Category: FINE ART

  • Marietta Chalk Fest 2014

    Marietta Chalk Fest 2014

    I was honored to come back to the Marietta Chalk Festival a second year in a row. It is such a rewarding experience to chalk by so many talented people. This year there were even more people from Florida and some from California. It is popular to have festivals in those states because the weather is nice most of the year. This year’s theme was fall. I really enjoy drawing portraits so I decided to draw a fantasy character who is a woman with horns. This is absolutely my favorite piece I have drawn so far. I am never really upset when they are removed or washed away but when the street opened up I nearly cried. I put everything into this piece and it really showed.

    Chalk Art Start Marietta 2014
    Getting an early morning start

    Jessi Queen Chalk Portrait
    I always start with the face

     

    Jessi Queen Marietta Chalk Progress
    Taking a break after some good progress

     

    Zach's mom always comes out to watch
    Zach’s mom always comes out to watch

     

    Blue Sky Chalk Sponsors
    Zach chalked our sponsor logo

     

    Blue Sky Chalk Sponsors
    We met our sponsors!

     

    Day 1 Marietta Chalk Fest
    We are satisfied at the end of day one

     

    Day two had a bit of rain

     

    Chalk Art Progress
    Julie from Florida helped me complete the hair

    Jessi Queen Marietta Chalk Festival 2014
    The final piece!

     

  • Maker Faire Atlanta – 3D Chalk Art and Poster Design

    Maker Faire Atlanta – 3D Chalk Art and Poster Design

    This year I was given the opportunity to create the Atlanta Maker Faire poster and t-shirt designs. On top of that I was asked to be included in the event as a 3-D sidewalk chalk artist. I am very happy with the way the designs turned out and had fun trying such a large scale chalk piece.

    sketches

    I always start with sketching. The Maker Faire team was looking for something Atlanta related that also incorporated activities from this year’s makers. I did some research and compiled some words and images that I thought encompassed the idea of making, doing and creating. I then took my sketches and formed them into a composition using tracing paper. I did this several times, tracing and re-tracing until I was satisfied with the design.

    I always start with sketching.

    processmakerfaire

    MakerFaire_T-shirtIdeas

     

    Screen Shot 2015-10-21 at 3.45.30 PMIMG_6675IMG_0159 2IMG_0160 2IMG_0173 2IMG_0172 2

  • Happy Howl-O-Weenie!!!

    Happy Howl-O-Weenie!!!

    Dachshunds, weenie dogs, teckel, hot dog puppies! You name it we got it at Howl-o-weenie! Dream Rescue of Atlanta is a dog rescue group focused in saving lives of dachshunds everywhere. They run solely on foster care and do not have a facility. This allows them to help with overcrowding in animal shelters and humane societies. It is overcrowding that leads to the unnecessary euthanasia of perfectly healthy and loving furry friends. There are many homeless doxies in the southeast. Dream even has to turn some of them away due to lack of resources. This is so sad and the exact reason it is so important to support them.

    But, this post is not meant to be preachy. I want to share with you the good that can come out of a support system like DREAM Rescue and show you how I use my talents to do what I can to bring awareness. I want to encourage you to do the same. I am a firm believer that we all have a purpose and can help in some little way. Even if helping dogs in need is not your passion, maybe you want to make a child with cancer smile, donate to the homeless, or help to clean our world by picking up trash or recycling. You can use what you have to make the world a wonderful place for yourself and those who will follow in your footsteps.

    Anyways, back to Howl-O-Weenie! With Halloween right around the corner, we do what we can to bring our doxie lovers out to support this cause. Howl-O-Weenie is a very large event and is an opportunity to have fun while spreading awareness. This year I volunteered to create the t-shirt design. They did so well and sold out at the event very quickly! They also put my design on a glass to sell beer at the event. It was such a fun time! Here are the highlights…

    drawing

    DREAM Rescue wanted a wordle for the t-shirt design and asked me to make it. First I gathered a list of words that described our short legged friends and I sketched it out into the shape of a dachshund.

