An ARTISTE I Am NOT!

The desert is not on fire, but it sure felt like it last night as the sun went down and the temperatures zoomed up to 90 degrees.  There's not much worse to ruin your night's sleep than having too many covers with too many dogs, not to mention too many LOUD trains.

Sometimes those trains can sneak by without hardly a whisper.  Then there's the four last night that I could hear fifteen minutes before they arrived with engines screaming so loud they vibrated the entire house.  THAT of course causes the house to creak and groan long after the train is gone.  Burglars ... it MUST be burglars!  Needless to say I'll be napping on the couch most of the day.

One thing I've never gotten into much is art.  I'm not an artist or even an artiste, but sometimes I have the urge to create something beyond quilts.  It probably comes from being easily bored.  You may have seen some of the painted rocks people hide nowadays.  Mostly painted by kids I might add.

It's almost like geocaching, only you get to keep these treasures if you so desire.  Some you find can even be recorded online and either kept or re-hidden.  I've seen some amazing patterns on some, called mandalas.  Something about being one with the universe.  That's really not my thing .... I just like the pretty rocks!!

So when Patty and I went to Joann's yesterday, I picked up some paint.  Now all I needed was a rock. I walked outside, looked down and there was the PERFECT canvas.  Sort of round and smooth.  How lucky could I be!!

Not having a clue how to do this, I watched a few You-Tube videos for some instruction.  With everything set up ... paper plate, paint, newspaper for the mess and of course the TV control ... I set to work.

I knew those drill bits would come in handy SOME time.  According to the videos, that was the best implement to paint with.  No paint brushes required.  A trip to Harbor Freight should provide me with all the "brushes" I need.

So here's my very first attempt at art.  Not exactly perfect but it was rather fun to create something pretty out of a rock.  I set it aside to dry.

Hmmmmm I need more rocks!!  A walkabout in the yard produced nothing.  River rock is the name of the game, but there aren't any rivers here.  I should have kept all those rocks I picked up on the Oregon and Washington coastlines.  

When I heard the doorbell ring out front, knowing it was a religious group canvassing the neighborhood, I didn't answer the door.  What I DID was peek out the blinds to see if they were gone, and what should appear but an entire truckload of river rock along my front walkway.  EUREKA!!

They are even colored like Easter eggs!!  I tried my hand with some different colors.  It's a tad harder than I thought since my hands aren't always as steady as a rock (see what I did there?) but for my second try, it's not bad.  

Unfortunately I didn't notice when I purchased the paints that these were pearlescent.  Definitely not my first choice.  Oh well ... I'm going to be using a lot of it since it hardly takes a quarter teaspoon to do an entire rock.  

When dry, you spray it with clear sealer.  Since the wind was blowing, I sprayed it in the garage and almost asphyxiated myself.  I won't do that again, mostly because I really like the natural rock look better.

You are probably thinking she's got rocks in her head, and to be quite honest after seeing how pretty these turned out, I really DO.  Now to find a friends garden, RV or flower pot to hide them in!!