Member Spotlight - July 2013
Bruno Fabriani
Following His Passion for the
Art of Street Painting
Bruno Fabriani, a retired air traffic controller, started street painting about 16 years ago. He was inspired to try it when he joined a new group of artists called madonnari. Their techniques impressed him and inspired him to learn the art. Since then he has dedicated much of his time spreading the joy of the ancient art of Italian Street Painting with others.
Bruno sometimes works with other artists, but prefers to work alone. Usually traveling with his wife, Paola, they enjoy going to new places and street painting has been an avenue to see places they had never been to before.
He finds faces and hands to be the most challenging and difficult. Bruno enjoys giving workshops and inspiring new artists to try the artform. He finds inspiration in the works of Kurt Wenner and his friend, Luigi Legno. One of the most unusual places he has chalked was in the old city of Willemstad on the island of Curacao in 2011 on old bricks in an alley.
Following His Passion for the
Art of Street Painting
Bruno Fabriani, a retired air traffic controller, started street painting about 16 years ago. He was inspired to try it when he joined a new group of artists called madonnari. Their techniques impressed him and inspired him to learn the art. Since then he has dedicated much of his time spreading the joy of the ancient art of Italian Street Painting with others.
Bruno sometimes works with other artists, but prefers to work alone. Usually traveling with his wife, Paola, they enjoy going to new places and street painting has been an avenue to see places they had never been to before.
He finds faces and hands to be the most challenging and difficult. Bruno enjoys giving workshops and inspiring new artists to try the artform. He finds inspiration in the works of Kurt Wenner and his friend, Luigi Legno. One of the most unusual places he has chalked was in the old city of Willemstad on the island of Curacao in 2011 on old bricks in an alley.
Favorite Color: Red incarnate.
Favorite Festival: Grazie of Curtatone-Mantua-Italy- Italian Streetpainting Marin-San Rafael.
Favorite Visual Artist: A.W. Bouguereau, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Roberto Ferri.
Favorite Pastels: Rembrandt, Ferrario, Koss.
What are you listening to on your ipod: Country Music, Buddha Bar.
See more of Bruno’s art
Favorite Festival: Grazie of Curtatone-Mantua-Italy- Italian Streetpainting Marin-San Rafael.
Favorite Visual Artist: A.W. Bouguereau, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Roberto Ferri.
Favorite Pastels: Rembrandt, Ferrario, Koss.
What are you listening to on your ipod: Country Music, Buddha Bar.
See more of Bruno’s art
Member Spotlight - May 2013
Gary Palmer
Exploring Street Painting as a Storytelling Medium
Gary Palmer was born in Northern Ireland, but left when he was 18 years old to study theoretical physics at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Although he was fascinated by time and space, he found it a bit dull, so he switched to architecture. Architecture was a long 7 year course to a masters and involved a year out in an architects office, so he took a job with a practice in Australia which gave him a chance to travel the world. That gave him a taste for traveling and chalk drawing was a way to gain some income on the road. After following the sun around the world he landed in Los Angeles and street painted on Venice Beach. When he finished his degree, he traveled again and later won a green card in the lottery and emigrated to the United States.
The first time he saw street painting was as a child on the street in Dublin. It was a meticulous rendition of the Mona Lisa. He was enchanted by the fact that it was rendered on a rough pavement and offered up to the elements. It was the generosity of spirit of the artist to give this beautiful thing away in exchange for a few spare coins that struck him. It wasn’t until many years later at University in Edinburgh during the Edinburgh festival that he was bold enough to try it himself. It was enough to get him hooked and it became a way through school and a passport to travel the world.
He’s worked in groups, usually on a painting that he’s designed. He’s also done murals and works, such as the mandalas, where he’s encouraged the participation of community groups or passers by.
He’s getting more and more interested in collaborative and community work as he gets older and sees it as a great platform to inspire young people and encourage creative activism and socio-political awareness at the same time.
Gary’s style is very distinctive. His inspiration began when he started thinking of streetpaintings as a place beneath the pavement (around 15 years ago). He liked the idea that the world under the street was a place where imagination could run free not bound by the same parameters as the real world. He became interested in narrative and telling stories with his paintings. After traveling in Africa, his paintings on canvas became a way of telling stories of his travels, recording people and places with a particular focus on indigenous people in remote places. His more recent street paintings depict various indigenous people in the form of a circular mandala, which can be viewed from the center - so the viewer has the sense of being inside a place. He thinks of the paintings as kind of urban rooms - places that you can get inside rather than just a picture on the ground.
The most challenging part of street painting for him is the initial sketch and the content within it is the most challenging and potentially rewarding part, but certain surfaces can present challenges and he considers the nature of the surface in the design of a drawing. The restrictions or opportunities presented by a particular surface is something only another street painter will fully appreciate.
The most unusual place he’s chalked was at a meditation retreat on the top of a mountain in California near the border to Mexico - simply because it wasn't an urban condition and the piece was more a form of meditation than a public statement or performance.
