Chalk Festival

As promised, I returned to the Sarasota Chalk Festival yesterday.  What a fun event!  Both professional and amateur street artists participated and their creations were amazing.  This top picture is a 3D version of the board game "Mousetrap" as it was being created by California artist Tracy Lee Stum and her four person crew.  Looking to the left, you can see the red bathtub which appears to be hovering over the pavement and above that is the metal ball for the game.  The purple chalk represents the "Mousetrap" mechanics (still in design) beneath the board game.  I'll post more festival pictures on my Flickr site later tonight.  In the meantime, here are a few of my favorite captures from Day 1:

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about this artist.  I must have been too busy being wow'd by her work to engage her in conversation.

Lots of passersby were talking about this piece because of its life-like depiction.  The artist is Leon Keer from the Netherlands.  He told me this was his first time creating street art in the U.S. and he was enjoying it.  He definitely was a wonderful addition to the festival.

I watched as artist Cecelia Linayao, from San Diego, added white chalk to the lips on her piece to give the appearance they're glistening.   It was just a couple of quick chalk strokes -- that simple.  For those of us who lack artist ability with regard to drawing, it was very cool to see.  One of the neat aspects of street art is that the artists like to interact with passersby.  I don't know how Cecelia had completed as much of this piece as she had.  She was so friendly, taking lots of breaks to chat with people.

It's so impressive to see these creations emerge from the ground.  In this shot, an artist's chalk covered hand dangles over his piece while he assesses his progress.

This is my friend Chris who was participating as an amateur artist.  This was his first time creating street art.  By day he's an office worker, by night and weekend he's a talented artist.  Check out his photography blog.

There may have been as many dogs as artists at the festival.  These two adorable shelties came down from St. Pete with my friends and arrived in their Halloween costumes:  Florida Gator cheerleaders, of course.

At first I thought Pepper, a chihuahua, was being carried in a pouch and wearing sunglasses just to be cool.  As it turns he's 16-years-old and has cataracts.   He was very sweet.