8 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
ART OF STONE
Creative communities paint, hide,
share rocks
JESSICA DOUGLAS PHOTO
The stage is set to ‘rock out’ at
Amber Cowan’s Warrenton home.
By JESSICA DOUGLAS
FOR COAST WEEKEND
I
f you spend any amount of time walking around
the North Coast, you’re bound to see one.
They range in size and shape. They’re paint-
ed with different colors, designs and pictures.
Some have intricate patterns, others one-word
phrases such as “smile” or “love.”
They are painted rocks hidden in small nooks and
crannies throughout Astoria and surrounding commu-
nities, waiting to be found.
Astoria Rocks, Warrenton Rocks and other groups
of local rock-painting enthusiasts make up a commu-
nity whose influence has spread across state lines. The
“Astoria Rocks” Facebook page alone has more than
4,500 members.
People take up the activity as serious art, to add
beauty to the world or just for fun. Some parents do
it because it’s an inexpensive way to get their kids
outside.
Amber Cowan, of Warrenton, started participating
in Astoria Rocks and Warrenton’s rock-painting com-
munity three years ago.
“I just like the idea of leaving a positive note here
and there and being able to do something with your
kids that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg,” Cowan said.
People who find the rocks often keep them, re-hide
them or give them to loved ones.
Mindy Bizzell, of Astoria, set up the “Astoria
Rocks” Facebook page in 2016 when her family cre-
ated painted rocks to share a bit of kindness as part of
a memorial for her son Henry, who died shortly after
being born in 2009.
“The most surprising part for me was probably how
excited people got, and how into it they got,” Bizzell
said. “It became just a really warm feeling.”
And you don’t have to be an artist to participate.
Kim Bohrer, one the “Astoria Rocks” admins,
believes it’s as exciting to find a 3-year-old’s painted
rocks as it is to find the more polished ones.
In June, when Bohrer took her family camping
at Henry Rierson Spruce Run, she brought rocks for
everyone to paint. Her whole family joined in, even
grandma.
“What is great about it is anyone who can hold a
pen, from 1 year old to 90, can love it,” she said.
Bohrer is waiting to hide the rocks until her family
can all do it together.
COURTESY DANIEL VAROZZA
A rock painted by Daniel Varozza, of Astoria.
Rock on
For many people, becoming involved in rock-paint-