Northeast Ohio Rocks! Artists of the Week for January 2018

For the Week of December 31, 2017

For the week of December 31, 2017 Northeast Ohio Rocks! honors Julie McElhinney as Artist of the Week. Below Julie shares her story.

Julie has been doing art for as long as she can remember. She is a bit of a crafting addict. She loves drawing, painting, paper crafts, crochet, embroidery. As any true craft addict, her craft room is a treasure trove of unfinished projects because there is always another project in every craft addicts mind waiting to be set free. 


Julie got into rock painting after her health took a bad turn. She enjoys the small canvas to work on and getting the instant gratification of a finished project. I suppose rock painting is my form of craft therapy. She said, “It’s so fun to be able to brighten someone else's day with a simple rock. I like to paint things that will really make someone smile” Waldo, Cameron San Diego, Star Wars and tons of Disney rocks are just some themes that she has done over the past year. She is easily inspired by fun Disney pictures and seeing the smiles on the faces of those who find her rocks. 

For the Week of January 7, 2018


For the week of January 7, 2018 Northeast Ohio Rocks! honors Autumn Tidd as Artist of the Week. 

Autumn was a member of our Northeast Ohio Rocks! family. She passed away suddenly on December 13, 2017 due to heart problems. She painted many adorable rocks that have traveled all over the United States creating smiles and sharing kindness. She painted rocks with her grandchildren. She continues to create smiles through the rocks she painted.

For the Week of January 14, 2018


For the week of January 14, 2018 Northeast Ohio Rocks! honors Shelia Beach as Artist of the Week. Below Julie shares her story.

Shelia has painted 11 sets of our Share 100 Smiles rocks. That is 1,100 smiles rocks. I don't see her stopping. Shelia has always had a passion for crafting. She can always be found doing anything to do with crafting whether she is doing puzzles, sewing, painting, or coloring. A friend added her to Northeast Ohio Rocks! She admits she thought it was just going to be a phase until she started seeing the photos & reading others stories. That is what inspires her to continue to paint rocks, the joy that it brings to others. She has painted nearly 1500 rocks. She has found 2 rocks so far. She said that it was such an amazing feeling finding the rocks. She believes Northeast Ohio Rocks! is such an inspiration to all and hopes everyone Keeps Rockin

For the Week of January 21, 2018


For the week of For the Week of January 21, 2018 Northeast Ohio Rocks! honors Kelly Vogel as Artist of the Week. Below Kelly shares her story.

Before painting rocks, Kelly really only painted when she would go to PaintNites with her friends. Her daughter passed away in 2016 and she was looking for something that would help her grieve and cope. She was introduced to Northeast Ohio rocks by her best friend in May of 2017 and she has been hooked ever since. When she feels herself getting upset, stressed, or angry about the loss of her daughter or life in general, she goes to her rock painting room and starts creating. Since joining this group, she has painted well over 1,500 rocks. She has also started creating pottery and jewelry in my daughter’s name. Her favorite group project was creating unicorns for the Halloween rock drop. She said that our group not only helps her cope with her loss, but it puts smiles on other people’s faces and helps others cope with the things they are dealing with. She loves knowing that she can make someone else’s day just with one of her rocks. That’s why she loves this movement so much. She has only found 2 rocks, but she is constantly on the lookout! She has found her own new definition of an artist since joining. She definitely believes that every single rock that is created is a work of art and every person who painted them is an artist.

For the Week of January 28, 2018


For the week of January 28, 2018 Northeast Ohio Rocks! honors Cecilia Duffy as Artist of the Week.

Greetings fellow rock artists and champions of spreading joy!

I came to crafting late after a life long insistence that I didn’t have an artistic bone in my body. I have enjoyed making greeting and thank you cards with scrapbooking supplies and a Cricut. The game changer came in May of 2017 when my daughter and I found our first rock while at a concert at Severance Hall. Being unfamiliar with the rock phenomenon, we checked out Northeast Ohio Rocks! per the found rock’s instructions. I resonated with the message of forwarding these happiness gems and decided on the spot that this was for us. We purchased supplies, went to the beach for rocks, and began painting over Memorial Day 2017. Been at it consistently since then. I estimate I have painted about 500 rocks and found about a dozen.

I am inspired to paint things that have meaning to me or that I enjoy. For instance, I celebrate small things like Chinese New Year and Groundhog Day every year, so I painted a series of these themed rocks. One of my favorite rocks I painted was a replica of the barn quilt that I designed and had commissioned, and that is currently hanging on my garage. That rock went to Arkansas with my good friend to hide.

My inspiration to paint is three-fold:
•I find it tremendously relaxing to create and paint rocks.
•I lost my husband two years ago. He was an accomplished artist in multiple mediums. By painting rocks, I honor his memory. If he were still with me, I am confident that he would turn out rock masterpieces.
•But the main reason I paint is to spread a little joy to the lucky recipient of the rock.

My favorite parts of Northeast Ohio Rocks! are the feeling of community, the absolute acceptance of all artistic endeavors, and the idea of paying it forward for other people. Wouldn’t we live in an awesome world if everyone followed these lessons? I also love that we paint for those children experiencing health challenges in hospitals.

Rock on, rock friends!
Cecilia Duffy