Some may skip stones, but Emmanuelle Cazabonne prefers to paint them.

In the unfinished basement of her home, Cazabonne uses acrylic paints to transform ordinary rocks into miniature pieces of art.

The rocks feature animals—bird beaks meeting the curve of a rock—or vibrant stained glass imitations of religious figures. Cazabonne will paint a favorite sports team’s logo or immortalize a beloved pet, but regardless of the theme, each rock will be carefully and lovingly detailed.

People may wonder why someone would choose to paint on rocks instead of the traditional canvas. But Cazabonne likes to work with the shape of the rock. She no longer sees rocks as simply rocks, but as different subjects she can paint, like a house, horse, ghost or Santa Claus, because of their specific shapes.

Also, Cazabonne said, “Everybody paints on canvas. I want something more original. That’s my niche.”

Reading Rocks

A native of France, Cazabonne moved to the United States when she was 35 years old. She resided in Iowa before settling in Elmhurst about four years ago.

Cazabonne admitted she would have moved to Elmhurst sooner had she been aware of the Elmhurst Public Library.

"The library in Elmhurst is absolutely fantastic," said Cazabonne, who works part-time at the library as a computer assistant. 

With her love of the library, it should come as no surprise that Cazabonne is an avid reader and book enthusiast. Cazabonne hopes to have read more than 60 books by the end of this year. On her blog, Cazabonne writes and reviews books she has read, and she talks about her plans for a 2011 reading challenge.

In addition to her time spent reading and blogging, she also gives French lessons online through Skype, and she has published a book titled, "A Light to Enlighten the Darkness: Daily Readings for Meditation During the Winter Season."

Trés Magnifique

Cazabonne recalled living in the countryside of France, when her artistic side began to bloom.

“I remember asking for a piece of old sheet from my mother and an old piece of wood from my father. I used [these] to make my canvas, and I would paint on it. I remember painting our house with some rabbits running in front of (it),” Cazabonne said.

Her parents also were artistic, painting and drawing in their free time.

In seventh grade, Cazabonne really became passionate about painting and colors.

“From the age of 10 until 18, we had an hour of art per week," she said. "When I was in seventh grade, our art teacher asked us one day to bring a postcard of a landscape. We had to paint it in the middle of an 8-by-11 page. ... It really put me in touch with how to deal with colors.”

From then on, she read books to learn to draw, but she always returned to painting, the medium she enjoys the most.

In 2001, she stumbled upon a book about painting fish on rocks. Since this was her first exposure to the art of rock painting, Cazabonne played it safe and painted nothing but fish for almost a year.

She eventually met a couple of potters, who became friends of hers. They encouraged her to take photographs of her rocks so she could sell them.

Ten years and 10,000 rocks later, Cazabonne has mastered the craft. Cazabonne's Web site has lots of examples of her artwork.

“It’s wonderful to see the joy my paintings can bring people,” she said.