Portrait art

This is just a quick post to say hi to everyone I meet at the church of Viera showcase! If you are here because of that you can find my portrait work at www.clairvoyantportraits.com or my Facebook, Facebook.com/artofchelsey
Thank you!

March 2 - Cocoa Village

I chalked a quick demonstration piece is History Cocoa Village today! So hello to everyone visiting my site today who saw me downtown. Feel free to look around and send me an email if you have any questions, be it commission related or how you can get into street painting!

Uptown Art Expo 2013

My rendition of "A Ray of Sunlight (The Cellist)" by John White Alexander. It was 5x7 and took about 5 hours at the Uptown Art Expo in Altamonte Springs, FL (Feb 16th).

Ft Myers Chalk Fest

The weekend was a great success, I am very impressed with the skills of all of the High School students in Lee County! It was so hard to judge because everyone did such a great job!

For those students who talked to me over the weekend, please check out FCAA and ISPS for info about other festivals, they are a lot of fun and we would love to see you out there creating more art!

To start off the Chalk Block, 5 professionals (myself included, although I was asked if I was a student several times, ha) put down the Truly Nolan logo. They were great to work with and I love learning new things whenever I interact with other artists; Lee Jones, Dorthy Sabean, Michelle Hawkins, and Ron Hawkins.

And here is my scorpion piece from Saturday, about 6 hours 7x5 ft.

ArtFest Ft Myers, Feb. 1-3 2013

I am looking forward to participating in this years ArtFest Chalk Block! Each year they choose a few professionals to instruct students from local Lee County high schools, who then compete in an art competition. SO I feel honored to kick off the new season by working with my peers and inspiring the next generation!

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.