Fun Stuff

 Okay, I was spending too much time on the internet ( as usual ) and discovered this cool site that will take your name and transpose it into images taken from space to form it's spelling. Just go to this site and enter a name...

https://science.nasa.gov/specials/your-name-in-landsat/

For fun, I tried the name, "Your Spirit Rocks" and this is what came on the screen.It never ceases to amaze me what is possible to create and have appear online nowadays. In fact, the word "Amazing" as descriptive adjective is perhaps wearing a little thin . Let's just say it's... uh, "Interesting". Nevertheless, I like to be the first kid on the block to discover this sort of thing 😁

Staying true to the purpose of this blog, I am committed to showcasing the "Rock of the Week" which in all honesty, does not always appear fifty-two times a year. Maybe at most, twenty. Anyway, here is this week's rock of the week. It's my little, glow in the dark alien rock. Ain't he cute?

Pursuing Beauty

    This idea of pursuing beauty takes into account many views and perspectives. Suffice to say that in our experience one may find some object or idea particularly beautiful, while another may find the exact same point of view particularly repulsive or even grotesque.Is the concept of beauty a shared belief or is it even measurable? If one is behelden to beauty does that diminish it's value? What exactly do i mean when I say that something is beautiful? Perhaps it can be argued that just get's gotten.

    Many have seen the movie a few years back, called "American Beauty" ( appropriately named ) where during the film a young man is showing a friend a video he has made of a plastic bag gyrating in the wind in what could be described as a dance . The character is so taken by this visual display that he begins to tear up.It was a very moving scene in which this character who was initially thought of to be a voyeur until, the girl he's been watching begins to befriend him. 

    The effect of beauty can both be attractive and revealing in it's ability to expose and mesmerize.This feeling of beauty speaks volumes. When I hear someone say, "That's beautiful" I try not to question their observation. Just to say "Thank you" will say it all

Drawing from the past

     Even though these rocks were recently painted, when they got finished they become past. We always draw from our past experiences in order to create what is to come.This idea begs to question,"What value is it ,when we attempt to maintain and control our future by relying on our past experiences?" Must synapsis be formed and left to die without any hope of reformation? Things live on, or they don't.Without getting too philosophical, suffice to say that things will transform but the Spirit lives on.That's what I love about painting rocks.History will repeat itself, until it doesn't.

    Trips to the beach to collect rocks that are carefully chosen to be decorated or adorned,are a natural high. The ocean tumbles most rocks into smooth,mostly symetrical shapes.Every rock seems to have it's own personality after having been around for ions. Occasional dimples or sharp edges get worn down over time,and what remains of the basalt ( which are the main type of rock I use to paint ) is a quasi-absorbent surface that acrylic paint takes to very easily.

    The designs come from ideas about what will fit the rock. Base colors of black or white, then metallics, puff paint, sparkles, crackles, resin and invisible ink will follow. Occasionally, the dots of a fluorescent gel pen will be used to add little flourishes. No two rocks are the same, although designs have been repeated that have been proven to be successful.