It's a Winner at the Disney Festival of the Masters!

I was very excited to win the "Best Portraiture/Figurative Award" at the Disney/FCAA Festival of the Masters street painting competition on November 12-14, 2010.  I chose to reproduce a photo titled Natural History by Lithium Picnic that I found on DeviantArt.  It was not only rich and gorgeous, but it also had a fall type theme.  This event is an invitational for FCAA members, and does not allow 3D or cartoon works.  The finished piece was about 6'x7' done directly on concrete with only chalk in about 19 hours (2 days).  I experimented with using Eternity Chalks for the light colors, and really liked the way they covered the surface. 

We started on Friday morning, and I was pretty much finished by 5pm on Saturday.  Judging was moved up to 10am on Sunday, so everyone was doing last minute touchups.  Luckily the weather was great and we didn't have to worry about rain.  I was under an acorn tree that kept pelting us, but I was grateful for the shade.

I also received my Qualificato Certification from the Florida Chalk Artist Association (FCAA).  There was one other who received the Qualificato (second level) and two who received the Semplice Certification (first level).

Chalk Festival brings together artists from Florida to Italy

The First International Chalk Festival in Sarasota brought together artists from across the U.S. and Europe.  The level of artistry was amazing, and encompassed both three large 3D works, and also the traditional madonnari style street paintings.  The 3D paintings started a couple days ahead of the weekend event.  Each work was completed by a team of 3-5 artists.  They began by laying down paint and then going in to add details with chalk, as the crowds waited in line to stand at the apex of the work so they could view it in the correct perspective.  The traditional chalk artists (my daughter and I included), started VERY early Saturday morning - 6:30 am - before dawn's early light!  We used some white tempera on certain areas of our work, because the asphalt was very black.  Some artists blocked in large areas with colored tempera, which I think is kind of cheating.  I prefer to have all the color done in chalk.

This was the first time I had done a "recognizable figure", as I usually do reproductions of master paintings or my own photos and designs.  This picture was from an original painting by Alex Ross for the 70th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz.  People really connected with this character and I can't tell you how many times I heard "I'll get you my pretty".  It was popular with all ages, too, as both seniors and young children recognized the character.

We worked til dusk on Saturday.  It got really hot (in the 90's) and most of the artists really slowed down in the middle of the day.  I was in total sun from 10am - 6pm.  Sunday we got back to work around 8am.  Both Carmen and I finished about midday (about 2pm for me).  Sunday was also very hot, which was why I was trying to get done earlier in the day.  As you can see from the photo at the left, there were a lot of people in costume both days.  Attendance was great, much better than last year, probably about 30,000 each day??? 

Judging was around 3pm, but the awards presentation wasn't until 6pm, so we had to wait around.  The best thing about the festival was getting to connect with so many other artists who all have the same passion. 



Rain Almost Washes Out Street Painting Festival in Daytona



We assess the damage early Sunday morning.



The 11th Annual Arthaus Street Painting Festival (part of the Port Orange Family Days) was a success, despite two downpours on Saturday. The first was around noon, and wasn't too bad. Most everyone was able to cover up, and get back to work about an hour later. But the second one came at 5 pm after a full day of chalking and literally washed away most of our work. It was very discouraging, but this is Florida, and we all know that it "occasionally" rains in Florida. I waited for the majority of water to run off, then we tented it loosely with plastic.

Sunday at 7:30 am we uncovered it to let it continue drying so I could get to work as soon as possible. I just barely finished at 12:30, in time for the judging at 1 pm.  (I didn't know I could paint a tree in 15 minutes!)  When you have to rush, it isn't as good as you want it to be, but it still looked pretty good, and I was happy to have it finished.

This "Artist's Choice" winner was a photo I liked, but I changed the background to make it more colorful. It was the perfect proportion for the odd 5' x 10' sized area and was a real crowd pleaser, especially with the kids. After the prizes were awarded, we waited around for about a half hour for the shadow to cover the entire work, so that the pictures would turn out well.  Thanks to Craig for taking such great photos during the event!

TurtleFest 2010

My first turtle! I took some pictures of the rescued turtles at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida for this piece. TurtleFest is a one day fun family day event put on by the center every year, and I was hired by Loggerhead Fitness owner, Rick Opton, to do this piece next to his booth. The art is 6 feet x 4 feet and took about 6 hours to complete.

Tom Sawyer was the theme for the Stuart ArtsFest 2010. It was to celebrate the reading program and included Riverboat John and free copies of the book.

This art was originally from a book cover (artist unknown). I started at 10:00 am on Saturday on the 4' x 6' piece. I worked a total of about 10 hours and finished about 1:30 pm on Sunday. I was rushing a bit on Sunday, because the weather was threatening rain all day, but we dodged the bullet.

Best in Show Winner!

The first annual Haines City Street Painting Festival was held March 6, 2010. About 30-40 artists participated in this new event, and I received the "Best in Show" Award for my chalk art of a Norman Rock well painting titled "Springtime"!

This was a one day event, so it limited the size of the work to 5' x 7'. It was pretty chilly in the morning, but once we got to midday, it was warm and sunny.

I had never seen this particular work before, and thought it would be appropriate for the small town feel of this springtime event. It was definitely a crowd-pleaser!

Lake Worth Street Painting Festival 2010

I chose to do this picture by J. C. Leyendecker from a Saturday Evening Post magazine cover from the 20's. I loved the colors and at 8' x 10' it was a crowd pleaser.

Carmen did her own art - a Bouguereau reproduction (see below), and was the only "kid" included in the featured artists area.

Artigras 2010 - Extreme Chalking

Chalking at this three day event started off rather chilly and windy - making the temperature feel like it was in the high 30's. It slowly warmed up over the next three days and so did the crowds.

This is my largest piece to date - 12' x 12', and was done on an area of both concrete and asphalt. It incorporates kissing cherubs from a Bouguereau painting and the pink and green Lilly Pulitzer print around the border, that was designed specifically for the 25th anniversary of Artigras.