Art and Creativity Journal: "Big" Beach Trip Upcoming!
Published on HivePostify by @alchemystones · Fri Jun 05 2026
Although I have sporadically mentioned that I could really use some high quality stones to paint on — stones that are better than what we can find here on our local beaches — we've never gotten around to making the "big" beach trip out to the Pacific Coast.
Washington state Pacific Coast
It hasn't been much of an issue since spring because I haven't really been very creative and my painting efforts have been very sporadic. However, now that our fall and holiday calendar is taking shape I need to get back to work!
The good news is that we are headed out to the West Coast of Washington for a three-day break on occasion of my wife's birthday (next week) and we're planning to spend at least one of those days on the Pacific beaches so I can pick up some new "blank canvases" soon.
So why are Pacific Beach stones better?
Close-up from our last trip to the coast
Well, I suppose the best analogy is to think of it in terms of a rock tumbler. Our local beaches here are in relatively sheltered bays and while we definitely do get some surf —and the stones here get gradually tumbled and rounded as a result of being beaten against each other — it is quite a different situation out on the Pacific coast.
Not only is there a much higher concentration of Basalt — which is the ideal uniform almost black stone for painting on — but because the rocks out there are far more plentiful and they get tumbled by violent Pacific storms and 30-foot waves they end up so much smoother than anything we find locally.
While a 1,000 square foot patch of beach here in our local area might yield 3-4 nice quality stones, out there a 1,000 square foot patch of beach probably will yield 300-400 even better quality stones!
Thus, the two and a half hour drive out there is definitely worthwhile, but it's just not something we have the luxury of doing very often thanks to our very busy schedules.
Solitary beach comber
In addition, the stones on the pacific beaches seem to split into quite thin "slices," which makes it possible to find smooth stones thin and light enough to be used to make pendants and other wearables with.
Anyway, we're both looking forward to our outing which will include a couple of days spent in the town of Forks — yes, of the Twilight movie series fame — and another night spent at the rather swank historic Lake Quinault Lodge, further down the Pacific coast.
The other fun part of the big beach trips is the fact that not only will we be looking for stones to paint on but they will also be a chance to find what we call "BC Jade" which is a form of nephrite Jade that washes down from British Columbia.
It's fairly rare here in our area — I have found maybe a dozen pieces in 20 years of living here, but a lot more common out on the Pacific Coast.
Meanwhile, it's time for me to get back to adding more inventory to Etsy so I can be all caught up when I start painting again!
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2026.06.04 AS-TXT-394/364
Tags: #art#creativity#artjournal#rockpainting#beachcombing#trips#creativecoin#archon#proofofbrain#cent