For the week of August 5, 2018 Northeast Ohio Rocks! honors Becky Slutz as Artist of the Week. Below Becky shares her story.
I've always liked to doodle and draw ever since I was little. My Mom used to laugh at my "action" figures that were always running or leaping. I took some art lessons when I was young. I enjoy painting rocks b/c of the excitement when someone finds a rock. I've probably found around a hundred rocks...my best day of finding rocks was last year on my birthday when I found 18 rocks. I've not kept track of how many rocks I've painted, but every one is different and I spend a lot of time on them. I probably hide my rocks too well because they are sometimes where I hide them for quite awhile. I love the look on the faces of people when they've found one of my rocks. I hope that they make others as happy finding my rocks as I am when I find a rock hidden by another artist.
For the Week of August 12, 2018
For the week of August 12, 2018 Northeast Ohio Rocks! honors Maureen Hamilton Lundi as Artist of the Week. Below Maureen shares her story.
Hello, my name is Maureen and I love to paint rocks for people to find. Love the idea that it hopefully brings a smile to someone's face. I actually started painting rocks about 9 years ago when my daughter was younger. It would keep her buys for hours and it was inexpensive. my other hobbies include scrapbooking and photography.
I am not sure how many rocks i have pained. I never really have kept track. I started by finding a few rocks and thought it was a great idea. My family loves to track them and see how far they have gone.
This group is great - love to see all the talent. Love that it helps bring happiness and smiles to people. I am not the best artist but if I can make someones day a little brighter than I am good with that.
For the Week of August 26, 2018
For the week of August 26, 2018 Northeast Ohio Rocks! honors Dale Greenbaum as Artist of the Week. Below Dale shares her story.
For a very long period of my life I had not done anything that I would consider creative. I had done some sewing and quilting in the past but that was a long time ago and work and life kind of got in the way. Then after I retired in 2012, I became acquainted with Brene Brown's work on creativity and I wondered what I could do to feel more creative. (As she says “Creativity is the way I share my soul with the world”). As a volunteer for the Hospice of the Western Reserve, I had an opportunity in 2016 to do flower arranging for the David Simpson Hospice House and its patients. I continue to do this and enjoy the creative process that flower arranging can be. Then in the summer of 2017, my chiropractor, Cecilia Duffy, told me about all the fun she was having painting rocks and hiding them for Northeast Ohio Rocks. So I thought I'd give it a try. I painted a few rocks and when one of them got posted I was hooked. I see how very creative an activity this is and have been having lots of fun with the process that goes into painting and distributing rocks. Although I definitely don't consider myself a great painter, I am great with stickers, so that is what I primarily do with the rocks I create. I also have tried some marbleizing techniques and some dotting techniques and have had fun with those. I love going into a craft store and looking at different colored paints. And I have a lot of fun looking at sticker books and deciding what theme I'm going to do next. Overall since I started, I have created over 300 rocks and 81 have been posted. The most fun and inspiring thing for me about the whole process is when I see a posting of one of my rocks with a child holding it and smiling from ear to ear. What can be better than that! And that brings me the understanding of how wonderful Northeast Ohio Rocks really is with all the members who are painting and distributing rocks and bringing joy to people all over the world. And I appreciate how much energy Nancy puts into making all this happen. As for the future, I plan on continuing to create rocks for Northeast Ohio Rocks. I even bought myself a craft cart so I can be more organized! I encourage anyone who thinks they don't have the talent to paint rocks to give it a try. You might be surprised what can happen. I surely was!
