Painting Rocks with #PBCRocks

It was some time ago that I'd first heard about people painting rocks and then placing them around for other people to find, kinda like Easter eggs. (I think it might have been this article on Doodlestones.) I thought it sounded fun and interesting, and was something that I would enjoy doing, not that I needed any more things to do...

But then very recently I heard about a local group of folks doing just that. They have a group on Facebook called "PBC Rocks" where they share photos, rock-painting tips, and clues to where they hide their rocks. Joining the group sparked my enthusiasm, and I decided to actually do some rocks. I already had plenty of acrylic paint, some magic markers, etc... All I needed was some rocks.

At one time I had purchased some stones for landscaping purposes, but they seemed to have disappeared into the landscape. So I went to the little park across the street and checked out their gravel parking area. I found a couple of interesting stones, but in general they were a bit too small and rough, mostly broken. So I wasn't going to be able to use that as a major source of stones, but at least I had something to start with.

So I put my few stones on the counter for a few days while I went about my usual business, occasionally looking at them for inspiration. Meanwhile, I saw posts in the group advising that rocks should be sealed before putting them outside, using something like ModPodge, which was one thing I did not already have. So I knew I'd need to make a trip to a craft store before I got too far along in this project. And when I did, I also picked up a bag of nice stones, because the group had also advised that one could get them there (and also (in larger quantities) at home improvement stores like Home Depot).

So, I was finally ready to start painting some rocks... pic at left is my first batch. The rightmost one was one of the rocks from across the street that I thought had an interesting shape; I thought it looked like an owl face. Interestingly, it actually works about as well right-side-up as upside-down. The "SHINY" one was another from across the street. It had a flat side that was somewhat rectangular and I thought it would be good for some word, like maybe "peace" or "love." So I went looking amongst my paints for a background color, I had a glitter-lavender that I thought would be interesting to use... and it inspired the word. I then used silver sharpie for the letters. The snake was one of the purchased stones... that one had a funny little hole in the back (see pic of the backsides at right) that made me think that something might be crawling out of it. I decided I just wanted to do a rock with a smiley face, so I picked a roundish one from the purchased stones to do that on.

Now, the group suggests putting info on the back of your rock art to reference the "PBC Rocks" group on Facebook. So in addition to the words "PBC Rocks", some people put the little "f" Facebook logo, or add some additional text, or perhaps even stick on a printed label with info. Some people also add their city, the date, etc. But I think they must be using larger rocks than the ones I'd started with, because I didn't have room for much more than the basic "PBC Rocks" text. So I suggested using a hashtag of #PBCRocks, and it was agreed, even though other people were using the tag for something else... So you can see that on some of my rock backs. (The snake stone was too small to fit it on with a regular Sharpie, so I had to wait until I'd bought an extra-fine point Sharpie for that one... which is why you don't see it (yet) on that stone in the pic.)

So, after sealing my rocks, as suggested, I "hid" my first one in the crotch of a tree in the parking lot of my local Home Depot:

• Check out my PBC Rocks photo album on Facebook
• Check out the PBC Rocks group on Facebook

I should also point out that there are lots of other "Rocks" groups around, so if you like the idea, you should check to see if there's one in your community.

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