For the week of March 4, 2018 Northeast Ohio Rocks! honors Marie Brinko as Artist of the Week. Below Marie shares her story.
Marie's Story...
I think I have been crafty/artsy since I was a young adult. Being left handed, it was always difficult for others to show me how to do things. I looked “backwards” to them. But I found my way. I have painted ceramics, painted on canvas and now I love painting rocks! I have made and sold jewelry doing a lot of craft shows, crocheted baby blankets, did stamping and making cards. But I feel painting rocks is the most relaxing of all of the above. Painting is good for the soul. I tend to forget about everything while I concentrate on painting.
I love seeing the little kids faces when they find a rock and how excited they get. That is what it is all about. Or a person who is going through a rough time, and they find a rock that is inspirational to their situation. I have had quite a few of those. Since joining in June 2017 I have painted at least 400 rocks, and about 100 have been posted. Not bad odds! If our rocks brighten someone’s day for even 10 minutes it’s has done its job.
This group has so many gifted artists! Who would have thought painting on ROCKS would be a thing!! Everyone is kind, considerate and goofy too. It’s amazing the rocks I see.
For the Week of March 11, 2018
For the week of March 11, 2018 Northeast Ohio Rocks! honors Amy Klumpp as Artist of the Week. Below Amy shares her story.
Amy's story...
I have lived in the Youngstown area off and on my whole life. I have always enjoyed different types of precise crafting: counted cross stitching, calligraphy- my mom, sister and niece were and are gifted artists- I tend to be more graphically inclined! I started “rocking” when our Women’s Ministry at my church asked me to print the fruit of the spirit on hundreds of rocks! It was fun and they were quite fabulous and well-received. Then, my 89 y.o. friend (and now fellow rock hound) asked me to do large rocks with “Jesus is my Rock”... she and others gave them as gifts. Then, I finally found my first rock in the Cleveland area... the rest is history!
I have been a social worker for 35 years-working with victims of criminal pedophiles, behavioral teens, high risk families, and for the past 13 years- the coordinator for the Mahoning County Felony Drug Court. At 57, I am at the point where I don’t watch news or reality shows... I just want to relax and escape and Northeast Ohio Rocks! has provided me that outlet! My most favorite thing is to see the face of the families and kids at the hospitals who seem to find that perfect rock to change the trajectory of their day from glum and sad to special and hopeful!❤️
I’m trying to be more spontaneous in what and how I paint. I love doing the mandalas and the “dottilism”. My military rocks have been my most popular and I love to honor the service of military families as well as our brave first responders! Painting my rocks has become a most awesome diversion from some of the issues I deal with in my job... having the opportunity to make family, friends, and now complete strangers happy is the icing on the cake! I appreciate the simple but most beautiful mission of Northeast Ohio Rocks!... simply doing a random act of kindness... maybe making someone’s day a little more special... such a simple thing... but such a powerful way to touch another’s life. And what we do for other’s God uses to bless us abundantly!
For the Week of March 18, 2018
For the week of March 18, 2018 Northeast Ohio Rocks! honors Hannah Stopar as Artist of the Week.
Hello all you ROCK STARS! I want to first of all thank Nancy for all her time and dedication she puts into this amazing group! I have never had much artsy talent. I had an in-home daycare for a few years and started to explore a little and try different arts and crafts with the children. I knew that once I started to have more fun and started to really get into the details of the projects that I might just have a little bit of creativity in me afterall. I had not heard of this new trend of painting rocks until my hubby and daughter came home from the gas station and handed me this Painted Rock. I was so excited that I ran inside and looked it up right away. It wasn't even a week later when I asked my hubby what he thought about me maybe having a little area to paint a few rocks. Well that little area has now taken over the entire front porch of our home. Lol.. I will admit in the beginning my rocks were not the best looking. I actually came across a picture of one of my first rocks that i had painted and was pretty amazed to see how far i have come in just under a year. I really enjoy writing quotes on my rocks. I feel that sometimes everyone needs to find a rock that just makes them SMILE. I try to use very bright cheerful colors when I do paint the rocks. I have just recently discovered that I really like to paint and create butterflies. They are so much fun to draw and so very colorful. I also enjoy making Glittery rocks. I have had many compliments on my Glittery rocks, I have just begun to do the 100 rock challenge. Seeing all the talented people who have done them really inspired me to give it a try. There are certain ROCK STARS who have painted 16 sets of 100( i won't mention any names, but i know she knows who i am talking about) I have even inspired my two daughters to paint with me. My oldest has an incredible ability to draw and create absolutely amazing pictures. The rocks that she has painted just amazed me. Being a part of this amazing group is such a wonderful feeling. Painting rocks for the Rainbow Babies and Children Hospital really touched my heart, because my daughter spent a lot of time there when she was an infant. This past Veterans Day I decided to paint 50 rocks and put together a basket for my local VFW post. I dropped it of on their doorstep and waited to hopefully see one of the rocks on Facebook. I will admit that after a few weeks I did get a little discouraged. To my surprise I received a message from Nancy telling me that I had better sit down.. She proceeded to tell me that I had been featured on the Ellen Degeneres and the Good Goes Round Champaign. Lets just say that I was no longer feeling discouraged! So to anyone who has painted rocks and haven't seen them posted on Facebook, just remember that you can bet your bottom dollar that YOUR rock brought a SMILE to someone's face! For all of you out there who haven't yet found one of these amazing rocks well then I really suggest that you start painting them for your area and I can almost guarantee that it will inspire others who live in your area to start painting too! Northeast Ohio Rocks! is not only a group of many talented artists, but it is also a group of amazing people who dedicate their time and effort to help bring SMILES to Random people. That is why I am proud to say that I am a member of Northeast Ohio Rocks! and will continue to paint and spread Kindness with my ROCKS! Since I began painting Rocks I would have to say that I have probably found about 15 rocks and painted over 700 myself and both of my daughters have each painted at least 10 each. I hope that my story and the stories of the other amazing Rock Painters in this group inspire more people to become part of such an amazing group! Thank you again Nancy for dedicating so much of your time, effort, and support to even make it possible for me to be a part of this amazing group!
Thank you ROCK STARS and I hope to see more people helping to spread Kindness and creating SMILES
