Summer Travels with Chalk

The past month has been extremely busy for street painting.  I usually try to escape the heat of Florida in the summer, but the rain, heat and humidity seems to have followed me.   In case you missed the multiple posts on Facebook and Instagram, here are a few of the highlights:

Hudson Valley Street Painting Festival (New Paltz, New York) - July 22-24th
We had a bit of rain, but the heat was extreme, sending one chalker to the hospital.  This piece “Surprise!” was taken from vintage art, and made into a 3D piece, about 9’ x 18’.  Click here for some more photos of all the art on Facebook.

Overview of the parking lot where the event took place.

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International Street Art Festival (Sogel, Germany) – Sept. 31st-Aug. 1st
Rain both in the morning and evening made Saturday difficult, and the fact that my supplies didn’t show up until around noon on Saturday, also cut down on my time to chalk.  This art was taken from an M.C. Escher drawing, but made 3D and with color added.  Escher is a well-known Dutch artist, that I figured would be well-received in this area.  It was difficult to see what it was going to be, until I got all the shadows finished.

Finished art on Sunday afternoon.

The artists were also asked to create permanent murals in the small town of Sogel.  This was my second time attending this event that happens every other year. 

The place we stayed, Marstell Clemenswerth used to be the horse stables for the kings hunting retreat, but now hosts youth groups.  I had done a mural last year, "Peace Dove" that they loved so much they put it on their postcard!  So I did this piece in an adjacent stairwell, to highlight diversity and cooperation.

Mural was done in acrylic, took two days and was 10' x 6'.

International Street Art Festival, Wilhelmshaven, Germany – August 6 & 7, 2016
The title of this one is “Gone to the Dogs”, size was 9’ x 18’.  I was hoping that the message of global warming would be fairly strong, since I couldn't speak enough German to explain it to the crowd.  This was my third year attending this great festival.  There were about 40 artists from all over the world, including Russia, Italy, Spain, France, Nepal, Pakistan & Mexico.

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First Cambridge International Street Art Festival in Canada (near Toronto) - August 13 & 14, 2016
This festival combined both graffiti and chalk artists from all over the world, including Portugal, France, Thailand, and the US.  First day was a wash out, with rain removing most of our work, so everybody kicked butt to finish all their pieces on Sunday. My art was 10’ x 18’, title is “Jennifer’s Dragon” since many thought it was Pete’s Dragon, because of the recent release of that movie.  I had actually designed this piece before I knew about that movie.  Because of the Old English feel of the architecture in the area, I thought a dragon would be appropriate.  Click here for more photos.

3D chalk art is 10' x 18' and finished in one day!