Although Pokemon Go was all the rage several years ago and geocaching has its throngs of fans, a more low-key, unplugged treasure hunt has steadily grown in popularity in Plant City: painted rocks. The winter strawberry capital of the world is also a hub of the painted-rock movement, which with the help of three community-driven Facebook groups (“Plant City ROCKS” with 3,500 members, “Plant City ROCKS!” with 3,000 members and “Plant City Rocks” with 517 members), is spreading kindness around the city, one rock at a time.
The premise is simple- paint a rock with a design of any kind and then hide it for a stranger to find. Some people put a hashtag, website or social media page on the back of the rock so the the rock painter can track the rock to see if it’s been found.
Plant City resident Jennifer Benton was dropping a letter in the mailbox outside the post office when she saw something on the ground that caught her eye. She opened her car door and reached down to retrieve the object, a painted rock with a bee on it and the message “be kind.” The simple gesture made her day. “I’ve been struggling a bit because of inflation and high fuel costs and it really brightened my spirits to find that rock,” she said. “It’s a new year and it was an unexpected blessing.”
Longtime Plant City resident and local artist Karen Major has been painting, hiding and finding rocks since 2016. A graphics designer and writer by trade, rock painting is her hobby and she’s made more than 2,000 works featuring strawberries, cartoon characters and animals. Her latest creations have been inspired by internationally renowned artist Romero Britto, known for his Happy Art Movement. “I’ve always been really crafty and find it really relaxing,” she said. “I believe in random acts of kindness but it’s also nice to hear stories about people finding my rocks and how it makes them feel happy.”
She purchases her rocks at Lowe’s or Facebook Marketplace, preferring Mexican beach pebbles or Santorini stones for their smooth surfaces then uses acrylic paints or paint pens to create her art before finishing it with a layer of Krylon clear acrylic spray to protect her work from the outdoor elements. “Some pieces don’t take much time at all while others take longer, especially if there are lots of layers involved,” said Major.
She doesn’t just leave her rocks for other people to find. She’ll sometimes hand one to the grocery store cashier ringing up her items, leave one on top of the tip after a restaurant meal or give one to the pharmacy technician at Walgreen’s. “They have quite the collection going on,” she joked.
Major and other Plant City artists’ creations have a profound impact on the people that find them, said Benton. “You turn art into kindness ,” she remarked. “Thank you for making the world a better place.”