T here were already a lot of good reasons to explore Nanaimo’s great outdoors. Now there are 365 more.
Nanaimo’s Deborah Lynn Hibbert is halfway to her goal of 365 Smiles, a project she set out for herself as a new year’s resolution.
Hibbert intends to paint 365 rocks, all of them unique, and place them in places like beaches and forest trails. She began on Jan. 1 and while she had intended to make it known early on that she was behind the artwork, she never quite got around to it.
“Pipers has the gnome homes and in different places throughout the world, you’ll see things that are done just for the general public that are interesting,” Hibbert said. “Most of them aren’t takeaways – these are takeaways.”
Part of what makes Hibbert’s project unique is that it’s finders keepers. Underneath each of her rocks, she’s written ‘keep me.’ Still, people don’t always realize the rocks are there for the taking. Hibbert said a few times, just after placing one of her painted rock, she’s seen someone find it. On one occasion, she said, group of seven or eight people picked up one of the rocks, admired it, passed it around, and then placed it back down without ever thinking to turn it over and look at the underside.
Hibbert started by painting rocks to look like ladybugs, and then painted some creations for her own garden and to give to friends.
“I’ve always liked art. I’ve done it in many different mediums,” she said. “I like painting. I’ll paint darn near anything and rocks are good, rocks are fun.”
Hibbert said she finds the artwork relaxing and likes the idea of people finding the rocks and smiling. Mostly she’s placed them around the Nanaimo River trails, Colliery Dam Park, Westwood Lake Park, Buttertubs Marsh, Pipers Lagoon Park and Maffeo Sutton Park, but a few are as far-flung as the Comox Valley and Port Renfrew.
“They’re not difficult to find, because they’ll look out of place in the notch of a tree or sitting on top of a stump. They’re meant to be found fairly easily,” Hibbert said.
Asked if it’s heavy carrying a load of painted rocks, she said, “It’s heavier coming back because I always pick up more than I put out.”
For Valentine’s Day this year, she painted 45 heart-shaped rocks and enjoyed doing it; she said she may do it again next year, even though she anticipates winding up the 365 Smiles project at year’s end.
She and her family have lived a lot of places and Hibbert said her project is “a thank you from a retired military family who is very grateful to be here.”
After her 365 Smiles project is over, Hibbert figures she’ll still want to find some way to try to make other people happy.
“Maybe I’ll do seashells next year,” she said.
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
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