I mentioned in my post last week that when my husband and I visited Kerrville, TX recently, I was able to attend the Kerrville Chalk Festival 2019. The festival was October 12th and 13th. I stopped by early on Sunday morning and missed the crowds. The pictures I'll share below have a lot of the artists in them and I also got to visit with a few of those talented individuals. I was fascinated that such diverse and beautiful art could be created from chalk on a sidewalk. I'll have a few comments below, but I encourage you to also take a look at the Festival website. Lots more to see there.
As you can see, the artists have to kneel, crouch or sit on the ground to create their art. Hard on the knees - most had foam kneelers or something like that to assist.
If you make the photos larger, you can see the drawings or photos the artists were working from in several. Some of them had grids to help them with perspective I suppose. One painting had been completed halfway and the artist still had the whole second half to draw. The completed part was on the right and the 'yet to come' part was the left. I didn't get a shot of that one.
I spoke with this artist for a few minutes. She told me that it was her first time to be part of the festival and she also said she had done her drawing freehand, while pointing out that many of the others had used that grid system that I mentioned above. She lives in Kerrville and works as a commercial artist.
I also enjoyed a conversation with this artist. I was interested to see the glove on her right hand as she smoothed the colors. The sponsor above the chalk painting is James Avery Artisan Jewelry I don't know how many are familiar with James Avery and his jewelry and stores. He has been very popular in Central Texas for decades and there are stores in several states. Mr. Avery started his business in Kerrville over 60 years ago. The golf tournament that my husband was playing in was the James Avery Invitational.
I wanted to point out this chalk art especially. It was created by Ever Galvez and if you look closely you can see that it is a bit 3-D. Fascinating, right? I'm so glad I was able to attend this most interesting event.
So beautiful! I would have loved to see this. The 3D one, just awesome... and the woman wearing the glove, nice!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had fun, Kay. And your husband had his golf. I won't say which one I'd prefer to do, lol...
Well, I'm not a golfer - not that I couldn't take lessons and learn, but so far it's not my choice. However, I have fun going along with him and finding my own pursuits while he's swinging a club. Ha!
DeleteThese are remarkable! I think these should be sealed and made permanent! Tourists would come to see the paintings long after the event.
ReplyDeleteI know. There had been showers on Saturday of the festival and many of the paintings were covered with plastic when I was there. I was early. Some artists were still creating and some were repairing. They've had this festival for a few years, but Kerrville has many festivals. The sidewalks at the pavilion where it was located are well used.
DeleteAll of that art is amazing! If I had their talent, I think I would be reluctant to draw it on the sidewalk where it'll be washed away.
ReplyDeleteYes, I guess they take pictures in order to preserve the moment.
DeleteYou got really good pictures of this event, Kay. We usually go to the Santa Barbara chalk painting event on the first day and the last day (it is three days) so we can see the beginning work on some of them and the end result. Although often by the time we leave there are many still not finished.
ReplyDeleteThat last painting is fantastic. There is usually a guest artist here that does a larger space with a theme but I have never seen one that long and elaborate.
That 3-D waterfall was indeed amazing. I had to stand there for a bit and just let my eyes adjust so I could take in the 3-D effect. There was another artist who had a kind of campfire picture with an open space for people to 'join' the campfire and seem like they were part of the painting in a photograph. I didn't take a picture of that one because 3 little boys were trying to decide who would get to be in a photo first. Ha!
DeleteWOW! These are incredible. Some people are so amazingly talented!
ReplyDeleteI agree. It was fun to see and also to visit for a few minutes with some of the artists.
DeleteI am always amazed at the talent of the artists who did this sort of work. I have a friend in Nebraska who has participated a few times at the big event in Kansas City. I also love the 3D images I've seen online over the years. Simply amazing! Thanks for sharing these, Kay. I especially love the one with the sun and moon. Rachel had a tattoo very similar to that just below her neck (on her back).
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so glad you got to see that one and that I took a picture of it. There were many more that I didn't. I had a good time wandering around and snapping shots. There was a kid's area so they could draw and also food and drinks (thought those weren't open yet when I was there).
DeleteYes indeed, that last one is amazing. I love the little hands sticking out from underneath it too... kinda spooky!
ReplyDeleteI agree and thought the same thing about the hands.
DeleteWow, these are amazing! That's crazy how they can get such detail with chalk! I've seen ones before like that last one where it looks 3D - it just boggles my mind!
ReplyDeleteI'd never seen a 3-D chalk anything and was really fascinated. Wish I had been able to see the artist working on that one, but it was completed already.
DeleteThese are just fabulous!! Thank you so much for sharing your photos, Kay... I'd love to see something like this in person.
ReplyDeleteI did have a fun time just wandering around with my coffee and my phone. Of course, I had to set the coffee down every time I was ready to take a picture. Ha!
DeleteThere is a beach town by me that does a chalk walk every year. I am always amazed at the detail and how quickly they can put their creation in place. I got a kick out of how many artists had little dogs with them too. Cute.
ReplyDeleteOh, that is funny. I didn't see a bunch of dogs there. Actually, they may have been forbidden because of running across the art. Not sure.
DeleteIt really is amazing, isn't it? There's a chalk festival in Northern California my mom goes to every year. I am always sad the artwork ends up being wiped away--but there's always photographs of it.
ReplyDeleteI guess the artists are used to 'losing' their creations. I'm interested to learn that there are several of these chalk painting festivals.
DeleteThese chalk pictures are just amazing. Some people are so talented.
ReplyDeleteI know. I'm constantly in awe at what creative people can do.
DeleteIt was a lot of fun to see.
ReplyDeleteWow! Those are incredible.
ReplyDeleteI went to a chalk festival (I blogged about it, but for the life of me I can't find it right now) in Houston with my sister a long time ago. It was some of the most beautiful art I have ever seen. I think part of the appeal for me was the ephemeral nature of the art.
ReplyDelete