Saturday, March 13, 2010

more fun with rocks

The baby I've been taking care of is now 15 months old. (That whole thing about how quickly they grow up is cliche for good reason.) I've tried to stay connected with the girls I was with for the previous five years, and had a lunch date with the older one last weekend... but we weren't hungry.

I had brought along two painted rocks and a paint pen, so we sat outside in the sunshine and I explained how I had painted a bunch of rocks and that I had hidden one in a tree at the park. I suggested that we write on the rocks I'd brought and then hide them for people to find... She thought for a few seconds and said, "But what if they take them?" She seemed a bit perplexed when I said that that would be perfect. :)

Her idea for the purple rock was CAT. After a bit of carefully played discussion, we ended up with the cat's pajamas theme. With the creative juices flowing, her first suggestion for the yellow rock was much more elaborate... "How about you smell like a tomato?" And then, "what about you smell like a zucchini?" Oh, she's funny. (She really is an extraordinarily funny kid.) Then she suggested you smell sweet, which is how we ended up with the final product above. We placed the yellow rock on a shelf in the children's section at Borders, but I could tell she was having a hard time parting with the purple rock, so I offered her the option of taking it home. She graciously accepted.

A few weeks ago, I went to check on the Play! rock, and it was still there! It has been rained on and snowed on, so the paint is wonderfully peely and cracked. I hope that someone has seen it and just chose to leave it for other people to find.

*The same day that I went to check on the rock, we were walking around the park and saw a little Yorkie running around. She stopped and appeared to be getting ready to tinkle, but instead she lifted her hind legs off the ground.

We looked at her, looked at each other in disbelief, looked back at her, and LAUGHED. She just gave us this what?? kind of look and trotted off. We'd bring it up and giggle for the rest of the day. I just wish I'd had my camera ready.

4 comments:

Matt Press said...

Yay for my favorite guerilla art fairy! I can't say enough how much I love this about you! Keep sprinkling your magic all about you, my dear!

Steph said...

I love, love, love these rocks!

julie said...

Okay, we are TOTALLY making those rocks! Paint pen, got it, but did you just coat it first in acrylic? Love it.

Also? Love, love, LOVE the pillowcases!!! We're DEF going to graffiti them and then I'm going to sew them into dresses for the girls.

Anna said...

I'm so glad y'all are enjoying the rocks. :) I find that the paint colors turn out much better if I do a coat of white gesso first, but if you have really light rocks it may not make too much of a difference. Have fun!