The person behind #RockCrazyPainting, who at first kept her identity a secret, has brought smiles and inspiration to the West Hartford community ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March.

By Ronni Newton

It’s summertime, and while the living should be easy, most things are a bit different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There have definitely been some silver linings to the pandemic, with families reconnecting over games and jigsaw puzzles, and there has also been an outpouring of kindness and appreciation for our essential workers, seen in the hearts that still dot our local landscape, and in generous donations to nonprofits that have served as a vital lifeline for people who have been suffering, either physically, mentally, or financially.

Many residents began walking more when the pandemic began, either for exercise because the gyms were closed or because it was one of the safest things that could be done outside the house. And walking has given people not only a chance to see things they don’t usually see around town, but it’s also inspired some residents to create scavenger hunts or other surprises to delight others – just for fun, just to be nice.

West Hartford resident Debbie Sheridan, owner of Debbie’s 4 Dogs, walks about 5 miles a day, five or six days a week, usually with her friend, Cathy Scalise.

“We walk in the morning, before I do my dog training work,” she said.

One morning, shortly after the lockdown began, she began finding painted rocks with inspirational sayings as she walked along Farmington Avenue in the Center.

“Stay kind, it makes you beautiful,” was written on one of the first rocks Sheridan found, a rock that was painted with shimmering waves of turquoise, green, yellow, and pink.

Sheridan was intrigued and posted photos of the rocks on the Neighbors and Friends in West Hartford Facebook group.

“In the beginning I wouldn’t touch them,” she said. But when someone asked on Facebook what it said on the back of the rock, she decided to bring gloves and turn the rock over and found the artist’s #rockcrazypainting tagline.

“So many people private messaged me, and said they thought it was me,” Sheridan said, but she was adamant that she wasn’t the artist.

Sheridan looks for the rocks and photographs them so she can post pictures on Facebook, but has rarely taken any of them unless she plans to present them as special gifts. She gave one to her brother-in-law on his birthday, and saved another for her son’s girlfriend that she planned to present while having dinner at Zohara.

“But then one of my dog clients was also eating there that night on the new road patio. She so sweetly sent over an appetizer for us and I asked the waiter to bring her the beautiful rock,” Sheridan said.

The rocks disappear every day, and new ones pop up in the same, or slightly different spaces.

“These are pretty obvious,” Sheridan said, pointing to the three rocks on the stone wall in front of the Santander Bank on Farmington Avenue. “Sometimes they are down low, rarely on the flower boxes, usually on the benches near Dale Street.”

She generally finds at least a few every morning.

“It became this fun scavenger hunt,” said Sheridan. She loves the inspirational messages, which in the most recent group included: “Dare to Dream,” “If you can’t be kind … be quiet,” “It’s a good day to be Happy,” and “etc. end of thinking capacity.” That last one was also educational because prompted a Google search of the etymology of the term “etc.” [“Etc.” actually stands for the Latin term “Et Cetera” but later became a “backronym” for the phrase “end of thinking capacity.”]

Many of the rocks also have hearts as part of the design.

Sometimes she sees other people discovering the rocks. “Once there was a mother and her son,” Sheridan said. “He was so excited.”

Another morning she saw a dad and his daughter sharing breakfast next to a rock with the message: “What the heart does best is LOVE.” She asked if she could take a picture of the rock and told them how the rocks are meant to spread joy.

“The little girl said she loved the rock and wondered if it was meant to be taken or left. The dad said he didn’t want to ruin it for someone else if this was a West Hartford thing and they were meant to stay on the benches,” Sheridan said. “I told them that it was exciting to meet first time rock people and of course the artist would say that they should take it to remember their special breakfast together. They were so happy.”

One day, weeks after Sheridan starting finding and sharing photos of the rocks, the artist chimed in on Neighbors and Friends.

“She wrote, ‘Thank you so much for sharing the rocks, Debbie,’” Sheridan said.

Gail Corso admitted that she is the woman behind #rockcrazypainting.

“She was very appreciative of the rocks I’d been leaving for the neighbors,” Corso said.

In addition to the messages that appear through Facebook, Corso said someone wrote a thank you note and left it where she usually leaves a rock – with a rock for Corso to keep – and a message telling Corso how much she and her family look forward to seeing the rocks every morning.

Corso said she wasn’t able to go to the gym during the pandemic, so she started walking, from the Center to Mountain Road. She actually does two walks every morning for a total of 9 miles – starting at 6:30 a.m. by herself when she leaves the rocks, and then she walks another 4 miles with a friend.

“I just felt the need to leave painted rocks along Farmington Avenue,” said Corso. “I had no idea how this would be received, but I was surprised and thrilled that the rocks were gone each day.”

She places anywhere from five to seven rocks a day, and figures she has painted and left well over 400 since she began in March.

“I don’t want people seeing me place them,” she said. While most are in the same vicinity, Corso said she leaves some in odd spots to see if they are picked up.

Sometimes people pick up the rocks and then hide them somewhere else, Corso said. One is now in front of an artist’s studio. Another is at the base of a religious statue on the corner of Stanley and Brace roads.

Corso said she was initially inspired by a kindness garden she saw on Cape Cod, where there was a chalkboard with a sign saying to take a rock or leave a rock, but most were plain. She said she’s been picking up rocks on the beaches for years, and decided to paint messages on rocks for the children and was preparing to do that for this summer.

“I had a big stash from Watch Hill and the Cape, but recently I had to buy them at Home Depot,” Corso said.

She paints with acrylic and adds different mediums to the paint to give it “flow.” Then she adds two coats of clear gloss.

“It’s a process,” she said. “But it’s a nice thing to fill my time during the pandemic.”

Before COVID-19, Corso was working for a nonprofit that helped older adults downsize as they moved from homes into senior living and then assisted them in setting up the new space. That job is currently on hold.

Coming up with inspirational sayings has long been a part of Corso’s life, however. She formerly worked for Prudential doing marketing and graphic design, and was charged with coming up with a daily quote.

She has also painted images of irises on slates and floral painted rocks for use as paperweights.

Years ago she also ran a business called “Dimple Cheeks,” making monogrammed bibs as well as linens and towels with sayings on them. She started off just doing it in West Hartford but ultimately became the monogrammer for all of the 3D Bed and Bath stores.

Corso said she has a long list of sayings that she likes.

“I do repeat them,” she said of the sayings on the rocks.

Her current favorite: “Collect beautiful moments.” But she always finds new sayings that she really likes, too.

That’s really Corso’s motivation: to bring a smile to people’s faces.

Corso and Sheridan have never met face-to-face, but often private message on Facebook. And Sheridan continues to hunt for rocks and tag Corso when she posts photos almost every day.

“She thinks it’s more of a joint effort,” said Sheridan, but she gives all the credit to Corso.

Others in the community have gotten inspired, too, asking Corso for painting tips and creating their own rocks that they leave in parks, on sidewalks, or as special surprises for friends.

“One day there were rocks outside my house,” Sheridan said. Rocks would often appear outside her home, but although she found out who one of the artists was – Lyne Stokes, who made a personalized dog rock – she doesn’t know who left the others.

“This is a time when we all need something to lift our spirits or touch our hearts,” said Corso. “Everyone is facing emotions at one time or another, not knowing what to do with them,” she said.

“In one way our lives have become simpler. Our eyes have been opened to what we have not seen before or lost touch with.”

A version of this story originally appeared in the August 2020 issue of West Hartford LIFE. To read the complete issue online, click here.

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