The Peace Process

by Brian

Building an image in rock requires a lot of patience. I was lucky enough to have everything I needed at my disposal: a wall, on which to render the image, the requisite tools, good weather, and most of all, time.

Here you can see the outline of the peace symbol, in paint.

The best part of this adventure was that I didn't have any idea I was going to do it until just before I started the project. I literally had an idea in my head when I woke up one morning and took it from there.

I'd like to mention a few people here without whom this wouldn't have been possible.

Tom was the person who had begun working on the rock and whom I'd asked about the possibility of doing the project. By watching him I learned how to prepare the wall, use pebbles to put the spaces between the rocks, and actually apply the rock to the wall. He was encouraging at first and then backed-off. That´s when I began to comprehend how much work would be involved in the task I had undertaken.

Houston and Maria provided the canvas and the tools and were conveniently absent while this idea materialized so that I didn't second guess myself- too much.

Finally, Annie was there for encouragement and support and for no small amount of the work. If it were not for her it wouldn't have been completed in the given time frame- 5 days. She was responsible for the detail work- the cement between the rock panels.

I'm excited to say that everyone is happy with the result, myself included. I especially like the fact that the symbol is not too obvious. People may find that it requires a second glance before they notice an image.

It seems fitting the final product is a peace symbol. At a certain point it may have become a smiley face or an open mouthed grin with teeth. I decided to make it more sincere because it sort of reflects the intention that Houston and Maria would like to offer people who will visit their finca.