Downtown Disney Chalk Walk + enter to win 1st of 7 prizes

Phew. I've finally made it back here to share some more chalk drawings that decorated the sidewalks of Downtown Disney during the recent art festival. I've been feeling a bit like Corbet's Desperate Man selfie the last couple of days. 

I thought these high schoolers did a great job with their vibrant interpretation of Klimt's The Virgin.

Now, this is where I apologize to the chalk artists. I usually make sure to give credit with links to creative folks. Unfortunately I flaked & neglected to take down their information. If anyone here sees work they recognize, feel free to share any info and I will correct this post ASAP.

By the way, congratulations to Tampa chalk artist, Bridget Lyons!

Her reproduction of Victor Nizovtsev's All Stacked Up took home the award for Best European Master, Non Figurative. You can see more of Bridget's work at http://www.bklyons.com/chalk-art.html

A few more impressive drawings...

Check out how the fellow below is working the Degas... coming along nicely.

The Festival of the Masters is such a fun show! There were many more sidewalk drawings. Plus lots of fantastic art for sale in the (I think it was 300) booths. I'll be back tomorrow to share a few links to some of my fave artists from the fest. 

Until then, lets get wacky! With Thanksgiving around the corner it feels like a good time for a solid week of giveaways. Starting today, I'll announce a new prize each day for 7 days. You'll have a week to enter each random drawing. Simply leave a comment on my blog before 7 a.m. (EST) on the day of each drawing to get your name tossed into the day's hat. So, next Monday I'll announce the winner of today's prize, which is...

A $20 gift certificate to my etsy shop: Artsnark.etsy.com. Hop to it - share any ole comment before 7 am (EST) on 11/25 to enter this drawing. Also, be sure to leave your email if it isn't already in your profile so that I can contact you if you win.

And be sure to pop back every day this week to sign up for more random giveaways!

Disney art festival chalk walk & kid stuff

Last weekend was the annual Disney Festival of the Masters, as well as the last days of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. We were over due for celebrations plus in need of a Disney fix, so the family took off for a long weekend in Mouseland.

Each year the free art festival in Downtown Disney includes chalk art by both high school students & professionals from the Florida Chalk Artists Association. These chalk artists get to show their talents and enter a juried competition too. There were some really impressive pieces underfoot and, I will share more here tomorrow. 

Michael's Craft Store sponsors the festival and always has a terrific kid's make & take section. Budding artists decorated cute sun visors and picture frames. They also added to this fun mosaic. Each child was given a black & white square with preprinted abstract lines.  Their job was to color any way they wanted and then match their square to the number on the giant framed wall. Above is The Dude sticking on his masterpiece.

And here is the communal work in progress as of Saturday.

The lego store did something similar but you had to match few legos to a coded board.  This is the Lego mosaic on Sunday afternoon. Lego does this every year and usually posts a time lapse video of the process, but I haven't located the link for it yet.

The Lego store was hopping. They hosted trivia contests, lego car races and giveaways. Plus this guy was building a giant Tie Fighter. Pretty cool. 

Speaking of cool, I downloaded the My Disney Experience app. It was really helpful for wait times and to score some easy reservations. Friday night we went to the Coral Reef restaurant for the first time. Caught The Dude making his best fish face while a big ole tortoise swims by. Dining right next to the giant fish tank was a unique experience. The many sea creatures (and a few divers) were very active and entertaining.

On another topic, I attended a festive event at Tampa's Oxford Exchange tonight. I can't wait to share all of the shots and swag! 

But first I have lots of Diz-pics to post, so it will be all-Disney-all-the-time around here for a few days... including an arty giveaway contest this weekend, so pop back later to check that out.

Dark Arts - Creepy Collector's Cabinet

Happy Halloween!

Last week I shared some new pieces made for the Dark Arts: Creep group show. If you missed them, click here (opens in new window).

I also had fun cobbling together this Collector's Cabinet (40 - 48). The cabinet is covered with paint and some really cool textured papers.

The knobs are old railroad nails numbered 40 - 48.

Inside the creep displays his treasures.

Distorting mirrors reflect the gatherer admiring the latest acquisitions.

Inventory is labeled, in this case with old playing cards. Just one more left to go before this set is complete and a new one can begin. 

Of course, the hunt is (more than) half the fun.

Treasures.

The drawer handle is a frozen Charlotte crank for winding.

Here's a sneaky peek inside the drawer. 

I imagine the owner of this box is a lifelong collector, dedicated to his craft.

Musical Monday - Lou Reed 1942- 2013

Sad to hear about Lou Reed's passing. He is one of my favorite musicians. Lou always came off as creative, unique & honest. This will sound silly, but over-playing the Velvet Underground's albums helped me survive high school. 

Have be honest, I kinda thought he was going to live forever.

http://www.loureed.com/inmemoriam/

Looking for more Lou? Chris Klimek over at Slate is suggesting some classics tunes. There are also a bunch of great videos on the Lou Reed website. 

If you're looking for other tunes today, pop over to XmasDolly & visit the MM blog hop.

Dark Arts: Creep

Dark Hart, mixed media

Hey there. How've you been? Where did October go?? 

I've been busy making pieces for 4 group shows this month. Halloween was my favorite holiday as a kid. Now it is a great excuse to give in to my dark side and make some fun spooky stuff.

Bernini Skeleton, altered & colored original photo

One of the shows, Dark Arts: Creep is happening right now in St. Petersburgh, FL. Lots of ghoulish goodness, art and entertainment all wrapped into a fundraiser for Keep St. Pete Local and put together by the Blue Lucy Gallery.

Dark Arts: Creep Saint Pete Local Show Promo from Arkkive 440 on Vimeo.

I've packed this post with a few pieces I made for this event and will share some this week.

cabin 1, mixed media

cabin 2, mixed media

Sorry that cabins 1 & 2 photographed poorly. These lost ladies are trapped behind "antique" mirrors, which can be a challenge to shoot. I had a similar problem in the top photo of Dark Hart; the black rectangle on right is my phone (doh).

Van Gogh Shadow

This lovely short film created by Luca Agnani adds motion to some of Van Gogh's most famous paintings. There is a list of paintings used on the YouTube page.

I feel like I've watched this before, but my memory is going lately. It is making the rounds on twitter (again) today, so sharing here in case you've missed it (or simply want to see again).

Smokin & still evolving

Smokin' WIP

Finally got some time to dance with this wild lass again. Need to be done soon, but she just wont sit still.

Still listening to Kishi Bashi. His tunes really push the paint around! 

WIP

Sorry about the poor pics - shooting in the near dark with my phone. I do love being able to paint outside again now that the weather is cooling! Gotta run - Mommy & domestic goddess duties beckon. 

By the way, you can see an earlier version of this piece & and find out a bit about the fundraiser it is going to in my last post: HERE