The zen and the wonder of rock painting

We set up a rock painting station as part of ART IN THE ALLEY this weekend.  I put two well used plastic tables over top of our fire pit and invited guests to paint rocks.  Within minutes of the event starting, that rock painting station was full to capacity and stayed active throughout the entire three hours of the event.

What I am hearing from people is that they are loving getting out with their kids, seeing them unplugged from phones and screens, and connected with each other and their community.  It's a beautiful thing. Big thanks to Tina and Lynette for putting the Fort Mac Rocks craze in action.  You can connect to the Facebook group by clicking here.

I've enjoyed creating my raven rocks.  I did one on the morning of ART IN THE ALLEY and hid it exceptionally well in the back alley.  At one point, there were upwards of five adults searching under rocks, leaves and branches.

On the occasion of my 51st birthday, I created a special raven rock and once again hid it in a spot that I felt would be incredibly hard to find.  A lovely family came by yesterday evening, in the rain, and started looking.  As it turned out, they found one that had been placed in its spot another day.  As there were two kids, I decided to give them a clue to help them find that last remaining rock.

"A tree grows in the forest!" I said. "A tree grows in the forest!"

They took off right away and found it within about 10 minutes.

It's indeed a small world.  A couple of years ago, during the holiday season, these beautiful children lost their beloved Bella, a black and white cat.  She got sick out of the blue and passed away, creating a dark cloud over their Christmas.  Their dad asked if I could paint Bella's portrait as a way of making things a little brighter.  I did, and here they were, hanging out in my studio, with their newly found raven rocks, several years later.

This rock painting phenomena has inspired young and old to both create and get out in our community.  It's enabled many wonderful moments in and around Birdsong Studio for which I'm so grateful.