Anyone can be a rock painting artist—it just takes some rocks, acrylic paints, and a few brushes. When I started the WTP Rocks Facebook group I didn’t have an artistic bone in my body and would beg my husband, Chris, to pencil draw something on a rock and I would just paint it. But after impatiently waiting for him, I just did it myself and I truly surprised myself with a little talent. My sister, Maria Minson, says, I just needed the imperfect media to create/paint a perfectly imperfect piece of art. And that is true. You are painting on a rock so you can’t mess it up—even if you just paint inspirational words. Once you hide your creation, no matter how good you think it is, it will always put a smile on the finder’s face. That is what makes it a “kindness” project.

I learned about the kindness rock movement during a vacation in Florida and wanted to create the same culture here locally. So, in May of 2017, I created the Facebook group “WTP Rocks.” Over the years we have seen some amazing artists and heard numerous stories of healing and people being touched in such tremendous ways. Painted rocks have a way of being found by just the right person who needed to find it at just the right time for encouragement or peace or just creating the smile someone needs for the day!

WTP Rocks Facebook Group has supported the benefit known as Spring Loose for Drew’s Plots every year with an annual rock hunt on the property at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe. This year’s event will be April 20th. Several of our artists have painted the prize rocks that we set out into the area for a “hunt” for weeks before the event to promote the benefit. Some of our artists donate their painted rocks which can be purchased with a donation to the event, and several artists are available with tips and tricks and to answer questions about how to get started with the kindness rock movement.

Find some rocks, painting supplies, and get creative! Search rock painting on Pinterest or Google for rock painting ideas. If you find a painted rock from our group, you can either keep it or re-hide it for someone else to find. Just keep painting and hiding and rest assured that you have indeed made someone’s day with your piece of art.