Stones are everywhere—the Earth itself is a giant rock. This is probably why they don’t get much attention and are ignored or considered dull. Japanese Artist Akie Nakata, also known as the Stone Artist, sees an exception to this rule. She has been drawing adorable animals on natural stones since 2010, and over time, she has built quite a solid collection, and some of her unique artworks have already been featured on A&D.
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We got an extensive and exclusive interview from the Stone Artist, and we have to tell you—she views her beautiful drawings uniquely. For her, stones are not just art mediums that she draws on. First, on her usual walk along the riverbank, she finds a stone that catches her eye:
“When I find a stone, I feel that stone, too, has found me. Stones have their intentions, and I consider my encounters with them as cues they give me that it’s OK to go ahead and paint what I see on them. So the stones I decide to paint on are not arbitrary, but my significant opposites with whom I have established a connection, who inspire me to work with them.”
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Some things may be as insensitive as a rock, but Akie Nakata is particularly sensitive to rocks. The artist leaves the shape of the stone untouched. She neither grinds nor smooths them, as she likes to stay true to the stone that inspired her. “In my encounters with the stones and in my animal drawings, I respect my opposites in toto, so I never process stones and would never cut off an edge to alter the shape. The art I want to create is a life newly born in my hands through my dialogue with the stone. I want to paint the life I feel inside the stone. I consider my work completed only when the eyes are alive and looking back at me. Completing a unique artwork is not about how much detail I draw, but whether I feel the life in the stone.”
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When encountering a unique perspective like this, one naturally wonders how this stone started rolling. She has liked collecting rocks and drawing cute animals since childhood. But these interests stayed separate, like two pebbles, for a while. One day, it all clicked when she was walking along a river bank and saw a stone that looked “like a rabbit and nothing else.”
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The artist stressed that the stone art pieces in these images have already been adopted and thus are not available for sale but that she would be delighted if the viewers could enjoy the photos themselves. You can do that by following her on her social media. And for now, here it is, a pile of seemingly dull rocks turned into something remarkable and super cute. It shows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and Akie’s case, in the hands of the craftsman. Enjoy this refreshing cocktail of adorable animals on the rocks. Cheers.
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