UB Cyclovia Chalk

Cyclovia hit the pavement at University at Buffalo's North Campus on August 28th. There were bikers celebrating the bike path and the move-in momentum of the students. A fresh year! The energy was a little contagious.

Tim, my dear husband, and I arrived on campus around noon. We then met up with 2 other chalk artists who have taken part in Sweet Chalk Fest this past year. Cadie did a bicyclist theme piece and Haley did a golden lab piece. I did a UB Bull logo mashed with a actual bull face. 

The wind was a challenge for our shade tents so we had them lowered down. A lot of students dropped down to our level to speak with us on our techniques or to watch. At one point, we did think the storm that hit Lockport was coming our way, but thankfully it did not.

I got to use my banner for the first time!!!

We had a total of 5 hours to get our pieces completed. At about an hour in I realized I had made a mistake with my grid and stretched my drawing too far by a foot. This is easy to do when you are at ground level and I was lucky to catch it when I did. There was a point of panic and futile asphalt scrubbing trying to get the lines off. This problem was later fixed by painting tempera paint over my errors. I'm so glad tempera paint is in my chalk art arsenal this year. 

My grid was supposed to be 6ft x 7ft, I somehow did 7ft x 7ft. I originally planned on only painting the black base in the shape of the bull head but ended up filling the whole square in. The paint helped pop my edges out for more definition in the end. 

Cadie had called our friend (her studio-mate) Jeannette to come "coach" us. However, she turned out to be my angel. She totally saved my butt on this one. My piece was too big for my britches and she helped me get it down. She carries half her studio in her vehicle so she had some blue Street Stix for me to use! Jeannette is pretty much awesome art super hero and mentor. 

The UB Bull's mascot came to visit my work in progress. 

There was a beautiful young woman and student that sat in front of me and asked if she could chalk too. She had the prettiest scarf and smile. I held up my hands and said "if you don't mind getting dirty." She replied "not at all." This girl dived in and was a huge help. I can't spell her name but I will call her Haddie, she was from India and studying Industrial Engineering at UB in the Masters program. She told us how she hasn't seen snow! Well, we know what it's like here, she will see a lot of the white stuff! Haddie made me want to reach out to students even more for events similar to this.We did take pictures and I gave her my card. If she sends them along I will update the post. 

My friend and co-worker, Melissa Yurko, stopped in to cheer me on. She and her husband embraced the bicycle atmosphere by riding over. I'm pretty darn lucky to have her in my corner outside of the office too. LOVE!

Jeannette and I posing with my UB Bull. 

Every time I chalk I learn new things. This event's lessons:

1. Don't bite off more than you can chew! I did this and was fortunate to have help. I think I will stick to the hour per square foot rule. Quality suffers with shorter time constraints. Simple subject matters from now on for one day pieces. 

2. It is SO time to invest in better chalks. I will be ordering Street Stix and some brands I heard about through the chalk artist grape vine. 

3. Quadruple check the grid. 

I think I will be doing more college campus work in the future. 

UB Sunday Chalk Prep

My last August event will be taking place this August 28th at the University of Buffalo's North Campus. There are several events taking place for the University to kick off the academic year. I have been referred through Facebook to chalk at the Cyclovia event. The newly painted bicycle path is being opened on the campus and there will be a party in the streets to celebrate.

http://www.buffalo.edu/calendar/calendar?action=describe&which=1CD698E0-6497-11E6-86D0-D39DD5EB3C5F&lastaction=list&category=&time=&thismonth=1&from=&until=

The University's write up:

"Cyclovia at UB: Bike and Pedestrian Street Festival Cyc˙lo˙via n. is a Spanish word signifying the temporary closure of a network of streets to cars so that they become “open” to the people who bike, walk, skate and participate in fun, free activities. Cyclovia at the University at Buffalo is a cycling and street festival for the campus community. The event encourages UB students, faculty, staff, and the UB community to join us on bike and enjoy people-powered activities. Along Lee Rd. and the Special Events Field, Cyclovia will highlight UB student clubs and community organizations through offerings including skating demonstrations, a BMX stunt show, bike safety and registration information, yoga instruction, and street art and performances. Cyclovia at UB is a collaborative effort in partnership with Blackstone LaunchPad at UB, Campus Parking and Transportation, UB Sustainability, Campus Living, Office of Student Life, Outdoor Pursuits, Student Association, Wellness Education Services, UB Athletics, University Police Department, and Professional Staff Senate. The partners believe the program will serve as a community builder and afford the campus community an opportunity to explore North Campus on bike while highlighting the newly-established campus bike lanes."

