Don't Be Afraid to be Obsessed

Don't be afraid to be obsessed...so said Annie Liebovitz in her photography course ad, and I absolutely agree with her.

Besides blueberry picking, my latest obsession is painting rocks.  As with anything in life a little obsession is a good thing, but too much of anything is destructive.  Moderation is the eventual goal, but I know that when I latch onto something new I can get a bit crazy for a spell.

When I decided to dive in, I went at it pretty hard for a few days.  I even painted a bunch of Pokemon rocks and had a rock hunting event for my cousin's kids.

Over the last month I've painted 80 rocks. Obsessed?  Wayne seems to think so.

I'm getting a little better with brush control, and gleaning tips from NL RockArt's Facebook page.  Some folks use tracing paper and other means to get the image they want, but so far I have just taken a screenshot of an image and freehanded it.

If my hand shakes, no problem! I either wipe off the paint quickly with a damp rag, or go back over it later with the adjoining color to fix it. I even painted some rocks for the Fluvarium in St. John's for a Halloween hide event.

And then painted some Halloween rocks for local rock hunters to find here in Placentia.

Before long I had to get in to St. John's to get some more paint and some finer brushes...obsessions are never free!  I ordered some acrylic paint markers for outlining and dotting and that's speeding up the process a bit also.

See my "PJ" signature?  Keep an eye out for one of mine!

Notice all the animals wearing glasses?  I'm holding those aside for now, I may end up giving them away to new accounts once I get back on the road for work! Other planned "series" include some more retro campers, moose, puffins, Harry Potter, more Pokemon and Snoopy and the Gang. 

before

Some rocks are quick and easy, but now I'm doing a few that require layering and extra time.  It's good to have an indoor hobby with winter approaching, I'll just need to get down to the beach and get more rocks before the weather turns!

After - The flowers were gifted to my Great-niece (what!?) for her garden in Spaniard's Bay

I get my inspiration from a variety of places, the 3 above images were actually paintings I saw on Wayfair.  I like the puffin so much that I plan on making 2 more before I decide which one to hide! It's a bit of a watercolor and splatter combination, I love the free flowing feel and the pops of color.

before

The Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus were the most fun to paint so far.  I thought Katrina might want to take it, but it's going to end up hidden in my sister-in-law Alverna's yard on Saturday instead! This hobby pairs well with hiking and traveling, so my rocks will end up across the island as I move around.  And in my suitcases when I fly...

Faces aren't my forte, but who knows what skills I might acquire with time?

The rocks on the NL Facebook page have ended up across the globe, and my amateurish attempts are nothing compared to some of the incredible works of art that get hidden.  If you see a rock that says NL Rockart on Facebook on the back check for my PJ signature and post a pic on the group to let me know where you found it!