PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles totally rocks, according to a group of art and community-minded residents who are leaving small but potentially valuable pieces of artwork in public places for others to find.

Members of Port Angeles Rocks, a loose-knit community group, are busy spending their free time painting rocks with pictures or designs and inspiring phrases and hiding them for strangers to find.

There are now offshoot groups in Forks, Sequim, Port Townsend and Seattle, and it has even spread to Colorado, thanks to Aisha Lesh, 26, of Port Angeles.

In December, an unknown person began leaving turquoise-painted rocks with peace signs in public places around Port Angeles, known as “peace rocks.”

Lesh, who paints rocks with a group of creative friends, said she thought it would be nice to start leaving more of the palm-size artworks around the community and started the Facebook page “Port Angeles Rocks” to coordinate their efforts.

Project took off

“It unexpectedly took off,” Lesh said last week.

By Friday, it had 845 members, with more added every day, Lesh said, and groups from as far away as Colorado have contacted her for permission to use the concept in their own communities.

The Sequim Rocks group has 99 members. A Port Townsend Rocks Facebook group apparently started in April.

Members of the group post photos of the rocks they have left for others to find, and others post photos of rocks they have found, often connecting two people who have never met.

Painting party

To help people get started in rock painting, a Port Angeles Rocks painting party is planned from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Coo Coo Nest, 1017 E. First St.

Participants should bring their own paint, brushes, rinse cup and rocks, and can either keep their rock creations or find places to hide their rocks to be found and passed on.

Those who find the rocks are expected to hide them again in another location rather than hoarding them, but Lesh said that if a particular rock “speaks” to someone, the person is welcome to keep it.

In some places, such as Ediz Hook, the number of painted rocks is beginning to get out of hand, she said, adding that at one spot, a handful of them are visible.

She asked that those hiding the rocks make a greater effort at making the discovery a bit more difficult — a surprise to those who find them, rather than becoming so common as to be seen by some as a form of littering.

Lesh has gone hiking with family members in the mountains, and some of the rocks were placed in off-trail stumps and other less-traveled locations.

At least one of those remotely hidden rocks has been found, she said.

Professional artists

She said some of the rocks are beautifully painted by professional artists, and one rock may take hours to complete, while others are family projects painted by children.

“It’s really cool how many artists in our area are willing to put in the time and effort to paint a rock, then just leave it somewhere, give it away,” she said.

She said that for many, it means a reason to get out of the house.

Ricki Niehaus, a beautician who has taken up rock painting and rock hunting, said that instead of spending time in front of the television, she and her family are spending time at the kitchen table painting rocks, then going out to distribute them together.

Several weeks ago, one of Niehaus’ clients asked her to make a rock for her 60th birthday.

Special meaning

A few days later, Niehaus and her children were hiding a bucket of painted rocks along Marine Drive, and she said she told her daughter to put a distinctive footprint-painted rock on one of the tables.

Instead, it was left in the tall grass, and another rock was placed on the table.

A few days later, the client called.

She had found a footprint rock on a memorial plaque to her son, Scott Hardy, who died at the age of 18 in 1993.

The plaque was hidden among some high grass along Marine Drive, she said.

Niehaus received a picture of the rock and confirmed it was the rock her child had left in the “wrong” place.

“She was meant to have that rock,” Niehaus said.

In other cases, searching for rocks can derail other plans.

“One family said they were going out to dinner at Downriggers, and their little girl found one and she didn’t want to go to dinner,” Niehaus said.

“She wanted to find more rocks.”

Niehaus said the girl eventually found four rocks, but there was no word on whether the family ever got to their dinner.

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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.