My art class was more than a class—it was a social club. We gathered together once a week to paint or draw. We each worked on our current project and our friends made suggestions or critiqued our art if we asked for help. We shared frustrations, successes, food, and family stories.
Then Covid-19 reared its ugly head and the door to art class closed. We anticipated that in a few weeks we would be able to return, but that didn’t happen. Loraine, our instructor, began to email a weekly challenge to us. We painted at home and emailed our pictures back to Loraine. She then shared them with us in an email each Tuesday and issued a new challenge.
Last spring Loraine challenged us to paint eggs, I didn’t feel like drawing or painting a picture of eggs. So, I didn’t. I collected egg-shaped rocks and painted them. I looked on You-Tube for ideas. I painted eggs, flowers, butterfliies and a cute little owl.
Painting rocks has been an ongoing tradition in our family. My daughters and I have happy memories of going to the plaster shop and buying small figures that were about 2-3 inches tall. They were fun to paint, but that got to be a little pricey after a while. And then the shop closed. Fern, my next-door neighbor, showed me some of the rocks that were painted at her church Bible Camp. New possibilities had arrived. On hot summer days I took my children to the Arroyo. We played in the stream and gathered rocks. Later we happily painted them. It was cheap fun. My children painted mice, frogs, and other critters. I painted ladybugs, bunnies, and frogs. Painted rocks were soon displayed in our house and in the flowerbeds outside.
Painted rocks—even if sprayed with Varathane—peel in the hot California sun. That’s just what happens. But the memory of gathering and painting rocks with my children remains.
It is fun, I have some rocks my daughter and I painted as herb markers. We were both adults! Thank you mentioning you put yours in your own yard, and how they peel. It’s a big problem in parks, local through national, now removing painted rocks. People think they are sharing, but the employees have to gather them and throw them out. They peel, animals lick the paint, and are not “natural” on a hike in a forest!
How great that there’s been an alternative way to stay in touch with your art class and participate in challenges. Hopefully, you’ll be able to return to in-person meetings in the not-to-distance future. I imagine there will be so much to catch up on. The idea of painting rocks is fun, and I love that you and your kids shared in the adventure.