Hey everyone! Posting this one a lil’ late, but better late than never!
This year I was one of 30 artists in Salida’s second annual Chalk Festival. It was so fun, and very inspiring to be working alongside so many other fantastic artists from Salida and the surrounding region.

It was my first time working in chalk, and it’s a medium I’d love to explore more. It reminds me of how people make sand mandalas- putting all this time, love and energy into something meant to be impermanent. It begs you to get out & enjoy the work before the rains inevitably wash it away. It’s liberating in a way, to make something that isn’t meant to last. So often I worry while working large that I’m wasting materials, or that it won’t be “good enough” and nobody will buy it. Which, is a mindset that I’ve often gotten stuck in since entering into art as a business. But sometimes selling something isn’t what makes it “good enough”. What people love- what brings them joy- isn’t always the same as what they’ll part money with.
Being out there with people walking by, delighting in the whimsy you’re creating, it’s a different kind of success. Sometimes success can be “my art made people happy”, or “my message got across” or “my art helped people see the deer in a new, comical light”, or “I inspired a young artist who loves comics too”. Sometimes by just being out there- by being an example- you reach more people than the one piece that sits on someone’s wall.
Sometimes every day feels the same, but days like the festival which decorate the town, are truly special.

Thanks to Tina for organizing the event and making it a huge success!

And thank you to Laura L Holloway and Craig Neilson for covering my farmer’s market booth, with their books “Dancing with Demons: A Love Story” and “Worn Open Places“.

“Dancing with Demons: A Love Story” by Laura L Holloway is An intimate inner-journey of self-compassion and growth. It’s beautifully written story of healing the past in the present. Through Laura’s journal entries, we get to walk a mile in her shoes. Through her words we see her strength of character. Despite her rough start to life, she stayed committed to pursuing a life she loves. Writing, caring for animals, and finding love in single-motherhood. The past and present are woven together, as she dances with the demons holding her back.

“Worn Open Places” by Craig Neilson is a poetry anthology in which you can feel his love for the desert & world in every word. He writes about the quiet moments found in the wilderness, and even includes some modern problems in humorous poemslike “Unfriending the Dead” about how our Facebooks outlive us. Introspective and inquisitive, his poetry will delight you with it’s unique perspective.
He also has a showing of his photography that will be showing at Tres Litros on Wednesday, July 9, which features photos from his adventures- like the one on the cover of his book. Go check it out and support him if you can!

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful day.