Around the world in 14 days
Around the world in 14 days
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FROM MASSEY canada TO SYDNEY australia, Two Chalk - Street Painting festivals- In September 2007 I travelled across the world in 14 days to do two Pavement art festivals in a two week period, from Massey Street Painting Festival, Ontario Canada, to Chalk the Walk, Sydney... One of my worst trips north, setting off from Melbourne- my 32 kg trolley case with broken wheels and handle, and Then! a hideously coughing, tuberculoid old geezer next to me for 13 hours from Auckland-San Fran, I was sleepless. My US customs security shot will clearly show my involuntary, stressful tears... I also lost my canvas, though it did turn up eventually in Massey thanks to Air Canada, with a "Checked by US Security" sticker.. grrrrr!!
Massey in Northern Ontario is a tiny town.. I knew it was small, but did underestimate it’s smallness and distance from Toronto! I spent 44 hours travelling there! ( a taxi, four planes over four countries, and a 2 hour car trip!). Okay, partly my cheap-skateness, I waited ten hours at SFO airport listening to security announcements, doh! The budget wasn’t grand, but I knew the Canadian hospitality would be, and got to hang out, do a kayak, see a Loon on the lake, a Beaver dam, Cranes gathering en-masse for migration, and I think I heard a Bear huffing in the forest at Irmgard's (my billet for the first few days). Basically, I was taken care of very well in the days before I started work, and beyond. I had planned to give up smoking again, but little did I know I had moved into a German speaking enclave where cigarettes, beer and single malt whiskey are the most common nightly relaxation!!! Aww.. try again next month!
Massey Street Painting Festival contracts a number of featured artists to attend, and then there is a People’s Choice Prize on the second day. I was warned that the “people” love old master reproductions for some (crazy?) reason (yes I am biased), of course I ignored that fact and determined to create an original and hopefully thought provoking piece, as is my want. The other featured artists included “Chalkmaster” Dave Johnson, (Canada), Victor Fraser (Canada), Michael Kirby (USA), and Jim Phillips (USA), plus perhaps a couple locals who I didn’t get to know very well. Some very talented local teens were there, and a bevvy of kids going for lottery prizes.
Davo won people’s choice with “Woman with Pearl earring”, surprising to me that Jim also did a copy of the same Vermeer!!! Can't help bad luck I s'pose.. Dave’s version was a slick, and rather sexy version in a perspective frame, but I still think he should credit the creator!! (Jim did :)! ). My favourite in the pros was Victor’s killer whale, a giant, vibrant piece based on an Ojibway artist’s work (3rd place folk-vote). Kirby’s work was also very exciting, but it was also partly an art therapy session provoked/inspired by the lovely festival organiser Shirley, and her buddy Gunnhild- both art therapists, and there was No Way the People were going to vote for something so “edgy”, perhaps seeming rather threatening.. watching an artist “trash” his work on the spot. I have to say Mike looked quite relaxed and therapeut-ised after the “therapy”!!!
I was mildly traumatised when I split a giant molar tooth, the afternoon before flying to Sydney.. Shirley had to rush me to Espanola to the dentist… But Please note Ozzies… Canadian dentistry is CHEAP!!! (compared to ours). I am thinking of setting up dental tours to Canada!
Thanks to Shirley, Edgar, Irmgard, Klara, Kerrie and the friendly Massey folk for hospitality and my second prize in the folks vote.. Shirley and Edgar gave me the Queen room in their hotel and I had a spa in my room each night (screever's bliss).. they also purchased my “Massey Lisa” painting, which should be up outside the Mohawk Motel eventually. I regret not walking through all of Chutes park, exploring the great Carey's second hand bookstore in town a bit more, and I should have got more of those Canadian Hunting pants from the Espanola store! Got some lovely fan-emails and presents from the locals too.
