alchemystones

Art and Creativity Journal: A Quick Beach Trip!

As I have mentioned, I was getting somewhat need of new ”raw materials” to paint stones on. So, when my wife decided to go use our neighborhood swim center, I t...

Art and Creativity Journal: This Week I Painted — Week One, 2026

Decided that every Monday I'm going to post (mostly as a record for my own benefit, but also to share) a recap of my new work completed during the previous week...

Art and Creativity Journal: Renewals, Endings and Creative Ambitions!

And so, we write 2026! I typically skirt around the whole issue of setting goals and making New Year's resolutions because I tend to fail miserably at such thin...

Art and Creativity Journal: Departing Thoughts for 2025

As I had hoped, this past week I have been able to spend a fair amount of time taking it easy and working on painting projects. That seven-day "dead period" bet...

Art and Creativity Journal: Holiday Lull and Creative Bursts

As we enter the last couple of weeks of 2025 I also find myself in that interesting period that I think of as a bit of a "no man's land." What I mean by that is...

Art and Creativity Journal: Another Show Season Comes to a Close

The final day of the final event of the 2025 arts and crafts show season has come and gone. All that remains now is to finish unpacking the show bins, organize ...

Art and Creativity Journal: And so, the Final Holiday Show of the Season!

It is the weekend of the final holiday arts and crafts/gift show of the 2025 season! My wife in our booth. Writing some of this "live" from the event, but thank...

Art and Creativity Journal: The Unexpected Evolution of Stone Painting

The whole idea of painting on stones has undergone quite an "evolution," since I first started doing this, some 15 years ago. In the beginning (around 2010) "pa...

Art and Creativity Journal: Showtime, Volume One

First event of the season starts — not surprisingly, given the time of the year — with a rainy morning. Thankfully, we live in a habitually wet part of the worl...

Art and Creativity Journal: Holiday Show Season Begins!

Holiday show season is upon us! In fact, this coming weekend we have our first event of the season. In actuality, tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon we will be going...

Art and Creativity Journal: Holidays, the Economy and Starving Artists

Sometimes I find myself contemplating the stereotypical myth of "the starving artist." Are artists really starving? Or do we just have excessive expectations of...

Art and Creativity Journal: Creativity and the "Dark Season"

Without a doubt, we are moving into the fall season. We have more and more cloudy days and when you combine that with the fact that the sun is setting earlier a...

Art and Creativity Journal: Seeking a Sense of Direction

I think it is natural to feel a significant amount of enthusiasm when we start in on something new. It could be a new approach to our art, a new approach to tim...

Art And Creativity Journal: Finally Some New Work!

As I wrote last time, I am putting a bit more effort into painting these days, and I have decided to focus a bit more on painting larger stones... which suits m...

Art and Creativity Journal: Learning From Studying Yourself

Lately, I have been continuing with the long and rather tedious process relisting all my available stones from various online sales venues to my shop on Etsy. O...

Art and Creativity Journal: The "Free" Dilemma

One of the hard-learned lessons I have worked my way through over the years is the inconsistency of people who (allegedly) purport of be admirers of art. Maybe ...

Art and Creativity Journal: Drilling Holes in (Extremely Hard) Stone!

Some years back, my wife suggested that we take some of the thinnest and the lightest stones we find when beach combing — mostly in smaller sizes — and drill ho...

Art and Creativity Journal: The Evolution of Spiral Stones

It is no secret that my stone designs — at least in part — draw inspiration from one of my favorite childhood toys: the Spirograph. Although I wasn't particular...

Art and Creativity Journal: Etsy Store Redesign Taking Shape

Well, it finally feels like I am experiencing a bit of "forward movement," here. After a bit of uncertainty and doubt, and some deliberation, I am moving ahead ...

Art and Creativity Journal: The World of Minor Re-Designs

I suppose it would be a pretty standard assumption to conclude that when an artist has "finished" a piece, then that piece is done, and it will never change. Th...