Never Forget Your First Face

It's been about two week since the last event and I came as prepared as I could. The drive to Leesburg was a little longer than expected but it was fine.  However I did run into a little bit of trouble.  Just like many small towns here in Florida there are very strict speed limits. You could be driving by and you will quickly see the speed limit drop from 45mph to 5mph.  Well sadly I fell into one of these speed trap.  I went up a bridge that says it was 40mph, halve way through the hump of the small  bridge the speed changes to 35mph and I got clocked going 52 through the light as I was coming down the hill.   By the time I slowed down due to the speed sign the cop was already behind me and I was being pulled over.  It seem that this was going to ruin my whole day.  Thankfully the Officer was kind enough to let me go with a warning since I admitted I made a mistake and there was nothing I could do about it, he was just doing his job. 

The rest of the trip made me super paranoid on the speed limit so it made the ride ten times longer.  Once I reached the Main St. Leesburg it was pretty nice. It reminds me of pictures of Classic American towns I've seen in magazines and books. I love it.  The day was great, everybody was in great spirits and the people of the town were extremely friendly and grateful.

For this event I wanted to do a piece that is very close to me and I wanted to be a face. I did the Rosie the Riveter "We Can Do It!" WWII Promo poster.  My father was born in the 1930's and my mother in the 1940's.  Both of them have seen many changes in their lives and they always believed in hard work and earning your keep.  Norman Rockwell and some other WW2 stuff were at times around the decor of our home as I was growing up.  Rosie the Riveter was especially my favorite.  When you come from a Hispanic culture and you are a girl, women are just mainly expected to be house wives.  So to see such as strong feminine figure really made me smile.  Maybe that's why I'm the hard worker I am today.

I was nervous. I never tried doing a face in chalk.  So this was truly a challenge.  Plus I wanted to do justice to one of my favorite WW2 art pieces.  While I was working I had a lot of seniors really enjoy the piece.  Many of them remembered the piece from when they were children, a few remembered from their job as  young teen, and few ladies told me they were a Rosie the Riveter.  All in all of the piece was welcomed quite well.  In the end there were many great pieces, and it seem we are getting faster and faster in each event.   

As for me I'm very happy with my performance and can't wait for my next one.  In the end I didn't win any of the Leesburg awards but I did win the FCAA award for the event.  I'm very proud and honored and can't thank enough for the people who voted for me.  

My First time at Safety Harbor

My pretty Pink Orchid (reference form an on-line picture.)

So it's been a fun spring chalk season, and for right now is almost at an end.  I did all right. I won an award in 1 out of 4 events so far.  It's a great start towards my Master Level goal.  Next come fall season. 

This event was very different for me.  First, it was at Safety Harbor Florida and it was my first time doing this event.  Second, I was replicating my first flower. Third, I was on my 3rd weekend chalk event in a row. Finally I was worried about my husband that had been release out of the hospital after suffering injuries from a car accident earlier that week.  I will have to say that I'm very very impressed with my self.  I DID 3 EVENTS IN A ROW with and epic bad back.  That is pretty epic for me.  I'll say it again EPIC!!!!! LOL

The funny part is I showed up on the second day of the event and did my painting fairly fast.  It only took me around 6 hours to do with breaks and goofing off time. At the time I was rushing to get home since my husband was home by him self the day after he was released from the hospital. It wasn't a very comforting thing to think off.   My husband all alone, recovering from surgery, on crutches, on pain meds hopping around the house.  No Bueno.

When I got home, I was happy and slightly annoyed at the same time.  I see my husband laying comfortably on the couch having a good old time. He told me that the problem he was having moving around with the crutches was the hospital set them up too tall for his height. Once he fixed that problem he even went and made him self  a quesadilla.  At this point I was annoyed for a second, but shortly after I was very happy to see him doing fine.  It really took a great lift off from my shoulders seeing him smiling on the couch.  At this point I had the option to go back to the event or stay home and enjoy some time with my husband in the AC.  I decided to stay and eventually crashed down on the floor around 6pm from exhaustion.  I guess I was truly running on pure adrenaline after being in an out of the hospital all week, plus working, and keep up with the house.  My body was telling me to shoot down. It was a great nap.  

The next day I went back to the event and got a chance to enjoy the event with my chalk artist friends.  I also got a chance to help some of my other chalk friends trying to finish their work.  It was truly fun. This event was wonderful, and I can't wait to do it again next year.  The only thing that I did not enjoy was the 8 block walk trying to see all of the other artist. It was simply spread to far apart between the artist, and many people did not get a chance to see the rest of the chalk artist. I hope next year they consolidate the areas were the artist are at. All in all this event gets two thumbs up. I'm very happy.

As for me I have learned a little bit more about my self. 

1) I have great stamina when it comes to chalking.

2) I'm getting faster with my chalking and technique.

3) The chalk artist community is still my favorite community to be involved with.

Till next time. :D

Safety Harbor Chalk Artist 2012