So, back on the long haul to Ozzie land, many hours spent again in SFO airport listening to “Warning!! .. Code Orange security alert!!! To report suspicious individuals dial 911”, I realised that it’s now over a year that same message has been playing in that same airport! No wonder I felt the urge to re-read 1984 whilst in Massey! Scary stuff… You are under surveillance... (Big Brother is watching you..) I landed in Sydney at 8.30am Thursday, missing a day in transit and a lot of needed sleep… and just missed the opening breakfast for Chalk the Walk (but luckily, I did get to scoff 2 bacon and egg roll, and coffees down). Even more luckily, for jet lagged me, with an amazing accrual of 40 kilos of gear, it was raining!!! I was trashed and `lagged… but couldn’t crash out anywhere as I didn’t know where I was staying - Bike Boy wasn’t answering and was meant to provide me a couch!!!! Turned out he was still in Canada for the next 2 days, and luckily Jenny offered me the couch in her Casino hotel room, phew, what a life saver!!!!! Star City has Amazing art of the walls which is really enjoyable, and the Executive Suite was rather delicious (lucked out again on the room), but I seriously can’t relate to a “5 Star” hotel charging $16 per hour for internet! Hmm.. Except when the room is kindly supplied as spons to the fest. (Nice Star City Casino...) My complaining about jetlag, jet log, and other minor conditions paled into insignificance after I heard that Gary Jagamarra had nearly lopped off his thumb with a chainsaw the day before, and was in intensive care!!! Luckily he was "okay", and true to the legend he is, came and worked through a fug of super pain killers and enormous bandages. Chalk was a lot of fun again, the standard of work very high, all original works. Worked next to Jameson again this year, we had our usually silly converstaions and running social commentaries, and there were a few more familiar faces in the "scratch" of chalkies. I was chuffed to win People’s Choice (based on how much money we raised by donation for “Youth off the Streets”), especially with tens of thousands of people voting, and not being a home-towner.. Busking expertise paid off (oh and of course the pretty picture!!!).. just a little disconcerting that all these new screevers are now getting about using my hat lines!!! ...Ozzie Chalkies are not generally copy cats like juggle-boys, and clowns… ;) OKAY GUYS?
After the first day’s rain, Pyrmont Bridge settled into its typical, nasty, gusty windiness with just threats of rain, at the edges, and all around... Sombreros were flying.. At night, I doffed my crown of “Last drunken artist in the bar every night” from last year, and placed it securely on the young and willing heads of Joey and Todd.. But.. while I laid off the booze, I still had my cigarette issues (I'm going for the hypnotism this week)!! Especially with the duty free rollies eeking out of those over-stuffed bags of mine, along with Canadian hunting pants, crumpled books, and my art prints trashed by @$$h0!#$ at US homeland security..
Sunday morning, last day, promised good weather, and it was great (except for that f^@#!*% wind).. I started setting up at about 7.30am, and a drunk guy, probably straight out of the Cas, tottered past wanting to “talk to an artist”… After a few minutes discourse, we had a disagreement about the philosophy of my artwork, and I brushed him off, not wanting to deal with what seemed his rude and racist manner. That Same Man was the guy who walked down the bridge dropping $100 notes in (Other) screevers buckets!!!! Damn! Ooooh well.... Never was good at picking the blokes with the money.. There were four judges of various backgrounds this year. The first Prize was won by Anton Pulvirenti with “Elsa” (his daughter), a smart perspective piece with love, second by Rudy Kistler “On top of the world”. Other prize results are on the chalk the walk web site. Joe Blanck won “Most emotive”, with a picture I would have placed in my winners’ list (it was Very emotive). I was really impressed by the great perspective used by the “novice” Datsun Tran. Sally Grant also did a strong perpective illusion with a surrealist bent, and Kelly Hotchkin made her lovely-drawn ladies even more deliciously sexy. (She says she can’t see how they are sexy!?! I swear they made Jam blush...) My other favourite artworks, were Fiona O’Biernes angel, and Todd Arthur’s very beautiful Japanesey-dot-painting .. which really needed to be viewed from a Zen garden or Gallery courtyard, as the breezy bridge just didn’t seem to suit.. There were also quite a few very enjoyable political commentaries (especially for the Anti-Howard team). I laughed the most at Nick (Kwan)’s “David does Dada”, ie, Michelangelo’s statue pissing into a urinal!! (one for the art history buffs)... Jamison’s galactic/ perspective work nearly made me pass out from the after images jumping around the place in front of my eyes! Jenny had the rather formidable task of chalking up a whole Mazda car!! But too many pix to review here..
I didn’t get to photograph all the works this year, as I ran out of memory card and time… Damn! But they're all up at CTW.
Another excellently produced event, still hoping we can have more prizes (like new Mazdas all round…), and prize categories, such as Masters/Pro section.. At least one artist there felt it was unfair I was competing!!! Pah! Twenty years in the game and I haven’t won a seriously major prize ‘til now, I say!! ( Seconds, Fourths, fifths and other near-unmentionables..) Practice makes perfect, and even then you’ve gotta impress the judges, which seems to be a lot easier if you are a bloke!!! (Grumbly bumbly misandrist sore loser type me! ;o ) Anyway, it was lots of fun all round, with great support provided by Andi’s wonderful family and friends, the Darling Harbour Foreshore Authority folk, and all of the friendly security dudes too! Ooh and I love my new box of Faber-Castell Pastels, still pristine and gorgeous.. Pix and Story by Ulla, October 07
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Artworks are protected by international copyright law. Please feel free to use the information contained in this web site for non-profit enjoyment and research.. but please don't forget to credit the creators! Web created by Ulla, updated 20-Aug-2007 |