He prefers to work in black & white. He likes that light and contrast can produce a believable form with such simple arrangement of chalk, and in particular he’s getting more interested in using the actual street here and there as a color in the drawing - in the sense of leaving an absence and being minimalist in the application of strokes to create form.
His favorite festival is Grazie in Italy, mainly because its a beautiful place and its the oldest original street painting festival.
Exploring Street Painting as a Storytelling Medium
Gary Palmer was born in Northern Ireland, but left when he was 18 years old to study theoretical physics at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Although he was fascinated by time and space, he found it a bit dull, so he switched to architecture. Architecture was a long 7 year course to a masters and involved a year out in an architects office, so he took a job with a practice in Australia which gave him a chance to travel the world. That gave him a taste for traveling and chalk drawing was a way to gain some income on the road. After following the sun around the world he landed in Los Angeles and street painted on Venice Beach. When he finished his degree, he traveled again and later won a green card in the lottery and emigrated to the United States.
The first time he saw street painting was as a child on the street in Dublin. It was a meticulous rendition of the Mona Lisa. He was enchanted by the fact that it was rendered on a rough pavement and offered up to the elements. It was the generosity of spirit of the artist to give this beautiful thing away in exchange for a few spare coins that struck him. It wasn’t until many years later at University in Edinburgh during the Edinburgh festival that he was bold enough to try it himself. It was enough to get him hooked and it became a way through school and a passport to travel the world.
He’s worked in groups, usually on a painting that he’s designed. He’s also done murals and works, such as the mandalas, where he’s encouraged the participation of community groups or passers by.
He’s getting more and more interested in collaborative and community work as he gets older and sees it as a great platform to inspire young people and encourage creative activism and socio-political awareness at the same time.
Gary’s style is very distinctive. His inspiration began when he started thinking of streetpaintings as a place beneath the pavement (around 15 years ago). He liked the idea that the world under the street was a place where imagination could run free not bound by the same parameters as the real world. He became interested in narrative and telling stories with his paintings. After traveling in Africa, his paintings on canvas became a way of telling stories of his travels, recording people and places with a particular focus on indigenous people in remote places. His more recent street paintings depict various indigenous people in the form of a circular mandala, which can be viewed from the center - so the viewer has the sense of being inside a place. He thinks of the paintings as kind of urban rooms - places that you can get inside rather than just a picture on the ground.
The most challenging part of street painting for him is the initial sketch and the content within it is the most challenging and potentially rewarding part, but certain surfaces can present challenges and he considers the nature of the surface in the design of a drawing. The restrictions or opportunities presented by a particular surface is something only another street painter will fully appreciate.
The most unusual place he’s chalked was at a meditation retreat on the top of a mountain in California near the border to Mexico - simply because it wasn't an urban condition and the piece was more a form of meditation than a public statement or performance.
He prefers to work in black & white. He likes that light and contrast can produce a believable form with such simple arrangement of chalk, and in particular he’s getting more interested in using the actual street here and there as a color in the drawing - in the sense of leaving an absence and being minimalist in the application of strokes to create form.
His favorite festival is Grazie in Italy, mainly because its a beautiful place and its the oldest original street painting festival.
Andy Goldworthy, is his favorite visual artist, and although he's not a street painter, he makes objects within nature but they are site specific ephemeral interventions that speak to a similar philosophy of impermanence.
He likes using the simplest possible ingredients - such as old fashioned crayola chalk and compressed charcoal.
On his ipod, he likes to listen to Nick Drake, Sinead O'Connor, U2, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Jacob Dylan, but he doesn’t usually listen to music when he’s street painting because he likes to be engaged with the environment.
Gary’s website: www.garypalmerart.com
He likes using the simplest possible ingredients - such as old fashioned crayola chalk and compressed charcoal.
On his ipod, he likes to listen to Nick Drake, Sinead O'Connor, U2, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Jacob Dylan, but he doesn’t usually listen to music when he’s street painting because he likes to be engaged with the environment.
Gary’s website: www.garypalmerart.com
Member Spotlight - January 2013
Sarasota, Florida 2012
Chelsey Austin
Lost Fingerprints -
Adventures in Chalking
Chelsey (Scott) Austin is 25 and currently resides in the Space Coast of Florida. She has been an artist for as long as she can remember, but has only been doing street art professionally for the past 3 years. Her interest was originally sparked back in high school, when they hosted a small festival for students, but she didn’t realize chalk festivals were a common thing until a few years later when she was volunteering for Art Works at EauGallie. From there she joined the FCAA and ISPS, and has been participating in every local festival she can make time for.
Aside from chalking, she creates other artwork in various mediums, although graphic design and pencil portraits are her specialty. She has an AA degree from Brevard Community College, and she currently works as a graphic artist for the Highland Mint, but also freelances. She runs two websites and a blog for her art. She is also the vice president for her roller derby team, the Space Coast Rockey Jockeys. She was married in 2009.
She’s won a couple of awards for her chalk art:
First Place in Winter Garden, 2012
Newcomer Award in Port Orange, 2011
Third Place Adult in EauGallie, 2010
Portraits done in pencil is what she does the most, but she has also sold colored pencil fantasy pieces, watercolors, acrylics, and jewelery. She has a shop in her hometown, Razzle Dazzle, that sells and displays alot of her work.
