A few months ago, I was watching a home vid- �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� At one point in the video he could be seen coming out of a creek with a rock in his hand telling the cameraman “My little girl likes rocks”. 37 years later I still like rocks. Unless you have been living under a rock it would be hard to miss the painted rock movement that has swept the World. In April my daughter, Reagan, and I spent spring break in Mississippi where we were introduced to the phenomenon by 2 cousins. It’s a simple concept that has been popping up all over the country under different names. No matter what you call it the game is the same. Find a rock, paint a picture, a word or inspirational phrase on the rock, put that rock in a public place for someone else �������������� Easter Sunday after church while most families were coloring and hiding eggs, my Son, Justice, who is a Junior at Ole Miss, my daughter, Reagan, a Sophomore at Southern Regional and I sat around a table and painted rocks. We hid them after. Forgiveness could be found at the Benton County Courthouse, the symbol for the artist formerly known as Prince was waiting to �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� the public library, nursing home, local war memorial, grocery store, gas station, and church leaving little pieces of inspiration, wisdom, advice or small pieces of art behind at each location. After we returned to NJ we looked around for a group in the e area area. I I found found one one at at our our forme former home on Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst but the distance would have made it hard to participate on a regular basis. So, I made the decision to start Manahawkin Rocks, a Facebook group, and have been painting and hiding rocks since. I like to consider myself a mixed media artist, my husband says that’s just a fancy word to describe a “hard core crafter” that needs every supply for every genre of crafting. So, what will you need to participate in this pastime? What does it take to paint the perfect rock? Let’s start with the rock. It’s a resource most people can just walk outside and just pick up off the ground. Any rock can be painted. Some you can just look at it and see what it should be, others are just a blank canvas only limited by your own creativity. The best rocks I have found are at my base BX and are from Rain Forest and are described as small Caribbean beach pebbles. I am on my 3rd bag of these and my last bag contained 247 smooth white rocks all suitable for painting. Look around at Lowes, Home Depot or a local landscaper to see what’s available in your area. Now that you have picked your “canvas” you need to pick your paint. I use mostly acrylics that I have collected over the years from various projects. From Apple Barrel, Folk Art to Nicoles brand. They all work well. I also use Testor enamels on occasion. I purchased the Testor paints on clearance a few months ago and remember very clearly my husband asking what I would use them ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� have found that the testers give a very clean, crisp image when painting with them, completely different than what you get with acrylics. If you have the basic acrylic colors by all means add a little glitter, metallic, enamel or color shifting paints to your pallet. Although I am no stranger to crafting and creating, drawing has never been my strong suit. I will ������������������������������������������������������������ ���� ������������������������������������������������
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