Recently, @yangyanje invited me to join the newly formed Hive Rocks community.
I'm typically not much of a "joiner," but this is something I feel comfortable getting behind.
What is "Hive Rocks?"
It is a Hive-based worldwide creative community project in which artists (and basically anyone creative) paint designs on beach stones, mark them on the back with the community's information, then leave them in public places for others to find.
Although the idea behind "Hive Rocks" is not exactly new, the idea of having such a group on the Hive Blockchain is definitely new, and the idea of having such a rock painting group be Global instead of local is also new!
I encourage you to read more about newly formed "Hive Rocks Community" in the introductory post, here!
One of my own painted Mandala Stones
Some Broader Background
This project is also near and dear to my heart, on a more personal level: I live just down the road from the seaside town of Port Angeles, Washington, USA where the very first "Community Rocks" initiative was born, back in 2015 when an unnamed creative person started leaving what was then called "Peace Rocks" around the city of some 20,000 people.
A local artist Aisha Lesh liked the idea so much that she wanted to expand its scope, so she started "Port Angeles Rocks" with a small group of creative friends. You can read about the group's early days in this regional newspaper article from the spring of 2016.
Little did Aisha know that Port Angeles Rocks would serve as the "seed" for a worldwide community movement that has since grown to an estimated 1,700+ local, regional and general rock painting groups around the world, at last estimate involving somewhat more than four million people! This according the the latest tabulation by the Rock Group Map keepers on Facebook.
A whole tray of painted rocks!
Fun Publicity Opportunity for Hive!
@yangyanje's initiative is also a wonderful opportunity for Hive because every painted rock is marked with the "origin group" information, and this is a tremendous way to spread awareness of the Hive name — quite literally — all around the world!
I say this, because it is a tremendously popular idea that's community oriented, creative AND for the whole family! It's by no means limited to "fine artists."
And Hive has something none of the other rock painting groups can offer: A system to reward the rock painters for their efforts! Of course, this project is not really about money, it's about having fun and being creative!
Yes, there are THAT many people interested in painting on rocks!
Creative Coin and CCCF Support?
Meanwhile, "Hive Rocks" is very much in the formative stages, but I did want to give a quick shoutout to @cliffagreen and his @cccf initiative which is bringing new life to the @creativecoin tribe.
I am hoping there might be the possibility of some kind of partnership/collaboration that could be arranged? This seems like a great project that might "get legs" and spread the word about Hive in a somewhat unorthodox fashion, while also benefiting the creative spirit on Hive.
I say this, knowing that "Port Angeles Rocks" grew from one person's idea to more than 7,000 members in their Facebook group (last I checked) and I live right across the bay from the home of "Whidbey Island Rocks" which — with its 27,400 members and counting — is the largest rock painting group on record... that I know of (see screen shots above).
Hive Rocks' core admin team includes several very visible long-time Hiveans, including @nathanmars, @brittandjosie, @phoenixwren, @jurich60, and behind this creative alias, I am @denmarkguy.
Let's start with something simple...
Anyway...
Anyway, our electricity went out last Monday because a tree fell on the main power lines into town, so there was no regular work I could do.
However my creative workspace is well enough lit by natural light that I could paint stones. So above and beyond painting some of my regular mandala stones, I also started on the first stone for "Hive Rocks."
I chose to start with a simple design of a tree in autumn... since this IS an autumn storm. I normally paint mandala designs, but chose something more figurative.
Added some grass below, and your basic red and white "fly agaric" mushroom which still needs a few white dots!
Now I just need to spray the design with a protective weatherproof varnish so it can safely be left outside somewhere to be found. But before that, though, I need to put the right markings on the back so people can find their way to Hive!
You have to start somewhere!
I am excited about this project... and I hope we can get it up and running, and get many Hiveans around the world painting rocks and leaving them around their part of the world.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!
20% of the rewards from this post goes to the Hive Rocks Community account!
Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support!
My Alchemy Stones Patreon appeal
Alchemy Stones web site and blog
Regardless, your upvotes and comments are always appreciated!
Thank you for supporting independent art!
2021.11.19 AS-TXT-067/033
Cool love this, full suport!
!BEER
!invest_vote
Thank you, appreciate it! Very early days yet, but much more to come on this!
Thanks for the mention. I usually covered the stones I collected with crochet motifs so, I am new to stone painting what paint will I need to start the project? @alchemystones I love your tree stone painting...so, beautiful!
Most people use some kind of acrylic paint; oil-based paint markers work really well, too.
The trick is finding super-smooth rocks to paint on, and then when you're done with your painting, seal both your painted design AND the back markings with a good weatherproof sealant.
Thank you much.
Ooh I really like your tree design a lot! I still happily have my mandala stone from you that I won in a steembay auction long ago (remember steembay? lol).
I will have to take a break from settling into the new apartment and paint some rocks soon...
!LUV
Thank you! Yes, I remember the old "SteemBay;" I always hoped the guys would pick it back up here on Hive, but evidently not.
You've hand your hands full recently, but it sounded like a project you might be interested in... loosely related to things like chalking messages in a neighborhood.
More to come!
@phoenixwren(1/1) gave you LUV | wallet | market | connect | <><
So how exactly are they being directed to HIVE?
"I need to put the right markings on the back so people can find their way to Hive!" how does that look like?
Please read the hive rock community intro post.
✅ ok
The short version is that the back of each painted stone would be marked with "Hive Rocks," and then the URL of the group (depending on which front end you use to get to hive) and your Hive username... at a minimum.
I plan to add some tutorials as we go along that will hopefully be helpful.
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