Denver Chalk Art Festival

Hello all, it's the weekend!

I had heard of the Chalk Art Festival over the years, but for some reason or another never attended the venue. Having seen photos from previous festivals (and bowled over by the impressive scope and vibrant color of these art pieces) I made it a point to do so this year.

The Denver Chalk Art Festival on Larimer Square.

Art on 14th Street.

A free, two-day event at Larimer Square, roughly 200 artists apply chalk to asphalt for hours to create their pieces. A good deal of them were sponsored and made nods to their patrons, often in a banner inscription above their work.

The weather was cruel to these artists Saturday with a storm that rolled in, hail-rained, and rolled right back out after about a half-hour. You know, just long enough to wipe the streets clean.

I had some concerns going into Sunday, but I worried for nothing.

The sun was out, the sky was blue. Larimer Square was packed.

And the first piece I saw looked reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel. This was going to be good.

"Sistine Chapel" piece.

According to the Larimer Arts website: "The event follows street painting traditions that originated in 16th century Renaissance Italy when artists began transforming asphalt into canvas using chalk. The artists were called 'madonnari,' after their customary practice of recreating chalk paintings of the Madonna. Historically, madonnari were known for their life of travel and freedom, making their living from coins received from passers-by."

And the art form was lost and brought back in 1972, after World War II. And, of course, scribbling on the sidewalks was brought back in Grazie di Curtatone, Italy.

The art was amazing. And the artists too. Hunched over in the blazing sun, pressed against hot asphalt, hands and clothes coated in their blended medium; it was engrossing to watch them work. I loved the use of the full spectrum to really make these images pop.

But my two favorite pieces by far are below:

Hello again, Alice.

This piece probably spoke to me most. You have darker, cool colors on one side, warmer colors on the other. One side is rigidly geometric, while the other is loose and free. This art gets me or I get it, something is gotten here. 

There were three "Alice" pieces in three very different styles, but the one above was my favorite. You really get the gist of the world in that girl's head. The other just spoke to me on a number of levels--the chief one being balance and the beauty of that balance.

Hey kid, you got a little someth...forget it.

And the venue itself was so much larger than I thought it would be. I figured it would be along Larimer and stretch for maybe two streets.

No. The event formed a giant cross, just like Gothic churches in Europe.

Larimer had become an open-air church of fantastic chalk artwork, its stained-glass mosaics at worshipers' feet; God's tattoos made in man's venous asphalt.

There was even a section quartered off for kids to let their creativity flow. Now that's how you do an event right.

It was awe-inspiring.

Please enjoy the gallery of the 2015 Denver Chalk Art Festival below!

I love deer. I love deer with ornamental antlers.

A Colorado vista on the rougher asphalt.

This phoenix just flew out of the pavement.

What music really looks like.

Even the children get to try their hand decorating the street.

The colors!

THE COLORS!

Made in Hawaii and afternoon tea

Hello all, it's the weekend!

I've actually done quite a bit this weekend, trying to pack in a lot of old favorite activities before school starts up for the fall. But I will go with the Made in Hawaii 20th Anniversary event and tea service my sister indulged both my mother and I in this afternoon.

Late morning found us heading downtown and severely lacking in parking. The Neal S. Blaisdell Center lot was full and I believe the overflow lot at McKinley High School was as well. (I'm not sure, I was reading "William Shakespeare's Star Wars" by Ian Doescher lent to me by my cousin. Star Wars in iambic pentameter. Very interesting indeed.)

We stopped off at a Ward complex lot and walked roughly half a mile back to the center. Tickets were $5 which we easily ate back in food samples! 

The Made in Hawaii event was held in the exhibition hall and arena of the Blaisdell and featured a host of local business ranging from Hawaiian food staples to shell earring trinkets and wood crafts to fine art. More than 500 vendors pitched their various goods to crowds over this weekend, Aug. 15-17.

Major local food staple.

We swung through the arena to start which held most of the foodstuffs. Lunch comprised a sweeping tray of exotic chocolate brownie butter, chocolate and potato chip cookies, taro bread, teriyaki jerky, macadamia nut-flavored tack, macadamia nut shortbread cookies, a wide assortment of chocolates, wasabi-infused brownie crisps, cool ginger tea and hot 100% Kona coffee. The arena also had live cooking demonstrations for each day of the event.

You wouldn't think to smoke meat with guava, but it's actually quite good!

Sill in the arena, these ocean-themed fabrics caught my eye.

Hawaiian Paradise candies had THE CUTEST Oreo cookie concoctions laid out on their table. My sister and I squealed over the little characters decorating the desserts. And their chocolate samples were to die for.