I came in contact with Hadar Borden and will be finalizing my participation details for Sunday. I have the sketch drawn up and references ready. I decided to take the newly designed UB Bulls logo and add my illustrative twist.

I had to look at several bull photographs, being that there are several varieties. I ended up picking two photograph's to adopt features from for my bull. 

I did some doodling and then finished my solid line sketch with grid notes. 

I had some trouble with the horn length. Logos are broken down and manipulations their subject. I actually enjoyed seeing the changes from logo lines to a more realistic depiction of the bull on my half of the drawing. It gave me a sense of nostalgia to art program college days. 

This piece will be 6ft x 7ft. I will be using tempera paint as the base within the figure lines. These sketches are so basic compared to the end result. Sometimes the process itself is rewarding, and in this project it has been. 

My participation in this Cyclovia is for fun and a street art portfolio addition. I am excited to be part of the people powered entertainment team and can't wait to share it here with you guys. Thanks for reading! 

Dog Days of Summer 2016

The end of summer is almost here! I was a vendor at an aptly named event in my own backyard of Newfane, NY recently. A perk for sure, is that it took place at my favorite winery on the Niagara Wine Trail, Schulze Vineyards and Winery. We got our engagement pictures done on their property in 2011. This winery feels like family whenever we visit. I always find new favorites to sip on, currently it is their Lake House Red.

http://www.schulzewines.com/#home

Karen Drumm of Harmony Dog Training, organized this event and brought our community of dog enthusiasts together for a fun afternoon outside in the sunshine. There were demonstrations by Denny Murphy with his dogs Mojo and Remi for field training and cute contests for our canine companions.

http://www.harmonydogswithkaren.com/


It was a learning experience-the wind proved to be my enemy. I will be investing in another tent with side panels to help battle natural elements next time. I had my vintage dog stamp pieces for sale for $12, and had my previous custom pieces on display (family owned) to promote my custom pet portraits for the upcoming holiday season. My PayPal Here card reader was pretty cool and super helpful as well.

One of my favorite customers bought 4 Collie stamp pieces. A super adorable Sheltie named Hope and her Mom loved the vintage look,  the Sheltie and the red poppy piece got their attention and lead to me making 3 more on the spot for them to take home.

I will have more of these vintage stamp pieces for sale on Etsy before the end of the year. Feel free to email me if you have a specific breed in mind and we can take a look at the current collection.

I enjoyed this afternoon of puppy lovin' and will likely do it again next year. Thank you to all who came out!

Wild & Crafty

Every once in a while I go on inspired tangents. The ideas start flowing and I usually dabble in them here and there. It is a positive process for the most part. However, the problem with crafty inspiration is that it leads to spending way more money than planned for scattered results.

Not this time, my friends!

I have had an orange book full of vintage dog stamps for a long time now. I always thought it belonged to my Great Grandpa Lemon, being that he was a hunting enthusiast with stuffed pheasants in his guest room (gave me the willies when I was a kid). Come to find out, it actually belonged to my Mom. She would collect stamps when going to auctions and such with my Grandpa Bob. A lot of the stamps are bird dogs. I happened to look through it the one day and found a Flat Coated Retriever! This breed of dog is not common, and my Mom has 3 of them. I thought I would make her a surprise and framed it up with some paper accents. She loved it of course!  

I wanted to do more.

August 21^st, 2016 is the Dog Days of Summer Event at Schulze Winery. I will be a vendor for the first time this year. The event runs from 1:00pm-5:00pm and is open to everyone and their dog furbabies.

For more information about the Dog Days of Summer click the link: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1737383763172179/

Karen Drumm from Harmony Dog Training is the master mind behind this event. Her information can be found here: http://www.harmonydogswithkaren.com/

I have been a crafting fiend for a couple of weeks now. I thought I would share a sneak peak of my vintage stamp treasures.  

I plan on selling them for $12.00 each. They are 4x6 inches and in a basic black frame. Miniatures, and small art seem to be popular these days and may be what you need to finish a mantel or enhance a book shelf. If you like what you see know there is more where these came from and you can visit me at the winery on the 21^st!

This one is personal favorite, a Britney Spaniel!

Stay tuned for more vintage fun. I hope to see you August 21st at Schulze!

Sweet Chalk Fest 2016

The Sweet Chalk Fest 2016 in Lockport, NY was another success. It was another learning experience. It was another event in which I made friends.

