Joyce’s Rocks for Charity

~story and photos by Bob Gustin

When Joyce Sawyer retired as a campaign manager at Cummins Inc. in 2019, she found a way to express her need to make art, her love of cats, and her support of the Brown County Humane Society, all in a series of long-lasting creations.

She paints big-eyed animals on smooth Brown County rocks and sells them at Common Grounds Coffee Bar in Nashville, with all proceeds going to support the humane society.

The art part is not new. Sawyer studied fine arts at Indiana University before switching to business, and has painted landscapes, pet portraits, murals, and other subjects through the years.

She started painting animals on rocks she found around her house, which were once used as foundation filler. A couple of coats of gesso made the rocks smooth enough to paint on, and she figures she has painted about 100 of them since 2006, often making them to use as gifts. She uses acrylic paints, and a coat of waterproofing makes them more durable.

“Retirement makes it feel like you have no purpose,” she said. So in December 2020, she began selling the rocks at Common Grounds in support of the humane society. Although some portraits are realistic, the cute ones are more popular because “they make people smile, and people need something to cheer them up.”

It’s the animal eyes, she said, and the emotion they capture, which make her rock paintings popular. They sell for $10 to $20 each at Common Grounds.

Why rocks? “I paint on anything that doesn’t move,” she said, “and canvas is expensive.”

Her support of the Brown County Humane Society began after she spoke “unkind words” to someone and started to feel bad about it. As a sort of penance, she wrote checks to charities and was impressed with the response she got from the humane society. That, combined with her love of cats, sealed the deal.

The painted rocks can be purchased at Commons Ground Coffee Bar, 66 N. Van Buren St. in Nashville. All proceeds from go to the Brown County Humane Society.