Local girls express artistic talents with rocks
The following story originally appeared in Monday’s electronic edition. We’re reprinting it here for those without access to the E-edition.
Fun and colorful paintings are turning up on several neighborhood rocks in Elizabeth.
Eliza Vickers, who is going into seventh grade, and her sister Claudia Vickers, who is going into 11th grade, both love to make art. They decided it was time to bring some cheer to their neighborhood on Ellsworth Avenue during the summer.
“Some of the rocks are from around the neighborhood, we paint them and put them back in different places for people to take home,” Claudia said. “It takes a couple days to paint them, and we do it because it’s fun.”
The girls get inspiration for how to paint the rocks they find around their neighborhood from the shape of the rock, according to Claudia. They have painted everything from rocks that look like food to characters from movies and TV shows.
“Sometimes we find rocks that look like something, like the one I painted as a watermelon,” Claudia said. “I really enjoy painting different fruits and vegetables.”
Both girls have YouTube channels they started last year. Claudia has one to show off her artwork and the painting of her rocks that can be found at “@claudias_art” on YouTube.
The videos have gotten many likes to the point where she earned some money from them. Her videos have “blown up,” according to their mom, Amy Vickers.
“I made it just because I love art, and I wanted to do it,” Claudia said. “I definitely want to do something with art when I am older.”
Eliza said the girls have been painting the rocks for a couple weeks, and she enjoys painting faces on them.
Amy said the girls have loved art for as long as they can remember, and there are a lot of kids in the area that Eliza will give lollipops to.
“They will sit and paint for an hour or so, painting a bunch,” Amy said. “Some are more detailed and take longer to paint. They painted a whole box full in three days, an hour or two each day.
“They were kind of looking at the rock and then looking into it like what does it look like? They also do chalk paintings on the roads, and a lot of the neighbors say they love the artwork.”
Neighbor Andy Miklos was cutting his grass when he saw something colorful on the ground, which was the girl’s rocks.
On the back of it, the rock said to take it home, so he has kept his rock ever since, telling the girls that the work they have been doing has been cheering up the neighborhood.
“I shut the lawn mower off and looked at them, and one of them had a ghost face,” Miklos said. “I just burst out laughing. It was so comic and it was really pick me up. I think that is the nicest thing those girls are doing and it just made me laugh when I saw it.”