The Sugar Lips Cookie Company had the wasabi-infused brownie crisps which blew my mind. They start off sweet and then this burn kicks in shortly after you finish the sample. Absolutely delicious.

It wouldn't be a local kine event without a 'crack seed' vendor. This vendor was selling spiky red dragon fruit.

The Kona coffee vendor boasts that their 100% Kona coffee is grown on a single estate. I can't argue with the results.

After filling up in the arena, we all skipped over to the exhibition hall for a large selection of crafts. There were glass fusion pieces, gemstone jewelry, geode jewelry (I was particularly fond of these pieces, but not the prices), wood crafts, metal crafts, fine paintings, Hawaiian Christmas ornaments, silkscreen vestments, tropical plants, quilts, and a whole lot more. I was tickled by some of the more cleverly named businesses: Sew Sassy, Dressed'n case, and Bad Ash Pottery to name a few. The nice thing about attending the last day is a number of businesses will drop their prices to move their product. We scored big.

There were fewer food vendors on the exhibition side though Love's Bakery had a slot. I found myself perusing a lot of the quilting tables. I've been interested in making my own quilts for some time now but have lacked instruction. I DID make a Hawaiian quilt pillowcase with my mom in a 3-week class, but that's the extent of my knowledge.

I chatted up one vendor, Barbara Vasold of Quilted Images, who gave me a lovely piece of advice when I lamented the difficulties of applique: "You can make plenty of mistakes in applique, or as I like to call them, 'creative opportunities.'" I loved that! I can't wait to be a wizened quilting lady.

These colorful koi would go swimmingly with several of these garden decorations! 

I was fascinated by this metal piece of a metal figurine surfing a copper wave. 

My family and I were there a good four hours spying, spending, sampling...

All the way until 2:30 p.m. or so when my sister said it was time for us to go. She had a surprise for us and the reservation was at 3.

We walked back to the car with our purchases, yes we did buy the wasabi-brownie crisps, and drove farther east to Kahala. Our last hoorah as a family as it were. I had no idea what was in store and I was surprised when we hurtled out of Waikiki and its sprawl of hotels to an isolated hotel near Aina Hina.

Darcie pulled right up to the hotel agreeing that yes, we would have valet service, and we stepped onto the veranda of the Kahala Hotel & Resort. I had no idea this place existed until today.

She had booked us a 3 p.m. tea reservation where we were promptly seated and ordered two classic tea services for us and the royal tea service for mom. I chose a 'Blue and Yellow' tea which had chamomile, lavender and cornflower floral flavors; Darcie asked for a Dragon Pearl oriental fusion, and mom got a lilikoi-flavored tea. We all rotated flavors after draining our first cup. They were all delicious but I liked mine best.

The services came with scones topped with mango and clotted cream spread, four types of meat and spices sandwiches, and four types of decadent desserts. We all chatted over our hot tea and finger foods just enjoying the afternoon. The afternoon tea bridged my memory back to the Australia trip which was a delightful pang of nostalgia. I felt super spoiled. Thank you Darcie!

Afternoon tea. Something I wish America would participate in with as much vigor as Britain and Australia.

We also explored the hotel after that, which reminded me how people visiting Hawaii experience Hawaii. It was luxurious.

Whew, this seriously ended up being a very full weekend. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of it!

Happy Sunday!

Sagittarius Moon

Hello everyone, it's the weekend!

What's your sign? Most everyone probably knows the answer to this question. Having been on one of those 'personality quiz' kicks a few years ago, I discovered there was more to astrology than just a sun sign. There is also a moon and rising sign that are supposed to determine your personality. (As well as a Mercury, Venus, Mars, and so on--never mind the 12 houses these planets are found in at your time of birth and their specific angles to each other. Astrology got a whole lot more complex that day.)

I shrugged my shoulders on one of those birth chart calculators and thought, what the heck, let's see what we get.

Cancer Sun: + sensitive, caring, imaginative, --moody, touchy, insecure
Sagittarius Moon: + independent, cheerful, enthusiastic, --restless, impatient, discouraged
Leo Rising: + warm, playful, generous, --overbearing, superficial, self-imporant

Now, having reviewed the 'traits' for each of these, I can nod to a few of the Cancer-isms as well as a few of the Leo, but I felt like I had to be on a certain stage to highlight the traits. For example, Leos are a loud, showy bunch. I'm only loud with friends I'm comfortable with and showy if I am on a literal stage. (And even then I get the shakes.) Cancers are all about home and hearth and mothering and I really have zero experience in any of these things considering my military upbringing. I do love my water and can be moody though.

But Sagittarius moon nails me on the head.

Agreed, agreed. Thank you Astrologyguru!