Per my previous post, poison dart frogs made their way to my piece. I had a final size of 8x10 ft. I approached this years subject in a different way. Using the edges to create dimension. I wanted to break into the 3D frame of mind and think I did all right for the first time. I chose to show the frog and a hidden buddy hanging out on a ginger flower. Ginger flowers come in a variety of colors. I took artistic liberty with mine. I went for pink.

We enjoyed my friend's wedding the night before. I arrived with hubby in tow to set up by 11am and began my prep work a little behind schedule.

I started by gridding out the 8x10 space. Then drew the outlines of the piece leaving bare blacktop for contrast. This was my first year using Tempera paint and it really did help with the chalk and fingers. I painted it on and then regridded inside the drawing space. At the end of day one I had most of the base color down and the overall shape defined.

The finished result! I was happy with the look of it and regret not getting a ladder shot. It took 14 hours of chalk time. My family helped with set up, take down, sunscreen/burn monitoring, hydration, blood sugar, and moral support. My sister, Grace was a trooper and kept me on track. When I get in work mode I tend to obsess and forget to take care of myself. Ellen and her volunteers were fantastic as
always in addition to my support team.




I learned some new techniques this year and met some really cool artists!

One of which, took this working shot of me in the finishing stages. Thank you Alex for all your wisdom and awesomeness!

I used synthetic suede fabric cut into strips for blending like I have done in years past. My friend from Florida, Alex told me about using cuts of indoor/outdoor carpet for blending. This doesn't waste as much pigment and can cover a large area with no risk to your finger tips. Also, packing foam sheets wrapped around finger tips are good for areas of detail. I used a lot of hair spray to get the black chalk to stick on the frog's spots when tempera paint could have helped with detail in hindsight. I also saw that some artists would tape off edges with painters tape for cleaner lines when finished. I will end up doing the same the future. Thanks, Debbie. 

Alex and I at the end of the festival. 

Ellen Martin, the mastermind behind this event and our community champion. 

I know there are more photos out there with other artists that will soon get to me. For now enjoy other artist's work. Thank you for your enthusiastic support for chalk art. Our festival goers make it all worth it, even when it rains the very next day. 

All names and festival information can be found here:
http://sweetsweetsummer.com/sweetsweetsummer.com/Pics_of_2016.html

Sweet Chalk Prep 2016

The Lockport Sweet Chalk Festival is July 16th and 17th this year. 

July is the month of celebrations. My dear friend, Laura, is getting married July 15th! Yup, the Friday before the festival. That means I miss out on the reception and chance to prep my grid ahead of time. I will be dancing the night away, and lets be honest, drinking too much wine. 

I started the prep work for the festival this past week. For the past two months I have agonized over my subject choice. I bounced from one idea to another. I had my selections narrowed down to a bald eagle, sea turtle, or tree frogs. I was set on the bald eagle until I realized that anything with feathers would take too long to draw and shade. I will already be late Saturday morning and have to set up my grid hungover. The basic drawing can't have too much detail to transfer from paper to pavement. I have been obsessed with sea turtles. I enjoyed my sea horses last year so decided to not do a sea themed subject again this year. So no ocean or sky critters. The release of the live action Jungle Book set me on track for a rainforest theme for my piece. 

I wised up and got graph paper for the quick sketches. I love efficiency these days. 

I sketched tucans, again, this is me refusing to let go of the bird idea. I sketched tree frogs-the poison dart variety are my favorite. I also sketched some jaguars. My husband gave helped me reign in my over-eager tendencies and voted for tree frogs. I did a lion the first year so the jaguar was too similar. Capturing more than one animal would be too adventurous as well.

The sketch on the bottom left is the winner. Three poison dart frogs in various positions on a ginger flower. Colors to be determined. Frogs are great-smooth, spotted, and bright. I will be taking advantage of black tempura on the pavement before chalking. The use of the tempura will help with shading and preserving my precious pastels. Due to the leggy nature of my amphibians, I will be adding height to the asphalt canvas-making this my largest piece to date. 

I will be getting the grid measurements set and then the final detail drawing on the small scale. After the drawing is completed I then try to make it to scale. This process involves me turning into a giant child and drawing with sidewalk chalk in my drive way. I will make paper templates of the more detailed parts. When its time to go to the driveway I will document and blog about it in more detail . I did something similar last year and it worked out splendidly. 

I'm so excited!!! This is the fourth year as a featured artist and it gets better each year. I can't wait to share it again with you. Stay tuned.