All of my current work is painted on pebbles. I chose this medium because it is small and hand-sized and I like things that I can hold in my hand. I'm a very tactile person and what I love about these pebbles is that you can hold them while you gaze at them, that you can appreciate not just their aesthetic from a visual standpoint but also their weight and feel as well.
I have my own collection of hand-painted pebbles that I call my "Pebble Garden", and I like to tend to it, gently dusting it and moving the order of the pebbles around so that they tell a different story. Sometimes the dogs like the cats, and sometimes they do not want to be anywhere near them. Sometimes the rabbit is happy to be up against the snowy forestscape, and sometimes this makes him feel far too chilly.
This whole journey started Christmas 2023, when I brought some paint marker pens and some pebbles for my other half. They were meant to encourage and inspire him to be more creative, to add some play into his far too much corporate work day. But instead of him it was I who was inspired and who has taken this painting on small and rounded things and things with changing textures journey. I've long been an artist, but in different mediums and also not for a while. I used to do intricately detailed drawings in pen and ink, and then knitted textile art, and then detailed and intricate embroideries. Always it has had a fascination with fantasy, and also animals. And always it has been a way for me to make sense of and better understand my own story. But it's always been on flat things and things that are rectangular or square, and often quite a bit bigger than a pebble. So this has been a new learning experience and a novel adventure.
I hope that my painted pebbles inspire you to be more creative too and to remember the importance of experimentation and play in amongst the regular and routine of your structured day to day.