ArtSplash

Yesterday, I traipsed north to Carlsbad for its annual ArtSplash art and music festival. Now, while there was plenty of fun art and music to be had, my primary interest was in the street paintings -- chalk pastels painted onto the fresh blacktop (thanks to Palomar Grading and Paving Inc.) of Armada Drive in the spirit of the Italian madonnari. My pictures do not do them justice, however, there were many interesting street paintings to see.

Being a theatre person first and foremost, I found this painting of New Village Arts recently closed production Sailor's Song to be particularly clever advertising, despite the fact the show could no longer be seen. The Amandas (Morrow and Sitton) are not exactly immortalized in chalk, as the first good rain (or, more likely, a deliberate hose) will wash them away, but the art was effective.


I snuck back several times to see this production of The Kiss being painted. Because the talent inherent in the chalk art is original to the chalk artists, reproductions of famous works like this are listed as "after" the original artists. This would be "'The Kiss' after Gustav Klimt"

Though this next one is not in a style I would otherwise care for, there was something rather impressive to me about it being done in chalk.


I couldn't get a straight shot of Frankie here below around the other on-lookers, but found that this slightly disturbing crop was somewhat appropriate to the subject. Hey, Halloween is just around the corner.


In the "other arts" department we met a photographer who developed his own software in order to create holographic images layering 10 - 12 photos. I've seen holographic photos before, but one or two of these were particularly interesting. Like the one of the blue bottle on an orange background below. If you were to reach out to touch the photo in person, you'd have a sudden and jarring recognition of its 3-D properties as you expect to touch the image much sooner than you do but instead seem to be reaching into it.


Along with circus performers and a crew of young drummers, there were sculptors of every variety - from bronze and glass to stone and sand, but possibly the most intriguing was a specialist in "edible art" whose medium is neither ice nor butter. No, Sara Nep works with cheese.


One wonders if a slice of nose really does taste better on a Ritz.