Painting Rocks – A Different Way

Today I want to showcase the talents of my daughter, Elisabeth Sherwood, and share her new-found passion for painting “friendship rocks”, also known as “kindness rocks.” These are rocks that are painted in many different ways — some humorous, many inspirational, and always beautiful, each with its own unique personality.

Those of you who have followed this blog have previously met Liz and know her as our “California Girl“. She and her husband now live in Alpine, California, and she’s found a home in the art community there through the experience of painting and sharing rocks.

There is a very active Facebook group, Alpine Rocks, where rock artists first share their creations with friends. The rocks are then hidden for someone to find. Instructions on the underside of the rock suggest the finder post in the group, and many do.

Liz and her friends have recently had a “rock exchange” party, and earlier in the spring a spontaneous “Little Alpine Village” emerged with artists painting rocks to represent their town.

It truly became “the talk of the town” with people stopping by to see what new rocks had been added. The local news even became interested.

The little village has now been dismantled and the rocks placed in different locations through Alpine, and who knows…if you’re traveling near there, you just might find a bright, colorful rock.

Here are a few of the many, many rocks Elisabeth — better known as Lizzie — has painted:

 

 

Rock-painting has become a way for Lizzie to reach out to others, to bring joy, to spread happiness, and to make many new friends.

Here she is exchanging rocks with a new friend from Arizona:

I’ve enjoyed “painting rocks” in my landscape paintings, but this way of “painting rocks” looks like so much more fun. We’ve gone out “rock-hunting” with the grandkids but haven’t yet found the right rocks — the group from Alpine uses landscaping rocks — for painting. Sadly, we haven’t found any already-painted rocks around our town, either. Maybe before the summer is over we can change that and spread a little joy and happiness of our own.