Rockin' Rock

I have a paperweight I really like. There are many artists and crafters at our church and the leadership decided to hold a December arts fair to let the artists show and sell their work. It was also nice for the rest of the fellowship as they got to do some Christmas shopping. Among the mostly adult artists was Emily, a 10 year old girl with painted rocks. I absolutely loved that she was there. I love that her parents have so affirmed her as a person and so encouraged her creativity that she had the drive and confidence to set up a table and sell her painted rocks. I simply had to buy one. She had a ladybug, a rainbow, and some other subjects painted on her rocks. And then there was this one different rock. It just had some dabs of colors painted on it. I loved the abstract nature of it and I loved that this little girl chose to paint abstractly on one of her rocks.

I was attracted to this rock for another reason. When our church does its once a month prayer night, called Sacred Space, they always have a "Praying in Color" table with paper and markers. I always start at this prayer station because it helps me settle down and doodle my way through the transition from the busyness of the day to a quiet heart ready to pray. At the December 2007 Sacred Space, they had little cards printed with words like Prince of Peace and Emmanuel for us to decorate and possibly use as Christmas ornaments. Here is one of the ones I did. I have kept it in my Bible ever since because I just really like it.

And then, I painted a composition book cover with that design.

It’s the journal I’m currently using. I didn’t originally intend to leave the white spaces between patches but didn’t have much choice because I didn't want to risk the colors mixing. And I couldn't paint a second coat because I wanted the directional brush strokes to show. I think it looks a little like a psychedelic giraffe, but I still really like the concept.

So, I was pretty amazed to find Emily’s rock. I think it’s pretty cool that we both like this kind of abstract display of colors. I like everything this paperweight represents: the coincidence of design, her confidence and creativity, and her parents’ obvious nurturing and affirming encouragement. Emily’s rock rocks. In fact, Emily rocks!