Eau Gallie Art Works

Another beautiful day of chalking at Art Works! Its was lots of fun, especially because after three years of pestering I was able to get my good friend Sarah to come do it with me! We decided to run our pieces into each other to create a good flow. AND I won 3rd, can't beat that!

This year I took a picture of a good friend of mine's daughter and turned her in to a mermaid! Thank you Koral for being such a lovely model.

And another good friend of mine won 2nd, so props to you Amanda! And thanks for coming out!

F.A.Q.

I get asked the same questions every festival, so I though I would break down some of the basics for you:

What happens when it rains?
You take cover! Really though, rain is a natural element that you deal with when doing street art. Obviously if its raining pre-event then a festival can be canceled, but mostly if it starts to rain all the artists just take cover and wait it out. When its done you return back to your piece, check out the damage, and keep going.

Are you sad knowing it is only temporary?
It's sort of a bitter-sweet art form. In a way it is sad knowing that the elements (or city) will remove it, but its also part of the experience. Street art is very much a performance art, and it really feeds off of the energy from the audience. Its a great way for an artists to get positive feedback from the viewers (and boost their egos!). Plus, my favorite part, is that everyone can snap a picture with there phone and they now have a piece of art that no one else will ever get to see in person.

Don't your fingers/knees/back hurt?
Yes.
But really, you get used to it. Gloves help protect your hands and alot of artists use kneepads to help.

Do you get paid for this?
It really depends on the artist and the festival. Normally a "featured artists" who helps bring in other artists and views will receive some pay. Generally speaking most artists donate their time and talent for free; as a chance for exposure, to help out the event, and for the love of the art. A lot of people don't realize the out of pocket costs for a chalk artist. We travel to an event, eat there, and sometimes stay over night- all for you! Some festivals are really amazing and provide compensation/supplies/accommodations for artists. So if you see a "tip" jar, please do. Ever heard the phrase starving artists? We really do work for food.

How do you do it?
With chalk? Haha, this really is a tough question to answer. There are many techniques, but generally like everything else it all comes to down practice. Its pretty easy to learn how to chalk if you are familiar with other mediums, its all about color blending. Plus you have to be good with getting a little dirty.

Vero Chalk Festival

It was great seeing everyone at Vero today! I had a few people tell me they were going to email me pictures so hopefully I will get a better shot soon :)

For those that don't know, this chalk festival was to benefit the 180 SunUp/ARC individuals with developmental disabilities who require extraordinary medical, dental and eye care. Proceeds with be used to fund exams and specialized equpment, including oral sedation dentistry equipment.
So THANK YOU to everyone who came out!

Just got home! Sarasota Chalk Festival

Just got back from an amazing few days in Sarasota!

12x12, about 23 hours
I was fortunate to have a lovely spot that had a shadow cast on it via a tent, unfortunately this means that a good photo of my piece can't be taken until 5:30ish tonight or tomorrow morning. So thank you to all of my fellow chalk artists for taking pictures after I had to leave!

The festival itself was great, met alot of amazing artists and saw alot of beautiful work! Thank you to all of the patrons and sponsors who donated and came out, because without you none of us would be here and I hope to be back next year :)