Art and Creativity Journal: Learning From Studying Yourself
Lately, I have been continuing with the long and rather tedious process relisting all my available stones from various online sales venues to my shop on Etsy.
One of the plus sides to doing this is that I get to see first hand what seems to mostly be available, and what always seems to be in short supply.
What I have learned from this is that there is a bit of a dichotomy.
On one hand, it seems like people are always asking for little things they can get for $10-$15 — on the other hand, what I seem to never have available are the larger "showpiece" type stones that typically sell for $60.00 and up.
As I start to claw my way back towards some minimal level of creativity I've been painting a little, and rather unexpectedly I have been able to sit down with some of my largest blank stones and start work on them.
I have always preferred the challenges presented by creating larger designs... but I haven't been able to justify the time spent. Until now.
Of course reality might prove me wrong once we get around to the holiday season and to doing holiday shows but I'm hopeful that I am learning here that we might actually be able to make more big sales!
In truth, this is not as easy as it might seem, because one of the things that originally led me towards making smaller pieces is the fact that it's much easier to find modest sized stones on the beach — stones that are smooth enough to warrant being painted. Large paintable stones are actually quite rare, as most of them have chips and pits in them that make them impossible to paint, at least in the level of detail I prefer.
I went for a beachcombing trip a couple of weeks ago and I was fortunate enough to find 4 fairly large stones right about the time I was getting ready to head home. Normally it would take me months and months to get around to them... mostly because of a lack of faith that I'd be able to sell them but this go around they have actually been the first thing I've been painting.
At the moment they're out in the garage getting their finish coats, and it's my hope that I'll be able to take some good pictures of them here in the next few days and share them here as well!
On the subject of sharing, I'm also back to wanting to make a concerted effort to keep up with my art and creativity blog on a more regular basis. As always it is a lack of time that gets in the way, necessitated by a life that increasingly demands that I must be working at something income producing pretty much around the clock.
Recently, I have actually been sleeping better and that gives me a little more focused energy than I have had this past year and I realized that some of that cotton woolery head has been due to inadequate sleep.
Thank You!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support!
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2025.09.01 AS-TXT-342/312