Her favorite chalk art piece of hers is the circus themed one from the past year at the Sarasota Chalk Festival. She really enjoys doing bigger pieces where she can get creative and combine so many visual elements. ArtWorks of EauGallie is her favorite festival. It is close to her house, and it is one that she has been going to and volunteering at since high school. This year, she is running the chalk portion and is looking to get more artists to participate. Salvador Dali and Alphonse Mucha are two of her favorite "famous artists", although she has many favorites at sites like Deviant Art. She likes things that are realistic, while having a fantasy element and bright colors.
Lost Fingerprints -
Adventures in Chalking
Chelsey (Scott) Austin is 25 and currently resides in the Space Coast of Florida. She has been an artist for as long as she can remember, but has only been doing street art professionally for the past 3 years. Her interest was originally sparked back in high school, when they hosted a small festival for students, but she didn’t realize chalk festivals were a common thing until a few years later when she was volunteering for Art Works at EauGallie. From there she joined the FCAA and ISPS, and has been participating in every local festival she can make time for.
Aside from chalking, she creates other artwork in various mediums, although graphic design and pencil portraits are her specialty. She has an AA degree from Brevard Community College, and she currently works as a graphic artist for the Highland Mint, but also freelances. She runs two websites and a blog for her art. She is also the vice president for her roller derby team, the Space Coast Rockey Jockeys. She was married in 2009.
She’s won a couple of awards for her chalk art:
First Place in Winter Garden, 2012
Newcomer Award in Port Orange, 2011
Third Place Adult in EauGallie, 2010
Portraits done in pencil is what she does the most, but she has also sold colored pencil fantasy pieces, watercolors, acrylics, and jewelery. She has a shop in her hometown, Razzle Dazzle, that sells and displays alot of her work.
Her favorite chalk art piece of hers is the circus themed one from the past year at the Sarasota Chalk Festival. She really enjoys doing bigger pieces where she can get creative and combine so many visual elements. ArtWorks of EauGallie is her favorite festival. It is close to her house, and it is one that she has been going to and volunteering at since high school. This year, she is running the chalk portion and is looking to get more artists to participate. Salvador Dali and Alphonse Mucha are two of her favorite "famous artists", although she has many favorites at sites like Deviant Art. She likes things that are realistic, while having a fantasy element and bright colors.
Chelsey's Favorite Things:
Color: Pink
Festival: Artworks of EauGallie
Artist: Salvador Dali & Alphonse Mucha
Pastels: whatever they give me
Her website: www.cscottdraw.com
Festival: Artworks of EauGallie
Artist: Salvador Dali & Alphonse Mucha
Pastels: whatever they give me
Her website: www.cscottdraw.com
Member Spotlight - October 2012
Alice Scott Crittenden
“I love to see the colors dance on the pavement!”
When given her first set of oils at the age of 13, she didn't try painting on canvas, instead Alice sat with the tubes of colors and created charts to discover what each one would reveal about itself when coupled with another color. As she mixed Ultramarine Blue with various yellows, she found they would create a myriad of greens, and her excitement grew.
Known as "The Colour Alchemist", Alice hand makes bars of soft pastels for her street paintings and for fellow artists. Building them with the intent of fitting in the hand of a street painter, the ingredients are of highest quality pigments and very little else. Her pastels have been described as "buttah" on the pavement, works of art in and of themselves, and fellow Madonnari are encouraging her to expand her line. She is one of few artists to mix pastels for specific pieces of street art.
Alice has been street painting since 1998. Her first festival was in Santa Barbara, where she and her husband lived. They would go to the I Madonnari Street Painting Festival, and wander the row upon row of beautiful images. Finally exasperated with Alice's critiquing of others works, her husband, Mark, bought her a square to experience the rigors of painting on the asphalt.
While painting her first image, she was approached by other festival organizers, inviting her to be one of the artists at their events. They remarked upon her colors, noticing the fact she rarely blends her colors but allows each to speak for itself. She has been both a featured artist and an invited artist to festivals across the United States, as well as Mexico and Europe.
She was born in Oklahoma, and moved to California when she was three. When asked her age, she often responds “94 - don’t I look great for 94?” (It’s a running joke with her sister, but she was actually born in 1952). She has a degree from Ventura College in Fine Art, Drawing & Painting and currently lives in Camarillo, California with her husband Mark.
Alice's Favorite Things:
Color: Phthalocyanine Green & Dioxazine Violet
Festival: “Bloom N Chalk Festival” Safety Harbor, Florida
Artist: James Abbot McNeil Whistler
Pastels: (besides her own) Schminke & Sennelier
Her website: www.thecolouralchemist.com
Festival: “Bloom N Chalk Festival” Safety Harbor, Florida
Artist: James Abbot McNeil Whistler
Pastels: (besides her own) Schminke & Sennelier
Her website: www.thecolouralchemist.com
