Stone by Stone, Smile by Smile

We are going to go outside polymer art to find a little bit of joyful sunshine to round out this week’s more whimsical focus.

You might think these are polymer when you first glance at them, and when told they are not you might think ceramics or air dry clays, perhaps, but they are none of the above. The three-dimensional components here are almost exclusively painted stone. Michela Bufalini creates what she calls ‘pebbleart’. Her page does not readily translate from the Italian it is written in and what I could translate wasn’t always that clear, but here is the one quote I pulled in English that sums up the purpose of these pieces:

“The challenge of taking an object, that is generally considered to be of little interest or value, and turning it into a work of art is what inspires me to bring life and beauty to an otherwise ignored element of nature.”

I can only imagine that, in addition, she must let the shapes of the pebbles determine the forms of her elements, so that the stones at hand help in determining what is in the work as well as the composition. And then there is the inevitable inspiration received when the pieces assembled start to suggest more specific ideas as to what the creator can do with them.

So, although the work looks like it could be polymer, it is very far removed from our process because we can create any shape and texture while these stones have built-in limitations. Limitations, however, can be a wonderful thing. And I think the joy that emanates from these fun and colorful pieces attests to that.

Add a few more smiles to your day by spending a bit of time on Michela’s website. Like I said, the text on the site doesn’t easily translate, but the joy in the imagery is a universal language.

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