Chalk Art Festival 2010

[grrgoyl]

I know no one else wants to hear this pseudo-complaint, but today is the first day Denver went above 95 degrees. For awhile there I was wondering if summer was ever going to come! But I was a good girl and went for my bike ride at 8 am, before the heat started pressing me down and changing my mind. I rode for 2 hours, and decided to head home when even my iPod earbuds felt too hot and heavy to wear.

I took another picture of my brook: I know I said it was "off limits" to bikes, but there's still some controversy (in my head) about that. Deb (who is a big hiker and knows all about state parks) says budget contraints meant they could only afford one sign, and so were hoping to keep half of the bikers off the trail at least. I'm not so sure -- other paths have just a tiny road marker on the side with a "bikes banned' symbol that I respect. I can't believe those cost so much they can't put one up if it's really that crucial.

So I reached a compromise and instead biked in on the big, wide gravel path that leads straight to the stream, ignoring the lovelier, smaller side paths that wend through the meadows.

Couldn't resist adding some digital saturation to improve on nature's beauty

This one, however, is completely untouched, from my drive to work Saturday. I like how the street lights look like demonic eyes

Sunday MyFriendDeb and I again hit the annual Chalk Art Festival downtown. Perhaps it was because it didn't rain so there was no sense of tragic urgency, or perhaps the artists weren't as good, but not nearly as many pieces really impressed us.

Cute! With a message

This was wild; you had to look at the reflection in the cylinder to see the undistorted result of this Daliesque piece

This was Deb's favorite. I thought it was just a phoenix until she pointed out the BP symbol in the upper left. I thought the message was that BP would rise from the ashes of this disaster, an uncharacteristically optimistic view for an artist. She just thought it was supposed to be an oil-covered bird.

My favorite was a bit less profound -- the DIA Mustang stands atop the "cash register" building (the only distinctive landmark of our skyline) and shoots planes out of the sky with his devil laser eyes. Cheeky and locally topical!

My first celebrity sighting in Denver! This is Kirk Montgomery, who not only has acted in several soap operas but who currently does the entertainment segments on our local news, which is the only thing I know him from

Can't have a chalk art festival without chalk

This pic might not look that special, but I actually took it in the process of lifting my phone up and hit a button accidentally. Check out that composition!

This by contrast is the result when I try to be artistic. Denver has a new bike rental service set up. Good for tourists, kind of pricey if you already have a bike here

Comments

[swankyfunk.livejournal.com]

Nice pics! I love happy accidents like the skyscraper image. Most of the time accidental clicks of the button turn out to be little gems.

I think the oil-covered bird IS a phoenix...not sure what's the red thing in the corner that looks like it's setting the BP sun on fire, or something like that.

[grrgoyl.livejournal.com]

Thanks : ) Though I'm an amateur compared to your talent. Someday I might just start waving my phone in random directions and clicking, see what happy accidents come of that. I love digital photography.

I decided it's pretty to look at and probably best not to contemplate the possible deeper meanings. I sometimes get irrationally irritated by artists whose vision requires explanation.

All of these beautiful meadows remind me of the one featured in pop supernatural sensation Twilight.

[kavieshana.livejournal.com]

There's such a thing as a chalk art festival? The closest I've ever come to attending one is watching Dick Van Dyke prance around in Mary Poppins. I would not be good company at a chalk art fair because I would be constantly attempting to jump into the pictures.

The cylinder art is my favorite of these! It's not the prettiest but it's awful clever.

Maybe, okay, maybe the Phoenix is society rising from the ashes of oil-dependency, fueled by BP's fuck-uppery. This is like a political cartoon but not so meticulously and conveniently labeled.

My favorite picture of yours is the one with the chalk. I like the diagonal line going across, and it's very colorful. The composition is excellent in the accidental shot. I'd like to see what an entire set of those would look like.

Never thought of it, but you're right. Maybe it IS all about Twilight

[grrgoyl.livejournal.com]

You CAN jump into these, that's why there's a tape line surrounding them to warn people off. Denver is a magical, magical place.

It was pretty cool. Also to see the artists watching their strokes in the cylinder rather than looking at the ground directly. THAT takes some talent right there.

If there was a political message there, it seems like a wasted effort. Is there a segment of the population in support of destroying the ecosystem who think BP should be cut some slack? If there is, they probably aren't very vocal about it.

Deb and I decided there can't be many mediums more miserable than kneeling on tarmac in the hot sun covered in chalk, hoping it doesn't rain.

Thanks : ) I wish I could claim some skill, but as I said to Meisje above, anything that comes out looking vaguely artistic is usually purely accidental.

Re: Never thought of it, but you're right. Maybe it IS all about Twilight

[velmaneuwirth.livejournal.com]

I think you just answered my question; I was going to say HOW do artists draw the actual picture of the cylinder one. There's a puzzle in a P.C. game I love where you find an image from the reflection of a moziac(sp?) floor, like that and I always wondered.