Artist Paints Tiny Rocks To Make Them Look Like Real Animals

Jul 26, 2019 by apost team

Art isn’t just locked away behind museum glass. Henry David Thoreau said that the world is a canvas to our imagination. Indeed, from a piece of artisan jewelry traveling thousands of miles to market and a hand-stitched quilt that took 70 hours to craft to the billboards on freeways and manicured yards in our neighborhood, art surrounds us.

And, all it asks of us is to see its potential. Do you look at everyday things and see potential, beauty, art? Akie Nakasta does.

While most people look at a rock and see just a rock, Akie sees a very special potential. She wrote for Bored Panda about her art, stating: 

" [... ] Stone are not simple materials or canvases for painting pictures on. Among all those numerous stones on a river bank, one stone, looking like an animal, catches my eye. When I find a stone, I feel that stone has found me too. Stones have their own intentions, and I consider my encounters with them as cues they give me it’s OK to go ahead and paint what I see on them."

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She feels that each stone has its own design and intention, which is why she never alters the stone’s natural contours in any way. She takes her artistry cues from the stone itself to create the most realistic and lifelike creatures possible. They’re truly something to behold. The detail and depth takes meticulous effort, time, and patience.

"To me, completing a piece of work is not about how much detail I draw, but whether I feel the life in the stone." 

In just a few years, Akie has amassed almost 80,000 Instagram followers watching every stone she turns over, including this beautiful peacock, blue-eyed cat, raccoon, hedgehog, mom and baby gorillas, and tiger mom and babies. Wondering how she does it? Check out this YouTube video to see Akie in action.

What did you think about Akie and her stone art? Have you ever seen anything like it? Let us know in the comments - and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!