one of our favourite things to do on holiday is to paint pebbles. there’s something just so irresistible about beachcombing or wading in shallow river water for weathered stones and pebbles, filling pockets and buckets and then sorting them out later at home. fat ones, thin ones, smooth or rough ones, long ones and skinny ones, spotted or plain, red, grey, blue, green, orange or pale – they all have potential to be transformed with a few simple strokes of a paintbrush.
we decorate ours with words, faces, or just paint them with patterns. somehow we nearly always end up with fish – just add a shard of beach-worn glass or china for a tail and a fin, a few strokes with a brush and some paint and the humble stone is transformed into a fabulous fish. a coat of clear varnish seals them forever. we can never bear to give ours away, but they make wonderful presents. we keep a collection of our favourites stuck in an old wooden cigar box that belonged to my grandfather.
this is a fun holiday activity for all ages. it’s so important to nurture children’s creativity. as picasso said ‘every child is an artist. the problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up’.
teresa
speaking of picasso... hedgehog recommends:
museu picasso in barcelona
picasso museum in paris