So I completely forgot I had a blog which is the reason I haven't posted in a long, long time. I simply just stopped giving a fuck about putting pictures up here when there are no followers and I doubt there's anyone who actually cares that much. However, I'm in a journalism class this quarter and I'm going to be using this blog to post some of the writing because we're required to keep a blog. I'll try to use visuals whenever possible... But this blog will be for my class for the next 10 weeks. So get used to it.
I'm not exactly sure what I should be writing right now but she told us we needed a blog post.. Maybe I'll email her.
I want to definitely write about my summer in Asheville and how fantastic that was. I'd like to do a comparison of Cincinnati versus Asheville, write about my favorite hikes along the Blue Ridge Mountains, about the friends I met and the things we did, and I think I have one little piece that's in a local place (but I'm going to try to keep it a secret). Hopefully I can make this work out right.
I'm sort of a rambler so if this blog gets annoying, sorry about that. Usually I clean up if I do editing or if I'm actually writing a serious paper but this entry is just junk. I know it's junk. I checked out the syllabus and Blackboard and neither were very helpful.... So, I suppose emailing it is.
Damn, anyway, I had a fantastic time at Streetscapes this weekend and got probably around 2,500 to 3,000 pictures but maybe I'm over estimating. It was located on Telford street at its intersection with Ludlow, so I walked over there to shoot some pictures for The News Record. Random people wanted me to get pictures for them so I got a lot of emails to send out. Oh, and I met a couple street bands who were awesome.
Streetscapes was sort of a street fair-ish type thing, where these local artists were sponsored by various organizations (like Skyline, Greaters, etc) and they took one piece of famous art and used chalk to draw it on the ground. The works were beautiful and the artists did a phenomenal job! I was there from start to finish so I got to see a lot of how they started working, all the way to a finished product.
First they blew up a picture, traced it on to large sheets of brown paper and traced over the main parts of the painting. Then they would punch holes with a toothpick into the lines to make a stencil. After that was done (heard it takes around 2 hours depending on how intricate the work is), the artists used baby powder to spread over the stencil so lines would appear on the road, and after that, they took blackboard chalk and traced more solid lines from the powder. Once they were done with that, the fun (a.k.a. coloring) could begin.
The organizers of Streetscapes held a workshop prior to the event to teach the artists how to make their own chalk that would last longer and look better. These chalks were the most brilliant colors of red, green, yellow, blue, orange, and purple that I had ever seen and there were so many hues of each I wasn't sure how anyone could pick one over the other. But the artists definitely knew what they were doing! Some would have an array of chalks in just about every hue of a color and, as a spectator, I could immediately tell they knew what they were doing and how to use each. That in itself is amazing.
I'm not sure how they each chose the particular pieces they did but the art was not just one genre, it was from everywhere. There were 9 works total and the selection stretched from "The Milk Maid" to a tribute to a local artist's work who had recently passed away.
The energy of the place was fantastic. The participants helping each other, sharing chalks, sharing ideas, critiquing, it was all very communal, but everyone knew they only had a certain amount of time to get the work done. Two days, Saturday and Sunday, from 10am - 6pm was their allotted time, but they made the best use of their time that I've ever seen. Absolute diligence and inspiring care went in to every detail and I would see artists occasionally get up to stretch, glance at their work, realize something was wrong and immediately start correcting it.
Finally, at 5pm on the second day, I came back to Streetscapes to get more shots of the work and I was in for a surprise. It was all done. All beautifully uncovered and the gallery was complete. Spectators were milling around, examining the work, talking to the artists, reading up on the history of the works that had been set up - it looked fantastic. I was even able to get up on a ladder and get some pictures of the entire thing and I couldn't have been happier that I was there. Sure my editor was mad because it was getting late in the production day but if I hadn't stayed, he wouldn't have a picture of the 16ft overview. It was a great experience, I had a wonderful time, and (without a doubt), the artists did an amazing job.
Go here for pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rissahearts/sets/72157627762871304/
