discover a rock when out hiking with their parents. Below is a picture of two such winners. It took awhile to have them calm down a bit...Their excitement is contageous!

    

Experimentation

 Hi there, 

As I've been alluding to in the past I'm expanding to include paintings on a generally small format, just to get back to painting on a 2D surface.The substrate I've chosen are round discs about a foot across that are plywood and very smooth. I would have chosen masonite, but these suit me just fine.

    The medium remains the same...a metallic acrylic, preferably Jacquard™ which makes the best as far as I can tell. The experiment is about painting a black background, an adding a little interference acrylic and some Color Shift paint by Folk Art™ to add a little variation. Then using a gold puff paint to build the floral/grass design which stems ( no pun intended ) from my furtile imagination.

    I will probably get back to painting rocks sometime soon, but then again, the supply has been dwindling to it's time to hit the beach or garden supply shops to stock up.

    Here''s hoping that all is well in your world and that you continue to "Follow your bliss" as Joseph Campbell might have said. In any event just know that...

Your Spirit Rocks!

Stones that Shout

 The rock appeared drab and gray, indistinquisable from a thousand others. But then my teacher turned on an ultraviolet light. Immediately, that boring rock burst into vivid technicolor.Blues, greens yellows, and oranges shone forth. It contained a class of minerals that become luminous under UV lighting. Without the aid of those special rays however, you'd walk by this rock without a second thought. 

    This morning, the whole world gazes upon a gray chunk of rock. Under normal lighting, it's just a rough cavity in the ground--a sheer vacancy- -with a stone lid rolled to the side. There's not much to see, and UV rays won't help here. But some who ponder this rugged cavity leave fundamentally changed, as if this rocky tomb burned with the light of heaven.

     And indeed it does. In the darkness of Easter night, Jesus Christ flipped the switch from death to life and changed this cavern of despair into the only source of real hope. John, seeing the scene lit by the vivid light of faith saw, and believed, and it was as if color shone forth in a gray world.

     Now, even when we disciples of Jesus falter in our proclamation of the Gospel God has enlisted the roughest matter to proclaim his glory. As Jesus propheseised, I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out ! ( Lk 19:40) On Easter morning, we hear that cry of joy.

Reflection based on John 20:1-9 

Father Philip Nolan O.P.

Painting Rocks and Making sense of it all

    The immediate thought is that we find a rock and then we take it home and paint it, to make it look like art.This has been the intent from the beginning of my journey fifteen years ago.Discovering their supposed spiritual component is quite another matter. From the beginning,rocks have been an element or item that comes to mind when thinking about matter versus things that don't have matter. 

    Caring about things do matter, but only to the degree that we say they do. Betrand Russell made the claim that "No-thing is a thing". He was a mathematician, philosopher, politician and essayist. He was also an autobiographer, who wrote three volumes about himself.My guess is that he cared a lot about himself. Did he care about matter? Perhaps.

    I learned in high school from a favorite teacher that you can't love a car. It was argued by a fellow student that they did love their car, because some of them had a car by that age.I listened intently as it was explained that a car can't love you back, it can only react to the input that is delivered to it's components.Step on the gas pedal and it moves forward...You gotta love it.

 Our teacher also explained that a connection had to be made where your input would be equally understood and reciprocated...but wait, can't a computer already do that? Yes, but it's mostly "GIGO" (garbage in, garbage out). Like the main-frame computer which were the only computers around at that time.They were good at providing data that solved complex mathematical problems back then, but human problems,not as good.

    Today's computers can't always correctly interpret a human's silence or pauses any more than we can. Some may argue that they can espeically those so called. "Impregnated Silences" Presently, they can be programmed to finish sentences that may or may not produce an accurate result. However, with the advent of Artificial Intelligence, the data can be startingly creative, concise and seemingly human in it's disclosure.Now,what can be done with that? Your guess is a good as mine.

    Now, back to caring and loving that which cannot love you back.I was just thinking about an add I saw awhile ago about a company that actually takes a person's remains after cremation and makes memorial rocks out of said remains. Will these items communicate something to those who remember the deceased? You bet they do, sensing the rock visually, silently and tactilely.

    It has been said that communication is the intentional re-creation of another's experience of ourselves. So, it seems that within the realm of our own experience,we are the only one's out there! 

