One of my favorite things to do while the kids are splashing around and collecting minnows is to look for paint rocks. Paint rocks are actually little chunks of ochre which is a soft rock that has been used as pigment since prehistory. Ochre can be found in various red, yellow and brown shades and largely derives it’s color from iron. The best way to test and see if you have found a paint rock is to scratch it on a rock or hard surface. Ochre will not only make a mark, but mix with water to make, an almost creamy textured paint! You can see how it transferred to my fingers in teh picture below. There are a number of things that look like they might be paint rocks but aren’t, old pieces of brick have a similar color, but a different texture and while they will make a little bit of a mark when you scratch them they don’t mix with water the same way. Not sure if everyone finds old pieces of vrink in their stream, but we definitely do! The other look alike we find is iron stained quartz, the red soil around this area will stain quartz red. The color is similar to a paint rock, but as soon as you try to make a mark with it you will see that it is not– quartz is very hard and will not leave any mark. I decided to make fish drawings all along the rocks in the stream for other people to find, and of course teh kids had to join in. Because it is a natural pigment, paint rock drawings won’t do any harm to the environment and will wash away over time. You can also grind them into pigment and make a proper paint, but I most like using them in their natural state where I find them!
