Alchemy Crystals?
Seems I have become destined to start painting my mandala patterns on polished crystals, as well as on natural beach stones.
Painted on labradorite
It was originally my wife's suggestion that I put patterns on a set of massage stones, but I wasn't super warm on the idea... felt a little too contrived.
At shows, I have been asked by various "metaphysicians" whether I'd ever consider painting on things like rose quartz or labradorite and various others, instead of just the black basalt beach stones.
Anyway, my wife had this little piece of labradorite and she handed it to me and asked me if I would paint it for her "as a favor."
Which I promptly did.
After which it was agreed that I would at least give painting on crystal blanks (like "palmstones") a try, for a while, as a supplement to what I already do, but with special appeal to the New Age/alternative health/spirituality crowd.
A small group of tumbled crystal stones from a local gem trader we know
So, we headed off to visit a friend who's a local "rock hound" and crystal trader. And ended up with some nice tumbled and smooth pieces (above).
I suppose my main reservations about the project come in the form of worry about creating something that requires an investment in supplies to work. Most of these polished crystal pieces are going to cost somewhere between $3 and maybe $15, and that's going to have to be added to the price of the finished items. That, in contrast to beach stones being free.
I suppose only time will tell whether or not there's a market for it.
Growth
In other news, today I surpassed my total of work completed for all of 2023, and there are still 2 1/2 months to go in this strange year.
Finally got my largest pieces listed online
I keep pretty accurate records of my painting efforts, and I am slowly getting back to my creative output from before Covid.
Of course, just because I am starting on these new crystal pieces doesn't mean that I am giving up on the style I've been doing for years now. This is just an experiment, for now.
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If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
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2024.10.07 AS-TXT-282/252