    My belief and experience coincide when I can align inner dialog with what may be percieved as a higher power. That could be God, nature or even the void. Believing that there is a presence is not the issue, experience is. So, if I am in communication with a car, and the car reciprocates in a fashion that fills my spirit, so be it.The car has had something to communicate.

    I don't know about you, but I will talk to; and about things all the time. I am in communication with my computer as i write this blog. Imagining that someone is actually reading this, is actually fulfilling ...spiritually, for lack of a better word.

Below are some beauties from the past...

Carrying On

 Talking to a friend today, we discussed shaving our faces.He informed me that he was too lazy to shave and preferred a beard.Along those lines he mentioned that he doesn't want to go on hikes either, because he gets short of breath.The argument for rest and relaxation is important in our culture. Laziness is not.How does one balance these two components in our daily lives? Medical doctors recommend diet and exercise. Pretty broad categories, to be sure. Nowadays, specificity is the watch word.

What kind of diet? What specific exercise, etc.

    Too often the justification of our excessive behaviors require discipline.Training our children to follow our lead in adopting contructive behavior is a tricky.Yet learing something new is essential to personal growth.

    Like anything else, it is easy to reach a saturation point when trying to introduce new habits and behaviors.Balance continues to be the key here. "All work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy" was what Jack Nicholson's character had repeatedly typed with this message in the movie "The Shining". Is this going to be our own truth as we enter the age of A.I. and social media? Geez, we need some breaks in the malstrom of monotony!

    Breaks not withstanding, the pursuit of higher learning and relevant activity begs to question our motives. Don't we all just want to be a wee bit more informed,or able to espouse facts like the guy at the next table? Perhaps not.

    It is now April 1st ( no fooling ) and I am going to finish publishing this particular blog because it's time.

This morning, our Monday morning painter's group now has their work showing at the Calistoga Roastery for the public to view.Strange things occur here on a fairly frequent basis. It seems that a great number of locals gather at this particular coffee shop to meet.The prices are reasonable, and the menu is vast.The strangeness is that it is difficult for anyone to remain anonymous in this town. Ackward silences makes the practice of congeniality with groups or particlular individuals, questionable. Acknowledging the presence of people whose personalities don't jive with our own is challenging to to say the least. 

Having no excuses except for the sporadic cloud bursts of rain,their is no reason not to go outside. After all, spring has officially sprung. Staying inside and painting a rock is only one of many things there are to do today.

Just ask Snowball...

Below is this week's 'Rock of the month"

Expanding outward

 Ever since shaving my beard and moustache off, I've been feeling a bit vulnerable.This is a good thing. Change is a good thing.People tell me that I look much younger. Thanks!

Today, painting rocks hasn't quite taken a back seat yet.My artwork is expanding to include other pursuits. Namely, mobiles, small sculptures, minature paintings etc. Still looking for that thing that continues to inspire, yet continue doing what puts my mind at peace.Below is a sample of what I've been up to...

Kali

ear ring stand

Iphone user

Shifting Gears

 Welcome Back! Most of you are aware of the joy I get from painting rocks. It's been over fifteen years ( you can scroll down through the episodes of this blog if you don't believe me.)Well, having supported myself for many years in the hospitality industry, it was a relief to finally get to do my own thing. Even though I don't sell my rocks online, I have done commissions for people who know me, and know how to contact me. If you don't, come visit me at the Farmer's Market on Saturdays in Calistoga.

So, I am beginning to focus more on my drawing and painting skills by producing works that I will be showing for the whole month at the St. Helena Library. They will feature a retrospective of my work from the 90's to the present day. This is a how I get inspired to further my career as a working artist.

The subject matter of these paintings will vary. Some are representational, some are abstract using a variety of mediums. Everything from water-colour, acrylic, graphite and colored pencils. I don't paint in oils, although I have been schooled in such.I'm more inclined to worked in a very spontaneous fashion and when I am in the "Zone", I don't always know what will emerge when I come out of it. If you are in the area, come down Adams street off the main road where the Chevron station is, and travel eastward for about a third of a mile then make a left. The St. Helena Library is right there. A little reception will take. place between four and five p.m. on Tuesday, March 4th. Hope to see you there! 

Below is a sample of the work I will be showing..