AFTER HM

TWT and The Child were invited to participate in another chalk event in Tacoma.  This time it was hosted by Hilltop Artists as part of National Night Out.  As much fun as that would have been (and The Child loves their glass hotshop), time was working against us.  In the spirit of National Night Out, it also seemed a good idea to stick close to home and be out and about in our own neighborhood.

So we set out for Puyallup's Pioneer Park and chalked in front of the library.

We used an oil painting by HM Saffer, Woodland Gloaming I (16" x 20" oil on panel), as our inspiration.


"After HM:WG" by Troy's Work Table.  It was an opportunity to try out some techniques that were (but no longer!) foreign to me.  I worked on blending colors.  It doesn't have the pop or brilliance of color of HM Saffer's work, but it was still fun to create.


"After HM" by The Child.  This version features a bird in one of the trees and a jaguar.

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People walking by chatted with us about our pieces and chalk art in general.  One guy walked by with an armload of library books and two children, whose arms were also loaded with library books, and thanked us for making art for everyone and anyone to appreciate.  That felt like what National Night Out was all about to me—conversation, getting to know people in your community, focusing on the good rather than the problems of our society—even if it wasn't an officially sanctioned event.

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I'm thinking that a semi-regular chalk event may need to occur in Puyallup, with its own "free chalk" box and suggested themes.