Rock artist turns out solid work

Liz Smith quit smoking and became a “rock” star.

As anyone who has smoked and quit can attest to, kicking the habit comes with a large dose of nervous energy as the mind and body rebel.

She needed to find a new channel for the energy and anxiety. That focus was at her feet…and her hands, frankly all around her.

“I had quit smoking and was feeling really depressed,” she said from her home that has become her studio in the mountains near Trout Creeek. “Then I got addicted to something else.”

That something was rocks. They are everywhere around her home amid the carpet of pine trees that surrounded her.

“We live in rock country,” she said with a smile.

Soon she found herself gathering small, flat rocks in hopes of duplicating rock planters a friend of hers had been making. As she attempted to craft those first handfuls of rocks into small planters she was met with a heavy dose of frustration.

“I just couldn’t get them to stay together, to form the planter,” Smith said. “But I kept at it and the more I worked with the rocks, the more I liked them.”

Along the way she had a dream about making wind chimes out of the stones with which she had suddenly become fascinated. Little did she know that fascination would blossom into a booming business that has begun to touch the far corners of the planet.

What began as an attempt to shake nicotine from her life soon began to involve copper and other natural minerals. A former statistical analyst, she was shaping and drilling rocks to fit mental images she had of things she wanted to try to make.

“I would envision something I thought would be a good thing to make, like the wind chimes and other pieces and I had to learn how to do it,” she said. “I want to do it all.”

Rocks, she said, are their own shape. But creating art of them requires tools she never dreamed she would one day be utilizing. She now has tools such as a jeweler’s saw and drill to help mold the solid objects into creations she can share with others.

She began using finely shaped pieces of copper to dress up the rocks such as the thin bands around rocks in her wind chime creations that turn the stones into eye-catching, unique forms.

From there, she began to work with the copper by itself, crafting, among other pieces, beautiful copper roses that have been a big hit with her growing list of customers and fans.

“The roses have been well received,” she said. “I get a lot of requests for them for anniversaries and other special occasions. People often want messages etched into the rose petals and I learned how to do that.”

Other minerals, such as jasper and other gem stones, have found their way into the rock-based work she does.

“Everything is inspired by the nature that is all around me,” she said. “I don’t always have a solid plan in mind when I set out to create something. I go into kind of a zone, usually with music playing, and I just kind of disappear into my work.”

With the exception of some Covid-19 related interruptions, Smith’s works, under the banner “Rocks by Liz” have become a regular feature at the weekly Missoula People’s Market. She has also been part of art shows in Spokane and Whitefish on a regular basis.

That exposure helped create what has become an international market thanks to the internet.

“I had to learn more than just the art,” she said. “I had to learn about marketing and shipping. I had to figure out how to develop a website.”

While she sells a lot of her artwork at the shows and in-person market places, on-line orders have averaged 2-3 per day. While the Covid situation has slowed international shipping, she has still filled and orders to Australia, Denmark, Ireland and Qatar, a Persian Gulf nation.

But while her business has been “rock” solid and growing, she hasn’t forgotten the main benefit she achieved from the very beginning.

“I haven’t smoked in years,” she said.