Have you ever stumbled upon a painted rock in your neighborhood park? They’re called love rocks. They are meant to provide a spot of love and joy in a person’s day when they find one. After finding a couple love rocks herself, an artist and mother of five by the name of Painted Earth on Facebook (otherwise known as Trisha Statde) and her husband Chris Statde decided to participate in the painting and hiding of these rocks. 

“A couple years ago I started finding them and I really wanted to re-hide them because I thought that was a fun idea but I really wanted to keep them too. So I started painting my own,” Statde said. “And then there were ones that I just wanted to put a little more time into and stuff and then someone mentioned I should start selling them on Facebook.” From there Statde and her husband have grown this hobby into something that can support them financially.

While Statde has been faced with opportunities to grow this into a business of sorts she could never part with some of the aspects of her passion project. “I’m kinda trying to do the good work and there’s not a lot of positions that society provides where I’m free to do that,”Statde said.“So this allows me the flexibility to be at the right place at the right time when a certain person needs to hear that one thing that maybe only I, in that moment, can say.”

Statde has brought her love rocks all up and down the west coast. “We travel up and down the pacific northwest. So I started in Grants Pass and we were doing the first fridays and the saturday markets, things like that,” Statde said. “Now with the whole COVID thing, there’s just not those kinds of things available. My husband worked two jobs and he’s been laid off of both of them so this is what puts food on the table.“ As this former hoby has turned into this couple’s only source of income they’ve been grateful for the support they receive here in West Linn. 

“I do want to say that here in [West] Linn, this is one of Chris and I’s favorite hubs. People have been very super friendly, very supportive. We’ve just had an outpour of love from the community,” Statde said.“It’s beautiful because times are hard right now and everybody’s scared, so it really warms my heart to see people being supportive.” 

You’ll find Statde outside the local Safeway most days selling her creations. These rocks and some other miscellaneous canvas paintings range in price. Some are given away to those who are unable to pay and others go for as low as a dollar to the most expensive piece she’s sold being 30 dollars.

While you might find a few works of art on canvases or paper, Statde has a special sort of love for painting rocks. “There’s some kind of like connection that happens with part of the earth. Where it’s like Mother Nature’s started the project for me and it’s a collaboration you know,” Statde said.“There’s a lot of energy transfer I feel like I’m getting energy from the rock and however many thousands of years it’s been around in this world and them I’m putting my love into it and then it goes somewhere hopefully to spread more love”

This “labor of love” as Statde calls it, is a passion that she intends to continue pursuing. “I don’t aspire to make much money with it. I want to be able to be out here with people,” Statde said. “As long as I’m able to travel and see new places and not go to bed cold then I feel like that’s enough. I’m perfectly content just making ends meet and being able to hopefully spread some kind of positive vibe.”