Location: Easton Town Center

Maggie Irvin

How long have you been doing pavement/chalk art?

This is my third year at Easton. I enjoy it more each year.

What’s your process of collaborating?

I love working with someone else. We have better creative ideas and it’s more fun. We can laugh a little. I love to work large and I love for people to enjoy my work. So, it is a little of everything.

Why chalk art?

To work large and among the community is fun.

Lori McCalla

Tell me what you want me to know.

This is my second year helping Maggie. I have taken some art classes; but, she has taught me a few things. We start with her original design, and then it evolves.

How has it evolved a little bit from the original design from your perspective?

We have added a few more flowers, the earth, some earrings, and a tree.

One of the people walking by call it “Mother Nature” and I loved it.

Chris Lemmon

Why pavement/chalk art?

I do all kinds of art. I have done chalk art for businesses and things like that. I saw the opportunity and got into it.

Tell me about your piece today.

I use an app called sketchy. They have all kinds of inspiration pics. I wanted to do something SCI-FI (science fiction). That’s where I found this one.

Why pavement/chalk art?

Why not?

How long have you been doing pavement/chalk art?

I’ve been doing this for 6 or 7 years. I had an art teacher in the sixth grade who said that chalk wasn’t valid as a medium. She really liked to paint and wasn’t a fan of chalk. I went home and started chalking. My mom liked it. That was enough for me; so, I kept going.

Wait, this looks like Aretha Franklin. Is it supposed to be Aretha Franklin? I’m so glad I came down here. I was going to walk right by.

No respect.

Why do you do chalk art?

I like it because it is a chance to work big. Most women work tiny. I like the process. I don’t care that it is going to be on in two days, then gone. I just take a picture of it. I was going to do Aretha Franklin any way for something. It just seemed appropriate for this week.

Talk a little bit about the Chalk Art Guild.

There are a few of us that are in it. We started with about 10 of us. We formed the guild as a way for people to contact us if they wanted to have pavement/chalk art at an event. It has taken off. We have been hired for quite a few gigs. We don’t meet, it’s just a name really. Most of the members are artists.

Interview with Sheryl Lazenby

What is the name of your piece?

It doesn’t have a name. The aliens are abducting a cow. One family asked, “why a cow?” I said, “Why not a cow?” This is cow town. (A reference to Columbus, Ohio being slow and small).

Tell me about the Chalk Art Guild

There were 6 of us who met here at Easton (Eric from PA, Lori is local, Jennifer, myself, Jan and Hillary). When we first met, we didn’t recognize each other because we were all clean. When we do this, we are wearing nasty clothes, and our faces are covered with stuff. We are sweaty and nasty. It is like, “I don’t recognize you.” We have been organized for about two years. We have a Facebook page. We have people reach out to us through the Facebook page to find an artist for them or to work events for them.

Why pavement art?

I first got started in 2006. I visited the Via Calori festival in 2005. I said, “I want to do that.” I had an art background already. I am a CCAD graduate. I tried it out the next year and did a small square, a small portrait. That festival kind of went away. This one started seven years ago. I have been doing this one ever since. I have had a lot of practice with chalk art. I chose this one and decided to do black and white because I am a fan of Carrie Fisher’s (played princess Leia on Star Wars), and her whole persona and how she always speaks her mind. I like her and I like the princess Leia character.

Anything else?

I am just happy to be here. The weather is phenomenal for this festival. One of my favorite parts about Chalk the Block in Columbus is being able to see my friends. We all do different festivals and we are other places. This one, we all come together. It is like a comradery of artists, which is nice.

It looks like you are doing something a little different. Are you painting the chalk on the pavement?

We are just going over it with water. It brings it up and makes it look more solid.

Why this media? Why collaborate?

This is very a mathematical piece that I couldn’t do without helpers.

Talk about the selection of the piece. Anything that you think that would be interesting to put on the blog.

This was inspired by a quilt design from a group called Quilt Clinic in Michigan. I wrote to them to get permission to use it. It was a cool 3D illusion that appealed to me.

Where do I stand?

It is not that kind of 3D. It is just that some of it recedes and some of it comes forward.

Cassandra Blusiewicz,

Why pavement art?

We really enjoy interacting with people and doing the work. It is a different scale than we typically do. Usually we would do something smaller like 8 x 10. To do something on a massive size is kind of fun.

Lindsay Blusiewicz

Why do you enjoy pavement art?

It’s the experience of meeting all the other artists. I like the fact that it goes away.

Sidebar: They had candy to hand out to people. I loved their interaction with a few children who asked questions. They really seemed to take an interest in the children and encouraged them to pursue art.

Why pavement art? How long have you been doing it?

I started about thirteen years ago. It was an invitation to do a community festival. That was the first time I ever saw pavement art. I really liked it. Now I do it several times a year. Mostly because it is not often when someone shuts down the street and says, “please draw as big as you can, and with whatever you want, and have fun.” It’s a good experience. It’s big. It’s dirty. You wear most of it home. It’s a fun way to express yourself in front of a bunch of people. Then you can walk away and not have to store it.

Tell me about your piece.

I like to do fun things like dragons and other type of fantasy type things because it is the only chance you are going to see it. If it comes out of someone’s imagination, I like to see what pops up. You can play with colors. You are not worried about if it is the right proportions. Does this look right? Because it is whatever it comes out to be. It is easy to adapt to the space. Sometimes, you don’t get that much space. In this case, you get a lot more space. I generally come in with a basic idea of what I want to do. Maybe a few quick sketches. Then, I see what happens and I enjoy the ride.

Anything else?

Experiences like this are fantastic. People can see art being made in a real setting, opposed to being hung on a wall where it is all sterile in a museum. It allows kids to physically get down and say, “hey that looks cool, I can do that. I have some chalk at home. I can do that on my driveway.” It’s a great way to promote creativity and people trying something new.

Tell me about your piece

I picked Nina West because she is a Columbus celebrity. I wanted to something that people would know.

Well I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t have no idea who Nina West is.

She is a super drag queen. You can find her just about any weekend down town performing. She raises a lot of money for the city.

Why chalk art?

Because it’s fun. It’s pretty. It is something that you must capture in the moment. You must see it in person.

Tell me about your piece and how you got started.

Today at Eason I drew Emmet Brown, doc Brown, from Back to the Future. I decided to draw him today. I have been doing festivals for about 5 or 6 years now. I started by drawing in my driveway for my girls. About 13 years ago, they wanted Disney Princesses. It went from that to traveling and doing festivals all around the country.

Any advice for someone who wants to start doing pavement/chalk art?

Get out there. Get your hands dirty. Practice. Practice. Practice. When I talk to people, some say they can’t even draw stick figures. If you saw some of my early drawings, I was at the same place. It has just been years and years of practice, going out there and giving it your best.

Tell me about your piece.

I’m out here doing my best Kevin Durant. Today is his birthday; so, happy birthday Kevin. Me and him go way back like four flats on a Cardiac (It is a joke in case it went over your head). Other than that, it is another weekend for me out here doing sidewalk chalk.

Anything else?

I enjoy being out here with all these talented artists, sharing their talents with the rest of Columbus. We are out here having fun.

Why pavement art?

It was an opportunity that came along a few years ago. I enjoyed it, and I keep doing it. This is my fourth time.

Is this your primary media?

No, I usually work much smaller. I usually work with color pencil or paint.

My take on Chalk the Block 2018:

I love the location! Once you find a spot to park your car, you can spend hours watching the artists. The artists seem to make time to talk to people admiring their work. This event has all the creature comforts that this city woman enjoys. Choice of restaurants, interaction with talented people creating what they are passionate about, and indoor plumbing.