Saturday, September 13, 2008

Late Summer Patio Ritual


Every summer, I paint a rock. Just one rock. I've been doing this for years, ever since my daughter came for a visit and she brought a bag of rocks to paint. She had taken a class, or learned the technique from someone. I don't remember. She was good at painting animals and such, but I stuck to adding random colors without any plan. It is very relaxing, for some odd reason.


I just added this summer's rock. I keep them in a shallow pot on the patio. This time of year, it is a little cooler in the evenings, so sitting on the patio is tolerable. Every once in a while, I go through the pot, pull out a rock, and remember the events of the year I painted it. It is an odd ritual, but I enjoy it. And, as an added bonus, the pot of colorful rocks serves as yard art!

15 comments:

Claude said...

Those are so way cool...

what a great ritual. I love the pic!

walk2write said...

How talented you are! I love that moon rock. It's so expressive. My very artistic sister-in-law did this type of painting for a while, and it was amazing what she could "draw out" of the rock to give it personality.

Teri said...

Oh fun! I do rock painting also but mostly of DeGrazia figures. Love yours.

Anonymous said...

I love this idea. I hope you don't mind if I copy it. This is perfect for our Tucson patio.

Anonymous said...

That's a great little ritual.

kesslerdee said...

They are just beautiful! You are very talented! I love how you do one a year, that is a really neat ritual!
I have a niece who collects heart shaped rocks, and her collection is amazing. I have big rocks scattered here and there in the yard- helps to guide the hose! :)
Have a wonderful Saturday!

Rock rose said...

What a wonderful idea to add color to the garden. Mind you you have lots of color from you everblooming cacti. I have a couple of stones that are painted with animals. A cute raccoon and a little dog. My granddaughter loved them.

WiseAcre said...

I admit those are nice and look great huddled together. Kind of reminds me of Easter Eggs. And anything that brings back memories is always good.

But please promise you will never paint any boulders white and set them at the end of the driveway. I love rocks and I hate to see them defaced.

I'll think of yours as kids going to the fair and getting their faces painted.

Anonymous said...

They do look like Easter eggs. If I ever tried this, my kids would join in and never want to stop.

beckie said...

Aiyana, what a great tradition. Having no artistic talent myself, I am in awe of those who do. How fun to look back at other year's rocks and remember.

Jean said...

What a great way to "remember" your summers! Love all the bright colors.

Julie said...

Now, Aiyana...you are full of tricks that you haven't mentioned before!!! This is just genius...I am going to start something like this...but first must find a rock somewhere in south Florida.....hmmm...that could be a trick in itself!

Kylee Baumle said...

Aiyana, what a great thing to do! Is it just me, or does the one in the lower right corner look like an Oreo cookie with a bite out of it? I love the one on the lower left corner with the reddish background and the black and green with polka dots.

Aiyana said...

Thanks for all the comments!
Wiseacre, I will never do anything like that! I love rocks too. These are all pretty nondescript river rocks. They just needed a little makeup to look grand. The unusual one in the middle is not painted--it didn't need any embellishment.
Kylee, you have a good eye. That rock looked just like an Oreole cookie to me, so I painted it just like the cookie. Lot's of fun.
Aiyana

Barbara said...

That's a wonderful idea, to paint stones as a reminder of what happened during the year. I love this ritual. Your garden will be full of colored "memories" with all the years to come.