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Rock Art Newsletter- Spring 2003

It’s actually still March and officially not spring for another week or so, but after many inches of snow, racking up one of the highest snow-fall tallies in years here in the Ozarks, I find myself very ready for a new season to arrive.
Cold winter days are a perfect opportunity to stay inside painting. It’s something I never tire of doing, but like many rock painters, painting is only half the story. Going out and hunting for wonderful new shapes and sizes of rocks is a big part of what makes this such an exciting and stimulating hobby.  It is frustrating to know that there are beautiful rocks outside under al that snow and ice. Luckily, I toted in several boxes full of rocks and stored them in the basement.
Besides painting, cold weather also gives me the chance to spend hours in our local library looking for animal pictures.  Right now I’m working on the next rock book, Painting Zoo Animals on Rocks, and I’ve been combing through back issues of Ranger Rick and other nature magazines looking for photographs that will help me see new ways to fit animals onto rocks.  Finding a really good photo is right up there with finding a great rock shape!  Also, the non-fiction section of our library’s children’s section has yielded some wonderful pictures. There are also book series published that cover a wide range of animals. I found a little book all about hippos that was a great help.
There seem to be two schools of thought as to whether a rock painter should ever alter the shape of a rock.  Personally, I’m not big into rules.  For me, the fact that there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ when it comes to rock painting is just one more reason to love the medium.  Sometimes it’s just a wobbly base, a crack or hole that needs to be filled in or smoothed over. Other times, I find myself playing with new ideas. Recently I used regular household glue (the clear kind in the tube) to attach four small chips of gravel to the bottom of a rock. I left the rock alone overnight, and in the morning used wood putty to hide the joints where I’d attached the gravel pieces. I covered each one up and used the tip of a paintbrush handle to sculpt the putty and smooth the surfaces. The end result was a fat little hippo standing on four short but sturdy legs.  Using gravel meant I used a lot less putty, and didn’t have to coax it to stay in shape until it dried. Covering the additions with putty gave the construction the look of wholeness as though I’d cast the entire thing in clay.  Once painted, it’s nearly impossible to tell how the legs were added. It’s almost as it the rock ‘grew’ them!  Next I tried building up a giraffe’s long neck and head with glued gravel. When covered with a layer of wood putty, my giraffe is quite amazing to look at.  I love the idea of stretching the boundaries and blurring the distinctions between painting and sculpting. The best part of these contructions is that I don’t have to have an expensive kiln and clay and glazes to make something spectacular!
The newest rock  painting magazine is due out around Easter. This issue will have a cheetah on the cover.  Wandra Dees is a Guest Artist, sharing how she paints her awesome, life-like fish. There are several other never-before-published projects. One is for a Garden Elf that was just wonderful fun to paint! I hope he will inspire rock painters to see even more possibilities in the rocks they are picking up.
As always, I invite your input, your thoughts and tales of your adventures in Rock Painting. I plan on attending the Society of Decorative Painting Convention being held in Indianapolis June 12-14.   The week after that Wandra Dees, one of the founders of the Rock Painting Club on Yahoo, will host the 4th annual “Rock Painter’s Get-Together in Golden, MO, about half an hour from Branson in the heart of the Ozarks. Anyone wishing for more information can check out the website that has been set up to answer questions: 
http://www.geocities.com/peaceful_pastures

Keep Rockin’
Lin
 

Lin Wellford
Stone Menagerie
www.linwellford.com
 
 

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