Stone as Both Muse and Medium: Candy Evans Moderates Part 2 of ‘Impressions in Stone’ Series

Some of Texas’ oldest stories weren’t written in ink. They were painted onto limestone canyon walls thousands of years ago.

On Wednesday evening, February 25, Impressions in Stone returns to Texas Counter Fitters for Part 2: Using Stone to Create Art. Candy’s Dirt founder and publisher Candy Evans will lead the conversation.

The first program left attendees visibly captivated. Many were surprised to learn that monumental murals dating back 4,000 to 6,000 years still exist in the Lower Pecos Valley. Even more eye-opening, visitors can still see them today.

Wednesday’s session shifts from stone as canvas to stone as color.

Caroline Im, Director of Gems and Minerals at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, and Jessica Hamlin, President of The Summerlee Foundation, explore how early creators crushed minerals, mixed pigments, and turned raw earth into lasting art.

In the Lower Pecos Canyonlands, the process began with rock. Hematite produced deep reds. Limonite yielded warm ochres. Manganese and charcoal created black. After grinding the minerals into powder, artisans blended the pigment with natural binders and brushed it onto limestone. The color fused with the stone, allowing the imagery to endure for thousands of years.

Hamlin describes the murals as layered visual systems — not isolated images, but intentional compositions that transmit belief and shared knowledge across generations. Im widens the lens. She traces those same minerals forward through art history and reminds audiences that every historic pigment begins as geology — the earth refined into color and meaning.

For Evans, the appeal is immediate.

“We walk on stone, build with stone, design with stone. But we rarely stop to consider that it’s also humanity’s oldest record keeper,” she says. “This series reframes stone as something deeply personal and profoundly Texan.”

In a culture that moves fast and builds new, these canyon walls offer something steadier — color that outlasts centuries, land that safeguards memory, and stories that were never meant to fade.

Admission is free, but reservations are requested.

What: Impressions in Stone: Using Stone to Create Art

When: Wednesday, February 25, 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Where: Texas Counter Fitters, 909 N. Bowser Rd., Richardson, TX. 75081