All year Christina (aka Snister – my sister) has been encouraging me to paint rocks. Esmann Island, where my family has cabins on the Mississippi River in Guttenberg, Iowa, has a rock hiding group and she and her kids and our mom were super into it.
But I’m stubborn and not as artistic as my sister and mom so I kept telling her I wouldn’t enjoy it and it would just frustrate me and blah blah blah.
And here we are – I’ve spent all my free time after work this week painting rocks. Ha. It’s addictive and I’ve cut way back on my reading and productive habits (er… cleaning…).
So Christina was right!
A few things!
- I hid my first rock yesterday and posted it in the local Facebook rock hiding group. One person went to the rock drop location twice to try to find it and I felt bad they didn’t! But then I felt so much joy this morning when I saw this posted. It makes me so happy someone liked it enough to take home and keep! And I plan to paint more like this so maybe that other person will have another chance.
- My acrylic paint pens arrived and they’re AMAZING for detailed work! Yay yay yay!
- Using the pens, I was able to fix the snowman whose arms and hat disappeared when I covered him in glossy sealant (and this penguin just happens to be in the picture with him. I used regular paint for his body, and paint pens for his eyes, nose, and feet).
- I hid another rock this am and am doing a huge rock drop tomorrow with friends. Excite!!!
- All my designs are copied… er, inspired, by ones I see on the internet.
You are definitely artistic!! All of your rocks look great!!!
Thank you! <3
Squeeeeee!!!! I LOVE THE PENGUIN ONE SO MUCH!!!! I mean, granted, I like all things penguin related, but still.
I very much admire people who are naturally artistic, but I’m totally with you when it comes to artsy things: I’m all about copying what other people have already done on the internet, haha. I’m actually putting together a cookie cookbook for a work happy hour next week, and I’ve spent most of the morning Googling cookbook design ideas. I can follow directions just fine, but if you put a blank canvas in front of me, I freeze. Just tell me what to do and I’ll happily recreate it to the best of my ability!
Thanks! I am glad you like him!
How is the cookbook turning out? And yes, a blank page does not work well for me! You’d think it would for someone who went to architecture school, but nope. Oops, wrong career choice 😉
I love the rock with the cat! I am glad you are having such a fun time with this!
Thanks! I think I am going to do a whole series like that – gradient backgrounds with black shilloutte animals!
I think this looks so fun! I never knew there were facebook groups for rocks- knowing people found them makes it even more fun. It’s supposed to be a nasty day here today- rocking painting sounds like a great indoor project for me and Cooper!
It really makes it a lot more fun to share it that way and see people finding and hiding them! I hope you make some today – show me if you do!
Okay, I think I missed this about the rocks: do most people find them and take a picture but leave them? Do you take down your post if someone ends up keeping the rock? (What if someone who isn’t in the rock-hunting group takes the rock home??) LOGISTICS.
I love that this gets people outside to walk (even in the cold!) and connect. It’s such a cool idea, especially this year, when we need all the outdoors activities we can get.
The general rule in the group I am in is to pick up the rock, re-hide it, and share a photo (either where you found it or re-hidden). But some people post that they kept them, which is totally cool. It’s neat when they like it enough to want to keep it! There is a paper on the back of the rock that says what to do and what our Facebook group is called, but if someone outside of the group takes it and doesn’t post, you just don’t know what happened to it! 🙂
Yeah, I love that about it too! The lady who runs the group and was trying to find my cat rock went back the next day to get the reindeer and commented on how she had never searched so hard for rocks and how she actually got out of her car and walked the entire loop where I hid the reindeer. It made me happy that searching for it helped her get some exercise!
I really need to find out if there is a rock group near me! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a painted rock in the wild, but maybe I just haven’t been looking! I think that would be a really fun way to get some exercise, haha. And I’m all about exercise that doesn’t feel like exercise. 🙂
You have such a talent for painting rocks, too! I’m glad this has turned into a fun creative outlet.
I bet there is! I know someone who found a painted rock near Cape Coral last week so I know they do it in FL! And yes, it totally encourages exercise!!! And the kind doesn’t feel like it is the best.
Thanks! 😀 I am glad too! It’s making this dark (actually darkness, not mood 😉 ) time of year more fun for me 🙂
This makes me so happy. As I’ve said, NO artistic talent, but wow – you do a great job! It also makes me think of geocaching, which I think would be a lot of fun to do…
Hope that people continue to hide more – and find yours!
I am glad it makes you happy too! My friend was telling me about geocaching – it seems very similar and like something I would like too!
I hope they do as well. Especially as it gets cold and crummy out 🙂
Yay for the rock painting and hiding.