I live in an area close to the bay and I have been walking the beaches searching for rocks since I was a small child. Some are covered in barnacles or seaweed, but there are lots and lots of rocks. Our beaches have some sand but are not the kind of beaches you'd walk barefoot.
I've played with rock shapes before in my artwork, both in an obvious stacked formation like a cairn, but also just the inclusion of circular shapes or formations.
This is one of my first rock stacks. It is a monoprint with stitching created during the #100dayproject in 2021.
My found texture exploration last fall was partly to create some new gel-printed papers that would work well as rock textures for new collages. I've since cut up many of those printed papers into rock shapes, like the ones in this photo.
So far I've created a variety of smaller works with these papers, but I'm planning on working larger with this idea as well.
I realize that some people may feel my rocks too colorful or not realistic enough, but honestly I can find the entire rainbow walking local beaches. The colors look especially brilliant when still wet from the tide going out.
Here are a few favorite rocks I've been looking at for inspiration lately.
My collection mostly sits on a window sill in front of my work area. The smaller ones are grouped in jars based on features like rings/lines, spots, two-in-one, and most colorful. The large or odd shaped ones just squeeze into any available space on the ledge.
Anyone else have a love of rocks or a collection that inspires your work?