Good Friends are Like Stars

Original acrylic painting on hand-shaped Ballachulish slate with blue daisies and ladybugs. 

This painting is inspired by a beautiful card I recently received from a lovely person. The card really cheered me up, and I thought that there are others who have special people in their lives whom they don't often see in person, but they might like to remind them that they're always there. What better way to do that than with a unique piece of original artwork?

The slate began its journey in Ballachulish quarry, where I collected it as a rough and pointy bit of natural slate from a hard-to-reach place on the quarry cliffs. At home, I hammered it to a pleasant, rounded shape, brushed off the decades-old lichens and dirt, and finally, the slate was ready for painting. To make all the colors really stand out on the stone surface, I first painted everything in two layers of white undercoat, followed by at least another two layers of the actual colors. I saw blue daisies somewhere, and I thought they looked very unusual and special, just like a special friend in someone's life, and the blue happened to look great with the gold writing too.

The slate measures approximately 200 x 140 x 10 mm and is twice gloss varnished, giving the artwork a luxurious look, which is a far cry from its humble beginnings! This special slate painting is an ideal gift for a special friend and includes the black metal display stand.  

Would make an absolutely gorgeous Christmas gift for the one special friend in your life that you would wish to know that even if you don't see often, they are always in your heart.