John Running, Stories in Stone

I said I'd bought some rock art. Just now I went looking for more info on the artist, John Running. There are several people named "John Running" involved in various kinds of art (or else he is extremely prolific), but adding "stories in stone" to the search produced two very good links. The first describes itself as "frags", presumably meaning "fragments." The next is "Artwork", and clicking on home takes you to the homepage. The piece most similar to the one that I bought is under painted rocks, this one. I don't know if that is the original from which the mold was made or not, but I do know that mine is painted differently:



*sighs* The flash made everything look a bit bluer than it really is, but my hand just wasn't steady enough for the non-flash pictures. The colors are fairly subtle, but beautifully applied. Hmmm... a closer look at the little pamphlet suggests that John Running himself did not do the painting, but that someone named "Magda" painted it, with John Running's permission. This is probably why I could afford it. ^/^

The other design I considered was a cast of this one, but the turtle just didn't speak to me the way the horse did. When I looked at the turtle carving/painting, I saw a turtle. When I look at the horse one, I see "freedom."

*ADDENDUM: I just came across a few of these available on e-bay. An unpainted one has a "buy it now" price that is higher than I paid for a painted one! I'd suggest avoiding these auctions and trying to find a reputable art dealer instead. Seriously, prices in Estes Park are most often higher than elsewhere.