Artist Turns Rocks Into Doodlestones

(Update: Bryan Payne’s mother Barb just let us know that there is a DoodlestonesUK community on Facebook.)

OK, this is a project that should go global. We’re going to say right up front, we’d love to see this happening in the UK.

What “this” do we mean?

Doodlestones, a project created by a man in St. Louis, Missouri named Bryan Payne. He uses markers to draw faces and other features on small, flat stones, then hides them in places around town. Sometimes, he lays them flat in an unobtrusive spot, other times he uses Scotch mounting putty to attach them to surfaces.

Doodlestones

(Payne told us he uses Faber Castell India ink art pens: “I love them, but wear the nibs down pretty fast.”)

Upworthy.com has done an excellent profile of Payne and Doodlestones. From the article:

Each stone comes from a river in his home state of Missouri. On each stone, he writes “#doodlestone,” the date, and “finders keepers.”

He posts photos of the doodlestones on the project’s Facebook page with small clues and geotags. People can use those clues to help hunt down the doodlestones. (You can see more photos of his doodlestones at Payne’s Instagram account.) They can also create and leave their own.

The Facebook page seems to have been started in early August and already has more than 3,000 likes. People are starting to post photos of their doodlestones, with hints about where they are hidden.

Payne told Upworthy he started it to connect people in the St. Louis area, which has been troubled since the shooting of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson last year. He seems to be accomplishing that.

It would be such a cool thing if a project like this would start in the UK. With so many wonderful and talented artists here, surely it would not be difficult.

If anyone were to do it, you can be sure that you’d get as much notice from Tiger Pens Blog as we could give. Projects like this should be celebrated. If anyone makes an attempt, please let us know.

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Tony Bridges

As a seasoned journalist and freelance writer, I've spent over three decades telling stories and exploring the world through the written word. With a passion for writing instruments, I found my niche at The Pen Vibe, a blog that shares our collective fascination with pens, pencils, and other tools that have shaped the art of writing.

2 thoughts on “Artist Turns Rocks Into Doodlestones”

  1. FYI there is a Doodlestones community in the UK. Just google DoodlestonesUK Facebook or Twitter! Barb Payne (Bryan’s mom)

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