Wall art from rock slabs (slices)

[hobbitlady]

  This is a framed piece of 1/2 inch plywood covered with collector rock slabs.  Came out Heavy,yeah, and I drilled right through it and put screws into the back of DH's kitchen shelving (no hanging wire for This thing)-with his blessing o'course!    It faces our dining room.  We both Love looking at it every day.

The outstanding patterns are mostly from old collections I was able to grab at rockhound sales or shows over many years. About 4 of them we did find and saw ourselves.

  I  used  aquarium gravel to fill in-between the slabs. I call it the "creekbed effect". haha. Then I oh-so-carefully brushed over all with spar urethane.  The latter step is Very easy to mess up one way or another and I ended up doing 1/4 of the picture at a time.  

  FYI no self-respecting lapidary Ever puts a fake finish on; to polish a rock. I'm old enough to 'have no shame' as well as not the time or stamina to work rock all day for weeks...
These beautiful rough sliced rocks sat in boxes,unseen for years already. Finally deciding to do This was real exciting and rewarding for me. 

I used to have photobucket and just spent over an hour finding and setting up a new host after sifting through threads here! Imgur was easiest for me.

Mari: since I Know you are a "rock nut" too and will find this post with the speed of light,rofl,I want to say I love your tumbling thread. I just haven't gotten to putting "likes" or comments on it yet!!!

[solargeek]

Let me be your first "love" As I definitely more than like it! That is beautiful. You are very talented.

[Deleted]

That is beautiful!!!

There's a guy on the west coast somewhere who buys agate from several local rockhounds, slices them, polishes, and then makes lampshades out of them. Some of you people are so creative!

[Woodpecker]

That sure is pretty what a creative imagination you have!!! It looks awesome & you have it displayed so nicely.... Nice, fun work!

[Mari-in-IN]

That is indeed beautiful hobbitlady!  You are obviously very creative and talented - that is cool that you have made it a part of your house and that ya'll can enjoy it every day.  Thanks so much for sharing.

Ha!  You must have gotten those likes on the tumbling thread sometime later.  I came on here not long after I got up and saw the number 13 above "Profile".  I was thinking to myself - "Wow - what did I say?"    Most of them were from you...  I must go back and reread through the tumbling thread.  That was mighty fun!

You know, I kind of thought a looooong time ago you had shared pics of some of your rocks outside of your house - perhaps on shelving?  I think I'll do a little digging to see if I am just imagining that...
It's so good to have you back...
~Mari

[Mari-in-IN]

Found it!!

hobbitlady, those pics made quite the impression on me.  Absolutely out of this world!  I wish I could see something like that in person...

homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/thread/3992/rock-lovers?page=2

~Mari

[Deleted]

Very pretty. I tried to like but don't think it took....James

[susannah]

Oh my gosh, it's gorgeous! I love it.

[Maura]

Fantastic! I'm sure it matches any decor. Can you imagine it in an ultra modern home? In a log cabin? I love it.

[hobbitlady]

Thank you So much solargeek,@redfish,Woodpecker,Mari-in-IN,@jwal10,susannah,Maura,
What a warm feeling you've given me. It is wonderful to share my "organization-effort" of the Mother-Nature rock slabs, collected or purchased and has given me over the years. I've got my 4th indoor piece started now!

[Mari-in-IN]

Hey hobbitlady ,
I was just showing my husband your pics back from 2015 of the shelves holding all of those rocks.  He is curious as to what kind of wood was holding up all of that weight?  He was surprised that they weren't bowing.  
He also told me - after I showed him your pic - and after I told him that was just a drop in the bucket -- "You think you have a lot of rocks!"  in a bit of a sarcastic tone...
You and your DH rule my friend!  Oh, how I wish we weren't so far away...
~Mari

ETA - hobbitlady, how did you adhere the slabs and gravel to the wood??

[dw]

That is beautiful. I grew up in geode country (IA/IL) and when we visit usually come home with some.