People Today

Chalk Meets Pavement

First day of the festival. Found my square at 9 AM and got it all gridded out. Even though the temperature in Scottsdale was supposed to be in the mid-90's, sitting on blacktop amplified the effect: we were all hot. A kind lady came along and took my picture, so I include that. Enlarging images this way can produce unexpected results. I made a mess of the face, the one part I most wanted to do right. Back at home tonight, I printed out a copy with changes in red for Sunday.

For some reason, I cannot make the eyes look where I want them to! Perhaps it is the extra challenge of working on such a rough surface that has me spooked. Everytime I'm tempted to whine, I looked over at Melanie (our mentor) sitting serenely in the heat in her trademark pink cowboy hat, drawing in an easy, meditative way. She puts us all to shame.

Check, Check, Check

Above, getting my kit together. It's still pretty hot here in Arizona. Hat:check, water bottle:check, Sunscreen: check....

Practice

Close-up of an eye on gray paper. It goes much differently on blacktop though.

Almost festival time! My little drawing (above) is nearly finished.

Under Construction

My scanner cuts off the edges, but looking at the design this way helps in figuring out what to do next.

I mixed several images here. The figure is based on a real person - with artistic license. She will look different once the eyes are finished. The idea for the eyes actually comes from another person entirely.

The koi pond is from photos I took at the Japanese Friendship Garden while I was in San Jose.

Since I've always loved the lush, utopian designs on fruit-crate labels, I included that feeling in the vegetation (plus some oranges). The dove in the figure's hand is ...well, a work in progress. It is there for a reason. We'll see.

Design Ideas

Below is a practice drawing on pavement from a workshop this spring. Above: some early sketches for the final design.

Note to self: do not use your spiral notebook when doodling important sketches. It makes everything harder later.

Local News Article Link: "Pavement Paintings"

Pavement paintings to adorn downtown Scottsdale

Read this March article in the East Valley Tribune, announcing the upcoming festival. At right is Melanie Stimmel working on a large piece. The photo credits appear in the full article. Melanie is featured artist at the event, and our mentor in learning useful techniques for pavement painting.

Why I Love Street Painting

Light Manifest is back after some time away so I can share a new project: Pastel Street Painting! Scottsdale is having the first annual Via Colori festival this weekend! There is no way I will miss this. Let me explain.

I was introduced to the medium in my hometown of San Rafael a few years back. Strolling around Saturday morning with a borrowed video camera, I snapped artists at work (left). Streets in both directions around our local Mission filled with people creating large temporary works of art directly on the pavement. Each artist had a square though a few teamed up on one large square. The pavement was fresh and black... with no lines yet. People strolled up and down, watching the squares develop, talking to the artists, taking snapshots and listening to music.
During those two days in June, I filmed amazing art-as-process. At the end of two days the streets were opened, lines were painted, and traffic resumed. For days after, I drove back along those streets , visiting my favorites and marveling at the color and life gazing up at me. Gradually they faded, though my love of street painting never did.

Now these works are long gone. Today when I look at my old VHS tape, I see each beautiful work ... still in progress. The California sun still shines, live music is drifting through the air, swallows and pigeons fill the sky and the mission bells chime. There is laughter in the air, and the act of creating lays on the pavement like a benediction.

The next year I was a Street Painter, too. I did a rendering of two white egrets (above right) on a 4 x 6 square. And now Via Colori has come to Scottsdale.