TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

PAINTED ROCK GARDEN

 Ok yes I know A Rock is not a Card.  But it can be Art and a card is Art right?  It's not like I haven't ventured away from cards before.  I sometimes get into this funk.  I have no idea what I feel like making so I head over to Pinterest for inspiration.  We a few weeks ago I was in one of those funks.  We were getting ready to get up to our summer place but things were delayed due to oral surgery scheduling.  I was not a happy camper at all because it seems like e are never going to get back to our normal.  I just wanted to get back to the beach, sit and watch the waves, listen to the Gulls and watch the pelicans swim by before the craziness of the 4th of July festivities started but noooooo....the oral surgeon could not get his schedule right and things kept getting postponed.  So FUNK CITY came to me.  I had decided one morning before hitting Pinterest to read the local newspapers from our summer place and there stood my inspiration!  A local Girl Scout group made a painted rock garden in honor of a school mate who had died tragically.  People are encouraged to add an inspiration rock to the garden or take one if they need one.  I thought this was such a beautiful idea and tribute and it was my inspiration for mine with a little twist.  Here is there tribute garden.

I know it's blurry but it's a screen shot.

Living on the beach not much grows so I don't have usual gardens.  There isn't alot that will grow in sand.  I thought this would be perfect in the little grassy area near the driveway.  When my son arrived at the cottage I showed him the picture and asked him to create a similar area for me.  We have alot of limestones on the property so he just had to go gather some.  I was then going to have the grandkids start my garden my painting the first rocks to live in the garden.  Well my sons idea and mine are tow different renditions.  LOL  I came home to find this!



Now I'll have to say my first impression was OMG he made me a burial plot.  Complete with a tombstone with pinwheel flags.  Ok he got the Pinwheels right.  Now in his defense, he did offer to reconfigure the whole thing.  I declined.  I decided as is it was a definite conversation piece.  No one would believe me if I had him re do it.  So we left it as is and we will try and make this work.  The grandkids did start with the first addition of rocks and the next set of kids will be arriving the middle of August and will add their rocks.  I'm hoping to paint a few of my own too.  



As for the Pinwheels.......if you paint a rock you sign the Pinwheel.  I will arrange those differently later and do an update on this post at another time.  

Now as for the rocks.  They are all rocks found on the property and are painted with plain acrylic paints.  I did have them sprayed with sealer so hopefully they will withstand the weather.  Ideally if I had been thinking, I would have bought Patio Paints which are made for out door projects.  I'm probably going to add a clay pot mushroom here and there for interest too.  The grandkids and I made some for the gardens back home and they are super cute.  This garden can grow and grow.  Every year the kids are here their rainy day project can be a new rock for the garden.  I plan on covering it with a tarp over the winter for protection.  Maybe the more painted rocks the less like a burial plot this will look like LOL.


Til next time!