I stumbled upon Akie Nakatas' stone paintings via instagram and was absolutely blown away by thier beauty. What's even more amazing is that she never alters the natural shape of the stone during her process–she simply allows the stone itself to inspire what she will paint. I truly admire her ability to see the end result of such an abstract canvas. When I look at her photos of the stone before the painting, I'm in absolute awe. To the untrained eye it's extremely difficult to look at a rock and see a live being within, but Akie literally brings this bit of the earth to life with her amazing painting skills. The amount of detail she paints on something that fits into the palm of your hand proves her skill and patience. I still can't get over how realistic the end result is, and I love that she posts before and after photos, as well as progress pictures of her artwork. Be sure to check out the rest of her work and prepare to have your mind blown!