I Madonnari Chalk Paintings – Still Time to See Them!

Source: Robert Bernstein

The 31st annual I Madonnari Chalk Painting Festival ran all weekend with plenty of artists as well as plenty of people appreciating the art. Also, plenty of live music, good food and other festivities!

The Festival is over, but it is not too late to see the art in front of the Mission! Go see it before it gets walked and driven on! Here are my photos of the art and festivities!

I am very grateful to the artists who took the time to pose during their long and challenging creation process. And grateful to all of the artists for their beautiful contributions. I like to go each day and watch the progress as the art is created. I also return on the morning after to photograph pieces that were not quite done the last afternoon and/or that were too crowded to photograph! This year I have arranged my photos in galleries by day so you can watch the progress.

Scroll down below those galleries and you can see my favorites from the entire event! Some special notes:

Rod Tryon and I used to work together at the Goleta Valley Voice newspaper before Wendy McCaw bought our paper and shut it down. Rod is noted for creating complex anamorphic pieces that are stretched for optimum viewing. He also creates 3-D effects so his art “pops” out of the pavement. For years he commuted back here from New York at his own expense to create this art. We are fortunate to have him living here again. This year, creating a hilarious piece with flamingos, complete with plastic lawn flamingos!

Architect Tom Meaney is known for the extraordinary subtlety of the skin tones in his art. His pieces always involve family members. He was kind enough to share one of his secrets with me: He mixes commercial pigments with his own special chalk formulation. In addition to the chalk he adds bees wax, ivory soap, linseed oil and wallpaper paste. His special formula gives fine gradations of tone as well as giving the chalk an extra bit of endurance.

Cecelia Linayao is a regular featured artist who has done the special “foot of the steps” piece in the past. She often mixes clever hidden layers in her work and this year she really came through with a creative piece! Combining imagery of Vincent Van Gogh with a nested style of Salvador Dali!

My friend Sharyn Chan is a software engineer with many other interests. She is a regular at I Madonnari and has been recruited to travel the world assisting with chalk painting installations in faraway places!

Delphine Louie Anaya I originally knew as an energetic swing dancer who was an art teacher at Laguna Blanca. She lives in LA now, but comes back each year to create ever more magnificent art!

Diane Stevenett and Suzan Duval you may recognize from their Solstice creations, but they also came to create dazzling chalk art:

Phyllis Chiu is another Solstice artist who is a regular at I Madonnari. This year she worked with her niece:

State Senator Hannah Beth Jackson was just one of the elected officials who came out to enjoy the event:

And we had lunch with Mr Santa Barbara dot com and Restaurant Guy John Dickson (another swing dancer) and his wife Sharon and son Jimmy:

So much more to say, but just look at the art! The entire event is a fundraiser for the Children’s Creative Project, a nonprofit arts education program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office. The Project serves 50,000 children in more than 100 schools with visual and performing arts workshops and performances throughout Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.