Wednesday, November 19, 2014

At the Sarasota Chalk Festival


Last weekend at the Sarasota Chalk Festival in Venice, Florida, the theme was Extinct and Endangered Animals, and I was honored that two of the artists chose images from Dinotopia to recreate as gigantic street paintings. 

Jennifer Chaparro, photo by Craig Houdeshell

Jennifer says, "The finished piece is 12’ x 12’. The white base is just kid’s washable tempera paint, to help the paint stick, with soft pastel chalks on top. I use four kinds of chalk. Your basic Koss pastels, plus Eternity Chalk, and Richeson Street Stix Pastels, and Mount Vision Pastels. The surface was not the best. It was rough and gritty, and I ripped through quite a few gloves and sponges."

Lori Escalera painted "Small Wonder." She says it was surprisingly cold and windy with a lot of distractions, but she stuck with it and did a beautiful job.

Here's the original painting from Dinotopia: The World Beneath, which is only about 14 inches square. The painting itself was exhibited in Florida at the Norton Museum of Art in 2010.
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Thanks, Lori and Jennifer!

3 comments:

StreetPainter said...

Thank you, James, for allowing us to recreate your wonderful art for the crowds in Venice. I have been a big fan of your work for many years, and you were so nice to work with. Part of what I love about street painting is connecting with living and working artists.

Lori Escalera said...

Dear James,
Thank you for your willingness to collaborate this year to bring "Small Wonder" to the medium of chalk and ephemeral art! The piece was wildly successful and an appropriate "opener" for the stunning artwork that ensued on the street (Jennifer's included!). Many attendees had fun with the surprise of seeing the children amongst the extinct dinosaurs as well as were heart warmed who knew your work. They spoke very lovingly (and proudly) being familiar with the Dinotopia series. You are truly a Master Artist and it was great to get to know your work. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Wonderful! And they are so respectful of your original art.