This Week's Rock of the Week

The Rock you see below is actually a piece of Selenite, which has a wonderful transparency. The blacklight really punches up the colors. The striped color rays surrounding the center star are a blue invisible ink that only appears under a blacklight. Notice this piece in regular light, and you can see the interference turquoise that covers the surface. The pointed dots surrounding the outside are made with Tulip™ glow paint. It is as volatile as Elmer's glue after it is applied. The slightest movements can cause it to ooze. The nozzle to the bottle gets clogged very easily too.

This Week's Rock of the Week

Decoupage is a technique I've been using from time to time. The image of the rose was a drawing/watercolor painting I did last month. The rose was scanned and brought into Photoshop where the color was enhanced and the image was resized to fit on a rock. Then the image was printed out on high-gloss,sticky-back paper. The rendered sticker was then adhered to the rock with E6000 glue and left to dry. The final step after adding embellishments was to clear-coat the entire rock with a coating of Triple Thick. This coating provides UV protection from the sun while keeping the color from fading. It also makes the rock look very shiny.

The Rock of the Week

This week's Rock is a continuation of a popular Mandala motif. As a sporadic meditator, holding a "Spirit Rock" can be useful in bringing about a sense of focus and stillness. The weight, shape, and texture of any rock are valuable features for this purpose. Sometimes, covering the rock with a scented oil may add to an awakening of the senses.

Last week, I went and purchased an aluminum ladder so that I can climb up on my roof to meditate after nightfall. The evenings have been pleasant and not too warm or cool this time of the year. Having a place and time to further this practice is important to me now. My hope is that others will find a way to creatively enhance what they know will bring about peace, joy, and serenity.

Surrounding myself with beauty and appreciation is one of the ways that I hope to achieve this. Anyone can attain these objectives if they follow the calling of their higher purpose. The determination of having a solid work ethic are not always necessary tools when maintaining the quality of beauty in your environment.