Art & Design: The Joy of CREATING Something Entirely by Hand!

In the ten years or so I have been painting on stones — and especially as the designs have evolved to become ever more complex — I inevitably get asked whether mandalas people are looking at are "transfers" or "computer graphics."

This happens, in particular, when we go to street fairs or festivals and set up a booth in a location where a broad cross section of the world looks at the work.

At the "in-between" stage: The painting of the design is done, next they get a clear finish coat to protect the design.

"Hand Made:" A Lost Talent?

No, everything you see is done 100% by hand; the designs themselves are created 100% free-hand as I go along — there are no stencils, cheat marks, photographs or anything else.

I simply sit down with a stone and start creating a design.

I have no plan, or preconceived notion about the final result. I just have some colors, and a stone... and I more or less allow the mandala to"design itself" as I go along.

Sometimes it works really well, and sometimes I come up with something that's only fit to be tossed out in the back yard, or back on the beach!

This often surprises people.

Maybe it's testament to the technological age in which we live... but as the years pass by, it almost feels like a large segment of society is completely losing touch with what it means to create something with your hands.

We get so used to being able to "find an app that does that" that we perhaps lose sight of the core concept that the process of creating something by hand is an essential form of expression... not to mention that it is often very cathartic.

And it is definitely quite different from issuing some instructions to an app. Or using your fingers — or even a stylus — on a screen.

Case Study: Fountain Pens and Typing

Many years ago, I worked in a shop that sold — among other things — new and vintage fountain pens. This was during the relatively early days of email, but the broader idea of everything being typed on the computer was no longer new.

Interestingly enough, we saw quite an upsurge in the sales of fountain pens... almost as a sort of backlash against machine generated text. Or so it felt.

A friend at the time was also a psychiatrist (and a collector of fountain pens) at the U.T. San Antonio Medical Center and his — quite well-informed — opinion was that not only were many people missing the tangible feel of pen on paper, but studies had recently been made (using fMRI equipment) to show that writing my hand used the same parts of the brain as used during the creation of art, while typing used a whole different (less creative) part of the brain.

Bringing this full circle to my painted Alchemy Stones, I would never make "stencils" or "transfers" to put on stones, even if it were much faster, easier, cheaper and more profitable.

So Yes, the Stones are 100% Free-Hand Painted!

Painting the intricate designs on the stones is about the PROCESS of creating something entirely by hand, much more than about the finished outcome.

Of course I care about the finished outcome, and aesthetic appeal and such things. But without the creative process itself, Alchemy Stones would be nothing more than "rocks with a pretty design on them."

The other thing — which seems somehow significant — is that there is no "undo" or "backspace" when you create by hand. Somehow, you are making a greater "commitment" to what you are working on.

Thanks for reading, and sharing in this creative journey!

In the next installment, I will start exploring the spiritual and somewhat "woo-woo" side of Alchemy Stones and how they came to be.

Have a great day!

2019.02.10 AS-TXT-005
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