Why stuff your pockets with lucky rocks? If you are a collector, especially of free treasures strewn on nature's paths, you know the impulse. These are divine scraps tossed down from the Olympian banquet to your very feet.
The shore of Lake Champlain at Shelburne is lined with millions of black stones with veins of white, each different. Of the visible millions, a few leap out and catch a roving eye. The crunch of a glacier eons ago left them with a surprisingly organized or appealing design. Will pocketing bring the magic home? And why on earth photograph a lucky rock? If collecting is to have and hold the magic, rendering by any medium is to preserve, show and broadcast.
Rock portraits have a curious appeal especially when the artifacts themselves are present. They were a draw at a recent exhibit. Some viewers wondered if I had painted the design or if the rocks were for sale. The display triggered thoughts and tales of their own collecting or simply triggered their own sense of wonder. Job done! Art, even at this ephemeral level, reorients the eyes to nature's magic. It's the job of the lucky rocks, and their portraits, to evoke wonder.
For a selection of framed lucky rock portraits, visit the shop.