Thought I would paint my rock this morning as one of the first things I do for the day! Since I’ve set the task of painting a rock a day for the WHOLE of 2011! (7pm – I just finished painting my rock!)

I’ve been meaning to paint this rock for a while and it’s such a beautiful rock, it’s a work of art on it’s own with a slight tinge of red running through, lines of blue and a lovely texture. It is an unusual shape; I always try and look for the unusual ones or the ones that jump out at me. And it’s bigger than the other rocks I’ve painted.

And now that I’ve finished, I’ve realised that this rock is for me and is a reminder to me to live a balanced life. It is about connection to Papatūānuku, to the land; looking after the environment and looking after ourselves.
When I first started painting rocks back in 1998, I was living in Auckland and had gathered some rocks back home in Taranaki when I was there. There was something about them that made me want to hold them. They had a definite energy that was ancient. Two years later, I got an urge to move home to Taranaki. The maunga, the moana and the whenua were calling me home. And so I’ve been painting rocks ever since.
I’m living in the East now, but seven years in Taranaki with this amazing resource at my fingertips, I felt like I was in heaven and today appreciate having access to this beautiful natural resource.

And so each rock that I created became a story…
…and a gift which is why the name ‘koha-tu’ is so fitting for them. ‘Koha’ is a gift and ‘tu’ means ‘to stand’ but in this case means significant or special. So ‘koha-tu’ for me means ‘special gift’.
So if this is your first time here, go over to my website http://handpaintedrocks.com to check out some of my whakaaro (thoughts) about the kohatu and flick through my photos in this album to see what I have painted so far. Today is DAY 5!! Also check out my note of the day where I talk about this project and why I am doing this. For those of you who are already at my blog -see the posts below.
Mā te wā – until then
Arohanui,
Jo 🙂