Under this aspect, there is a love of travel and exploration, particularly of other cultures. Wide open spaces literally and figuratively. Nature and the outdoors. We're an active breed and will pick up any sport we fancy. We're eternally optimistic and are lovers of freedom and justice and are therefore a bit commitment-phobic. Philosophy and education are attractive to us and there is a bit of a teacher in the Sagittarius moon. We can be irresponsible but folks overlook this because we're so friendly and gregarious.

We also love horses.

And all I could think reading these was 'YES, YES, YES! This is more me than my sun sign is--where have you been all my life and where are my fellow moons all hiding? We have adventures to go on together.'

Shout out to my friends--maybe this will shine light on the horrible dichotomy of my 'homeward bound' nature in direct conflict with my innate need to travel. Water and fire indeed.

Having happened upon Tumblr a bit more recently, I typed in a bunch of searches and eventually came back to moon sign traits. This coupled with my plans for the fall set my mental playground in motion.

Yes, I was one of those geeks who used to play pretend a lot. I mean a lot. Especially animals. If I wasn't racing around the playground at recess as a cheetah, then I was trotting about as a show horse to applauding stands. And flying. I used to fly an avatar across the sweeping landscapes on any, every road trip my family undertook.

I'm still fond of horses. I still snort and trot when the music is right. Who doesn't?

So browsing Tumblr, I got this image in my head of myself as a centaur rearing back and aiming a bow to the heavens. A symbolic 'shoot for the stars' if you will. I can't be the only one who feels like this is a breakout year?

I'm not really an artist! I doodled a lot when I was bored in class, but it was a craft I have not refined. Even so, I asked and you chose, so I will share this [simple] artwork I did!

The rough black and white of the Sagittarius Moon. I got flak for the 'wild' hair.

 The sketch took me roughly two hours and I was dismayed that the bow line is not proportional. Who knew there was so much math involved in art? The wild hair is my standard for horses and I never seem to get the tail right, haha! I was pretty happy with the hooves and position in general though! I imagine a lot of kinetic energy going on in the bottom half, perhaps charging forward at full gallop, but the human half is rigid, taut, and focused on that single point overhead. All potential energy.

And with color! Sort of. I went with a tanner color for the horse body and the bow should be a much more brilliant gold., but yes. Art. Not really my strong suit.

Then I went nuts and decided to color it. Another two hours or so on this. I would probably come up with a cleaner finished product if I actually colored the hard copy, but I like to preserve originals so I digitally inked instead. Super basic burn and dodge over some color blurring. What you see here is all self taught. I need lessons.

So what's your moon sign? Would you agree with the descriptions outlined?

Here is a moon calculator for you! Yes, you will need your birth time so dig out that birth certificate.

Happy Saturday!

The trend begins

It's a new year. Well, rather late into a new year to get started, but I'm starting now anyway.

You know how dogs pick up a scent and run with their noses to the ground? I feel like a lot of people run through life this way; we pursue this goal with our heads down and forget to look up to see what's surrounding us. That was me last year until I took this trip. Blindly charging forward, not even knowing what I was chasing, probably following this scent in circles and not really going anywhere.

The game changer.

Until I stopped. And looked up.

I can't be the only one who feels like 2014 is a breath of fresh air. Maybe its the nice seven "2014" makes or because the Magic Eight Ball told me so--but this year has got some mojo to it.

And you know the Magic Eight Ball don't lie.

But change is on the horizon. A good change. Here are some resolutions I wrote on a 3x5 card for this year verbatim--feel free to steal a few for yourself:

-12 months, 12 books, no excuses! (5/12)
-200+ minutes of exercise/week (I already biffed on this one, but every week is a new week)
-Get into grad school  
-Get a book published (or at least secure an agent, come on)
-Write an original piano piece  (And it was terrible! More on this later...)
-Online writing, peddle your craft, be serious! 
-Sing more, get out more, LET IT GO (Yes, Elsa left a profound impression on me)
-Learn a new skill
-NaNoWriMo 2014, you know which one (No, I don't.)

I came to the realization a lot of successful people already know and that's 'Life is what you make of it.' I never really grasped this concept so fully until I actually stuffed my inhibitions and really put myself out there. I made new friends and we went places and did things I never would have done otherwise. What you're willing to put in is exactly what you will get out of it. So I've resolved to be a producer this year. Hence the spine for this blog.

I've had this trend for the last month at least where I was doing something every weekend; hiking, writing group sharing, convention-ing and I figure, heck, why not share a bit about the experience? You've talked about maintaining a blog and you want to be a producer? Post something every week!

So that's what I'm going to do.

Tomorrow I'm hanging out with friends and finally hiking the Pillboxes in Lanikai.

While I won't carpe diem every diem, I will make a sincere effort to keep my nose off the ground and look up. Come with me--it's the weekend!