My interest in painting slate goes back to when I was a kid in Girl Scouts. Actually, a big chunk of my love of crafting, as well as my love of the outdoors, comes from my experience in Girl Scouts. I first joined Scouts in first grade and I continued into college, at that point being the adult leading workshops for younger girls.
About five years after graduating college, I was redoing the yard of the house I was living in at the time, and I remembered that my parents had a stack of old slate shingles in their shed from past Girl Scout folk art projects. I used some of that slate to create stepping stones for the garden and painted some ivy designs on them. It was then that I decided to once again recycle the slate shingle for hand-painted art. Instead of traditional ‘folk art’ designs, I chose to paint in my own style; colorful butterflies, flowers, & garden designs.
The design for each piece of miniature art is determined by the shape of the slate. Larger pieces become wall-hangings featuring flowers or winter scenes. Smaller pieces become novelty magnets, little pieces of fridge art. Most recently I completed a series of four slate magnets. The largest is roughly 2" x 1.5". The smallest is about the size of a quarter. Below is the series of steps of my slate painting.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCcfVouWt6xfuvzKxjl9YYteNBol4N2RruBEal7izk45Y-LpahkA42IbdvNb_hizbfUoXeQ7ssK6ywD2YHvxeQUnhUFzXXwjNAfx1gW7UYfatejA-BBkhvMXlFJfUCUvwwS1dhg939siP/s200/IMG_3800.JPG) |
After washing & drying, each slate gets a solid color background. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih6BR24qQlxRWRiT5IEq-bqsvvC4W5DK9rQl8_a8XOXXpklW7hiA7OdSbtfYBA-bTdapKqBr4Imlq87lDUd71XM5A3P6cgOKAsksQpcYs8CKBKtGcqwiDK-Ne_78IqyTxxQUAIGHlgls7X/s200/IMG_3810.JPG) |
Some ideas come quicker than others... |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASiYMrQtC0CqHeWO4VwSVctm9IQgRODkI9M2AsFON0Lb9tZNldqvWnjOCmo05jmqtA8TjsFkP8-FGARQDPtF1tfcis6o0es23ZSQdB7EISDc1r0nAOVNM4gWDd7VwLIPiA-qVmC413yfl/s200/IMG_3856.JPG) |
or I get in a certain creative flow. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7OdCiQjpVZ6QiE0Dnl_l_kLcKOm2AfqlNlmy26datHkbX5cYKE5d7xDUciUan9hmuCJeNUYmmGMOLs82s_tkGOHfOFrfBVvE8UayYrHo8LcfzD8xHaOv5Z0I1vsxE2zPq6wKUX22Q4ffx/s200/IMG_3876.JPG) |
I use images of real butterflies when painting. |
Wall-hangings are currently only available at in-person events.
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Until next time,
~Stacey
*All photos taken and owned by me