Double Winner at Disney!!

I was very excited to win two awards at the Florida Chalk Artists Association event (Disney Festival of the Masters held every fall at Downtown Disney)!  I was surprised to win "Artist's Choice" from all my peers in the FCAA.  Plus I won the "Best Reproduction of an American Master".  My art was by Rick Timmons.  I found his website on the internet, and really wanted to do an animal picture, and he does a lot of horses.  Of all his works, I like this one best, and it worked well for the 7' x 7' square size we had to work with.  Because it was a 2 1/2 day event, I wanted to make sure I picked something with a lot of detail, and this one had it!

I also received my Maestre Certification from the FCAA. This took about 3 years for me to accomplish.  It requires that you participate as a solo artist in at least 15 events, win an award at Disney, win an award with 50+ artists, plus leading a workshop and also writing about street painting.

Many of my friends in the group won awards, also (Betty Dominguez, Jamie Schwerstein, Carolyn Shultz, among others).  Go to the FCAA website to see pictures of most of the winners.  The high school teams impress me every year, too!  Lots of talent!

Thanks, Minnie!

Feast of Little Italy 2011

 A traditional Italian masterpiece was the inspiration for this detail from a painting by Antonio da Correggio.  I got a lot done on Saturday at the Feast of Little Italy in Abacoa Town Center in Jupiter.  This was my first year at this festival, and it was great!  The only downside was the heavy rain that came down on Saturday night.  It started as we were pulling the plastic over the work, around 6:30pm, and was so wet that we couldn't really seal it with the duct tape fast enough.  Then a fence fell on the plastic, ripping a hole in the middle which allowed more water to damage the work.

It took about 3 hours to dry out the piece and reconstruct the damaged areas on Sunday morning.  I pushed hard to finish by sundown, and just made it (even with the time change).  The best thing was all the wonderful comments from viewers, with some saying that it was so beautiful, they were almost moved to tears.  This is what art is all about - to evoke strong emotions in the viewers!

First Time Chalking at National Harvest Festival

I was honored to be invited to be a featured artist at the National Harvest Festival at Silver Dollar City, in Branson, MO this fall.  My first piece on Opening Weekend was the logo with two "additions" of kids chalking.  It looks like they are actually chalking the logo on the ground, giving it a 3D look.

Then I started this 3D reproduction of a Norman Rockwell piece that was originally from a Saturday Evening Post cover.  This pieces was about 6' wide x 10' tall and took 3 days to complete.

Then I got washed out during the next two days.  I was attempting this piece by A. Rodriguez but each day the rain started about midday, and I couldn't work anymore.  The rivers of water that started to come through made me think I should rename this piece "A River Runs Through It"

Next I worked on this piece, another Norman Rockwell piece.  This was about 10' wide x 8' high and took 3 days, (2 days chalking, one rainy day that was spent trying to preserve it until I could finish it).

Then I worked on this piece for two days, another smaller Norman Rockwell piece.  It was about 5' across x 8' high.  I put a lot of time into the details and even added a border/frame around the outside.

 I am looking forward to going back up in October and working from October 19 - 29, 2011.  I have two 3D pieces planned, one is an interactive carousel horse that kids can sit in and have their picture taken.

Chalking in Dalkey

While chalking at the Chalk Festival in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland last weekend, I was approached by a woman who wanted to know if I could chalk a board for a restaurant in nearby Dalkey.  I said sure, that we had two days after the festival, and we were planning on going to Dalkey anyway.  We found the restaurant, the Dalkey Dispensary, which is a very nice tapas and wine restaurant, with 2 floors and lots of black walls.  They wanted us to chalk a large table upstairs, and three areas on the walls.  We quickly made some sketches and Mercedes and I got to work.  Craig took the train back to the hotel to get the rest of our chalks, since I had only brought enough for a small board. 

It took about 5 hours for the two of us to complete the table and walls.  Chalking in the dark was a bit of a challenge.  At one point, the restaurant was so busy, that we had a couple of tables of patrons eating nearby (Dinner and a Show!).  They are going to try spray coat it and we took pictures, but short of putting a glass top over it, it will probably be only temporary.  Jackie, the manager, wanted to use it on their website, but also wanted to use it as a table.  We also sampled some of their great tapas and wine while working.  Everything was great!

Click here to see the video.

First Art Chalk Walk in Buffalo!

The quaint town of Buffalo, Wyoming held it's very first chalk event on August 3, 2011.  Artists, both young and old, came to town to create works of art on the sidewalk down Main Street for the first (and hopefully not last) time.

I started about 9 am on my area right outside the front door of the Chamber of Commerce.  They were very excited to have me there.  I worked all day, with a short break for lunch and a short rain sprinkle around 1pm.  Finished this piece around 7pm.  Size is 6' x 8', and the original art is by Terry Kelly Moyers.  I loved the cheerfulness and color of this piece, and everyone loved it too.  Weather was warm, people were great!  The event was put together by Marie Verger and the Buffalo Downtown Assoc., and they did a great job!

Buffalo Chamber of Commerce.

Deer in the am on Main Street.

Starting on Wednesday morning.

Finished piece at around 7pm.

Looking forward to coming back next year, and staying longer!  Click here to see video.

