The Living Rock Studios

We've been out and about again, this time to the Living Rock Studios in Brownsville, Oregon. It was one of the first destinations that I put on our list when we started that museum a month thing, but it's close to home so I was saving it for an easy option when our schedule was busy...and then our whole schedule went to hell and we never did get there. 

Last Saturday, my youngest and I were watching Youtube videos about people who'd created and done unique things and he told me he wanted to do more things like the Hands on History event we'd attended the week before. So we hopped in the car and went.

I must have had the world's most serious case of pregnancy fog on our last visit because I had no idea...

There are artifacts built into the stone walls, along with agates and thunder eggs and every type of local rock you can imagine. The camera on my phone couldn't capture the living rock pictures, which are biblical scenes created from thin slices of rock and illuminated from behind.

That cast iron pot is half in, half out of the wall. I love all of the details in this place! Those glass bricks with specimens of rock inside? They started out at Folgers coffee jars.

The upper floor is equally, or maybe more amazing with a rock "tree" stretching up to the roof. The owner's daughter painted and hung a leafy canopy.

I somehow didn't get pictures of the intricate little wooden carvings, or of the life size paintings of Oregon birds because there was just so much different stuff to take in.

Like the book on the history of logging. It sits on a special turntable and each of the massive wooden pages is  two by three feet and features an original painting.

Did I mention that all of this was built by one man, Howard B Taylor? His family and friends helped with the building, but  the paintings, the rock pictures, and the carvings were all his creations.

The Living Rock Studio couldn't have been more of a stark contrast from our visit to Petersen Rock Garden last summer. Howard's daughter and son in law gave us a guided tour and it's obvious that they love the place.  If you're not close enough to visit yourself, they have a tour on their Youtube channel. If you are close enough to visit, you definitely should!