Friday, November 15, 2013

The Chalk Art Festival

A couple of weekends ago we went to a Chalk Art Festival.  It was over by the beach and I had read about it on a local website that has things to do around Tampa for cheap or free.  It was free, my favorite price point, and it was by the beach, so I was determined to go!  One thing I love about Saturdays here is that we are always trying to go somewhere new as a family.  And we can because the weather is always nice (I promise I'm not trying to rub it in, it's just true!) and a lot of stuff is free.  We are much more active now that we live here and that makes me really happy because that was one of the appealing things about moving somewhere with a nice climate.  Anyway, back to the Chalk Art.  My girl loves to draw with chalk and it said there would be a space for kids to draw so she was very excited to go.  The parking turned out to be a challenge but other than that I think it was really fun.  I must admit that I had visions of seeing some of the cool chalk art you see on the internet that looks like there's a giant hole in the ground but there wasn't anything quite that amazing there.  The art was still pretty cool though and the people who did it are definitely talented.  My husband talked to the lady who was in charge of the festival (seriously, that is so like him to find the person running the thing and just chat with them) and found out that next year they are going to add a kids' division to the competition so he signed our daughter up for her own space.  How cool is that?  Here are some photos from our fun day!

Some of the art that we saw.  I love the underwater one.

We were there on a Saturday and the judging wasn't until Sunday so most of the artists were still working on their pieces.  It was really cool to see how they did it.  There was lots of rubbing and shading done by hand.  They were all covered in chalk!

The kids space was big but it was mostly filled up when we got there.  My girl still found some spots to leave her mark though.  That guy in the photo above was recreating that giant billboard thing in the pic below.

More art.  I loved the variety of styles that were represented.

The aspiring artist hard at work.  She would have been there all day but she was running out of chalk and space to put it.

My view from where I sat watching her.  The beach right across the street!

My little artist got a little bit dirty too.  They even had baby wipes out for you to wipe off!

They also had bubbles out for the kids.  My boy had fun with them.  He really liked sitting on that starfish on the top of that pillar.

As we walked around checking out the art we spied a McDonald's right by the beach.  It was the smallest one I've ever seen in my life and it blended in with the other buildings and didn't even look like a McDonald's!  So we were able to have our cheap ice cream and look at the beach while we ate on the patio!

This was one of my favorites.  They were so big I couldn't get the whole pieces in the photos.  I would have needed a ladder, and a way to get everyone else out of my way. ;)  Also, I needed a wider angle lens on my camera but I didn't bring all my gear with me because I wanted to keep my bag light.  Oh well...

This was a fun one!  My girl felt silly doing this because there was a whole crowd of people around, but isn't that cool how she looks like she's in the scene?!

After we checked out all the art I couldn't resist walking across the street to get my toes in the sand.

Neither could they, of course!

He was having fun running around.

The waves washing over my toes. :)

Some people were setting up for a wedding on the beach so I couldn't resist a shot of the beautiful flower arrangements.  I like that there is a palm tree in the background.

There is a little open air shop right on the beach and the kids wanted me to take their pictures with these guys.  Notice anything about the photo on the right?

My baby. I can't believe how big he's getting!

Family shot as we were headed back to the van.  Love this!  Note to self though...don't leave your camera bag on your hip or they will look even more giant than they already are! 

I'll be back soon with more House Tour pics...just gotta get the kids to clean up their room first. ;)

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