Kids Participate in Street Painting Art at 2011 Cityfolk Festival in Dayton, Ohio

This was my first time chalking at the Cityfolk Festival in Dayton, Ohio.  It was also my first time chalking in Ohio!  Since I lived in Dayton for about 8 years, and was very involved in the arts (DVAC!), I was very excited to come "home" and share my new art form with the community.  I was also thrilled to be able to bring my 16 year old daughter, Carmen, with me to assist.  She was born in Kettering, and is an amazing artist in her own right.  We decided to include an area around our art for kids to participate.  This was the first time we did it like this.  We had a lot of kids join in, and I think we would have had even more if it had been a little cooler. Below are some photos of the kids "getting dirty."

Carmen & Jennifer chalking with friends.

Great sunset!

Getting creative.

Some worked in teams

Chalking in the Mile High City

A day of firsts.  This was my first time chalking in Denver, and my first "older male" face (i.e. wrinkly).  I usually do women and children with beautifully smooth skin, so I was looking for a challenge.  Well, this piece (original art by Colorado artist Kirby Sattler titled "I am Crow"), is certainly a challenge. Not only were the wrinkles a challenge, but the feathers also took a lot of time to complete.  I worked from 8am til 6pm on Saturday, and was exhausted.  It was hot, and was even hotter on Sunday.  I had to slow down around 2pm, just because the pavement was so hot, and they didn't allow any umbrellas or shade. 

Sunday morning, we arrived at 8am to find technicolor footprints all over everyone's work.  The drunks had a dance party in the street - and I was not happy.  Luckily, my piece wasn't too badly affected, but some were terrible.  It was very sad to see.

I spent about an hour fixing the art, and was done a little after noon on Sunday.  I was working hard to get it done because of the 90 degree heat in the middle of the day.  I was very happy with the finished piece, and the crowd LOVED it.  Some said it was very spiritual and commanding and they were drawn to it.

Thanks to my area sponsor - Big Hoss Bar B Q!

Colors of Willemstad International Street Painting Festival

Captain Hook & Peter Pan in 3D on the Handelskad.

This was the second year for "The Colors of Willemstad" and was put on by Dutch Dream.  Five artists, including me, were brought in to give workshops and chalk during the event.  Since I had a long narrow area to work with, I tried to look for art that was sea themed and would fit the area.  I found this picture on the internet, and was an original painting credited to an artist named Invernalia.  Piece was 10 feet across by 30 feet long and took about 22 hours (3 days) to complete and was my largest piece to date.  I put down a layer of tempera paint as the base, but it was all done in chalk.  It was tough on the paver bricks and it used up most of my green and grey chalk!  The heat wasn't too bad until Sunday afternoon when the sun came out full force. 

The crowd was made up of local Dutch and native islanders, plus cruise ship vacationers.  The city has a port that docks at least one, sometimes two large ships every day.  They speak 4 different languages on the island, which sometimes made communication a little difficult, but we managed. 

Luckily I had worked early and late the days before and took advantage of the cooler times of the day.  The steady breeze off the water was also nice.  Because I was next to the main "drag", there was a constant slow flow of cars going past me, many with people hanging out the windows, giving me the thumbs up sign!  Craig was very busy taking both still photos and video footage of all of the artists during the event and the workshops and all the other performing artists.  Click here to see video.

Before the event on the weekend, I gave two workshops to the local artists and high school kids.  It was great - everyone was excited to get started chalking.  I was impressed with how many talented kids there were at this school, and with their art teacher, Ailsa Anastatia.  We met so many great people that were very warm and welcoming, that we hope to return again soon.

New Street Painting Event in Coral Springs was a Hit!

Coral Springs Museum of Art sponsored the first annual "Chalk It Up For Art"  Street Painting Festival in Broward County.  Participants ranged from elementary to high school students to professional and novice adult artists.  Held outside the museum on Saturday, March 12, 2011, museum Executive Director Barbara O'Keefe hopes it will be the first of many more to come.

I did  my first "Madonna" piece for this event.  It was about 5 feet x 7 feet, since I only had about 6 hours to complete, and then I had to help judge the event.



Honorable Mention - Betty Diaz

 

Honorable Mention -
Richard Del Ponte



Winner - High School Division

   

Winner (Professional) -
Jaime Taaffe



3D Postcard a hit at Jupiter Jubilee

This was the first year the Jupiter Jubilee decided to have a chalk artist.  Because this was a 3D picture, it needed to be explained to most of the viewers.  The actual art is trapezoidal in shape, but when photographed at the right angle, becomes a old-time postcard with "Greetings from Jupiter, Florida" across the top.

I had 3 great volunteers from Jupiter High School that helped to explain how to take the picture correctly.  The subject sits on the towel at the base of the picture and leans back just a bit and looks up.  The photographer stands on the x marked on the ground and holds the camera up at the correct angle and - ta da - it looks like you are in the postcard.

Puppetfest in Boca Raton

Decided to recreate this image, titled "The Lurking Sock Puppet" by Ursula Vernon.  It seemed so appropriate for this event - and it won "Best Theme"!  Weather was great.  We only had about 7 hours for this event, so I tried to choose something that could be completed in time.  Finished piece is 7' x 5'.



Jennifer working on "The Lurking Sock Puppet"