Saturday, November 14, 2009

Via Colori is next weekend!

This is a nice photo that Jamie took while I was finishing up my 10'x10' square last November. I love doing this event and being around all the artists, you can almost feel the creative energy buzzing all around while you work.

The Center for Hearing and Speech hosts Via Colori every year. As far as I know, it is their primary fundraiser. One of the few fundraisers I know of that is truly for a good cause - to help deaf (or near-deaf) children get what ever hearing devices they need, and help them learn to interact with their worlds. The children come from families who would otherwise not be able to afford such help. The Center always welcomes visits and I have wanted to go there since learning about the place, but I am sorry to say ANOTHER year has gone flying by and I have still not gone.

This year The Center actually considered me as one of their sponsored artists! I kinda talked them out of it, as I don't have the professional art background and appeal that they need to help draw people to the event. The Center did however make me one of their "Select" artists, which is VERY flattering.

If you want to learn more about the Center for Hearing and Speech in Houston, here's a link to their website.

Next weekend, if all goes well, I'm going to try my hand at "honoring" one of my favorite Degas paintings "Cafe Concert Singer."

5 comments:

Biddie said...

How exciting for you AND congratulations!!!!

I can't wait to see your Degas singer - it would be interesting to add a little 3-D to her by raising her up a couple of inches from the ground like one of your sand sculptures. Do the rules say that the painting has to be flat on the sidewalk?

Do you have to use those special sidewalk crayons? Can you actually sculpture a shallow sand image then spray it with your spray paint???

Or cut out a likeness of your singer out of a sheet of plywood to lay on top of the background - this should accept those crayons?

Sorry for all this rambling - I get all fired up for you - you don't need my crazy ideas - you have plenty better ones than I do .....

Good Luck!!!!! And have much good fun!!!!

Michael-Ann said...

Thank you Mom!

I'm afraid we can't get crazy with it, we use soft pastels (they actually furnish each of the artists with the chalk!) and right on the actual street surface. They close off part of Allen Parkway and Bagby in downtown for the weekend. It starts saturday morning and ends sunday night. The streets get washed sunday night... very zen-nish :-)

If I can pull off this Degas painting, I think I will add a little "somethin-somethin" just to throw in my own spin on her.

Jamie Lee Awesome said...

Is it insensitive to paint a singer for deaf kids? (Kidding!)

I put up another picture of my partially sanded dresser on flicker, mama.

It looks.... sanded :)

Michael-Ann said...

Hoot! I'm glad you said that. You know, I actually wondered the same myself... came to the conclusion that if anyone happens to stop and admire her, perhaps they will also understand the sensation of seeing her image locked in the pavement never being able to hear the notes... a point of relativity.

Did you get a sander today? or did you continue on by hand???

Jamie Lee Awesome said...

I got a Black and Decker Mouse for 35 buckaroos. That thing is GREAT. And it's shaped like a tiny clothes iron.

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