Chipping, etching, cutting, pecking, incising, and staining were all once the methods used by communicators and artists to convey their messages. From the dawn of civilisation, some art forms were conveyed on rocks, whether it was for utility or for creative expression, and the practice has been around ever since. But lately, artists have been mixing it up and rocking down the house with some innovative applications on rock art, and it has been catching everyone’s attention.

Paintings on rocks are some of the most interesting sights, because most artists don’t choose very large stones. The result is a small — sometimes even miniature — painting that shows depth and texture and takes on a life of its own based on the indentations, and interesting ‘nooks and crannies’ that form the identity of the stone. Natasha Pasmore, a 20-year veteran and self-taught artist, will proudly tell you, “I always failed art, all throughout high school and in CXC, but here I am still doing my thing.”

Pasmore works with rocks and although she uses other media, is most captivated by rocks. “They are not necessarily flat surfaces, and the imperfections are a source of inspiration. I might paint a bush because a piece of the stone juts out a bit more than the rest; it all depends on the stone.” Many artists will use any stone that they think they can work with, but they have a ‘usual spot’ where they know they can always find what they need. Pasmore is one such artist; her spot, the grounds of Greenwich in the Blue Mountains. “I ask my mom and my friends to bring stones for me, but most of my stones come from Greenwich because they do have to come from somewhere special. I don’t want to take them up off the roadside; I’m not working with marl,”she says.

Artists who carve rocks tend to take an even more discriminatory approach when choosing stones, as their experience and comfort level will determine whether or not they work with them. Barbara Walker, a Portland-based artist, works primarily with soapstone, which is not readily available in Jamaica. She works with the pieces that she brought back with her from her 17-year stay in Germany, where she had a studio specially for carving rocks. “Alabaster is local, and woods are local, so I use those, and alabaster and marble come from the same family as soapstone, providing great alternatives –but I really like working with soapstone,” she says. Soapstone is the softest of ‘the family’ due to its high talc content, and is graded one on the Mohs mineral hardness scale (alabaster is 1.5 to 2, and marble is 3). Wouldn’t carving such a soft stone be difficult? “Oh yes, you have to be extremely careful working with soapstone because it’s so soft; if you rush your work, or you’re too aggressive, you can lose a lot of it simply because you lose too much of the stone,” says Walker. “I have to use a combination of carving, chipping, filing, sanding because the stones are very delicate, but I still really like the feel of soapstone,” she added.

Rocks have been taking shape and gaining an inescapable presence in alternative art forms in recent years. Rough, untouched pieces have been making their way into jewellery, office accessories, and even home décor. Home furnishings, such as lamps and tables, have been completely constructed using different naturally occurring stones. What’s impressive are the carved or chiselled stones that reveal a sculpture that serves as the base of an accent or dining table. Some artists even use pebbles to “bejewel” resins, woods, and other stones.

Anji Worton, an artist and art teacher at Hillel Academy, enjoys working with rocks of all kinds. “You can be inspired by so many different ones, because no two are alike,” she says, “And as an art teacher it is important to teach that you don’t have to spend a lot of money on materials or look to a traditional canvas to create your art.” Worton recently created a collection of paperweights made of rocks that collectors at the recent staging of the Liguanea Art Festival snapped up. She admits to giving a few pieces away. “That’s the great thing when your materials don’t cost so much — when someone comes around and sees a piece that they really love, you can give it to them because you are extending the life of the piece,” she shares.

Here in Jamaica, where many homes have wrought-iron grille work as a security measure, more people are increasingly choosing aesthetically pleasing grille work in artistic impressions of wrought iron, and even these sometimes include rocks. The rocks found in these “burglar bars” can be painted, or not, and some have a bronze or copper finish, giving the illusion they are nuggets. These large, unfinished pieces tend to look suspended in the grille and can cause even the most stylised grille to look abstract.

Rock artists can be considered some of the most adventurous artists, as no point in their process can be predetermined. The paintings can vary significantly based on the rocks used. The uncertainty about the integrity of the stones can cause those who carve to embrace a different vision of their piece. The irregular shapes can trigger the most abstract works to be created. In the meantime, the rage goes on, and a table base a rock artist was working on has cracked into four pieces. Now it may just have to be a series of accent carvings for the discernible collector who loves the fact that there will never be another series quite like theirs.