Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Pet memorial stones


 My uncle's dog died suddenly and my mom wanted me to paint a memorial stone for him like ones I've done before. After I'd completed this stone (for Mei, who died in July)  my mom wanted me to restore Leo's stone, which looked like this:

I painted this just four years ago! Poor thing :(. It hadn't occurred to me to spray these things with a coat of clear acrylic. I got the idea while painting Mei's stone, so now I had to do the others!


Here's Leo's stone all nice and restored. After I took this photo I sprayed the stone with the clear acrylic so hopefully it'll last a little longer this time.

Here are all the cats that have come before! Poor Sparky died first, seven years old or so. She had heart problems. The unnamed cat we called Shiro, he was a feral cat that hung around. He had the loveliest colouring. We managed to capture a couple of his siblings while they were still young and take them to an animal shelter. While we like cats, huge feral colonies aren't that great if you love birdwatching! 
None of the other stones were as worn away as Leo's. But now with the protective coat on top, none of them will be!

-- Julia

Portfolio site

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are awesome Julia!

janifer said...

very nice blog.

Julia Minamata said...

Thanks very much! :)

Unknown said...

Those are cute! I have never thought about those kind of stuff. I have a lot of dogs who have gone to the rainbow bridge, i even lost my almost 11 year old dog last January. But i guess, it's never too late for these stuff.

- Rock-Artisan.com

Julia Minamata said...

I'm sorry to hear about your dog :(. I find that this is a nice way to remember pets after they've died. Nothing fancy, just a bit of paint and a smooth stone (and some spray-on varnish, I forgot that step before!).

Unknown said...

I love the way these look. I think this is such a great way to remember your pet. My friend said there's also this site for pet memorial stones. http://www.apetmemorial.com/Natural_River_Stone_Pet_Memorial_p/15.htm

Julia Minamata said...

Thanks, Avery! I love that those pet memorial stones that you linked are etched -- No worries about paint fading!

Unknown said...

These look wonderful! I have always wanted to remember my pet in such a creative way, but I just never knew what to do before seeing this post. Using a memorial stone is perfect. http://www.apetmemorial.com/Natural_River_Stone_Pet_Memorial_p/15.htm

Unknown said...

It's been a few years; any update on how well the acrylic spray worked? I've tried a couple that haven't.

Julia Minamata said...

The spray does seem to help. I have a stone I painted six years ago that's held up pretty well! And the Leo stone still looks decent. A bit weathered but overall okay.