    Adobe Illustrator File

    In Adobe Illustrator I was able to use my wacom tablet to trace over my sketch. The design had original hand drawn words as well as typed font.

    tshirt

    I am quite pleased to see how it turned out. I am glad I was able to create something that would bring joy to people as well as awareness for DREAM. Not to mention all the money that these shirts raised for the cause.

    BV1gH5HIIAE283L

    Chalk Drawing

    I did a small sample chalk drawing. I kept it short and sweet because we all know Howl-o-Weenie is a very busy day!

    And now for our favorite part, the costume contest!! Zach slaved away making Angry Bird Costumes for Daphne and Maxwell. Our adult costumes were store bought.

    1378150_10151941956465070_1072857652_n

    We won the costume contest!!

    1384121_10151941956340070_543325683_nWe won!

    Maxwell is our foster dog. This means that we keep him until he gets adopted. If you want to know more about him visit his pet finder profile.

    Our #doxieposse twitter friends were there as the Three Doxie-teers! Browse more photos of costumes from Howl-O-Weenie!

    The events of the day also included a dachshund race, costume contest, hot dog eating contest, face licking contest and a howling contest. There were venders and dogs for adoption. Food and beer was also for sale. It was such a wonderful time!

    Maxwell and Daphne showed their twitter friend Reagan how to climb a mountain!

    Climbing a rock.

    The pups all were sooooo tired by the end of the day!!

    Tired Pups
    -8

  • Bragg Jam Logo

    Bragg Jam Logo

     

    Bragg Jam is an anual summer music festival that takes place in Macon Ga. It hosts a variety of bands all across venues downtown. Headliners include Dirty Govna’s and Noot’d Noot. It is such a fun event and I had the honor to create the logo.

    BraggJammLogo

    I was a little overly excited to see my logo EVERYWHERE! It was seriously all over downtown Macon.

    Bragg Jam Swag

    Bragg_Jam_Poster_Screen2 BraggJammSiteZach drawing the letters for the Bragg Jam logo.

    Zach drawing his letters at Bragg Jam

    BraggJam01

    BraggJam04

  • Christmas on the Sidewalk!

    Christmas on the Sidewalk!

     



    The following are pieces I have done recently. Enjoy!

    The Grinch piece was for the Pure Imagination Charity event dinner and show.
    Zach is amazing.  He always helps out with thw words.
    This is us all covered in chalk after the Grinch piece.
    Lathan and Brandon were thrilled to have their names written in chalk beside the Grinch.  Brandon was a patient at Chilren’s Healthcare of Atlanta.  Lathan helped make the dinner and show happen for him.
    I love The Grinch story!
    He is stealling a tree.
    Can’t forget about his doggy Max!
    I said in jest “Some people just don’t like having their self-portrait drawn.” about the person who complained…
    I look aweful all covered in chalk… but I sure do love doing it!
    This piece was to promote The Melting Pot’s 12 Days of Giveaways on their Facebook page. They are so giving!
    Santa’s footprints led to the door. It read “It Pays to be a Follower”
    I love how the hat and gift came out.
    Merry Christmas!


  • Sidewalk Art Festival 2011

    Sidewalk Art Festival 2011

    The Savannah Sidewalk Arts Festival is a great opportunity for SCAD students to get together and decorate Savannah’s largest central park.  This past weekend us Atlanta students ventured down to Savannah for a day filled with fun, art, and music.  Zachary came along for moral support.  He helped me to decide what to draw.  I chose a beautiful yellow tree frog to render on my square. I was pressed for time but was able to rekindle my love for the fine art medium.  I finished by 2pm with only minutes to spare.  Though I did not win the competition, it was rewarding enough seeing the smiles my art left on the faces of all who passed by.  People were amazed at what I drew on the sidewalk and my favorite moments were all the young children who were not interested in walking through the park being pulled along by their parent’s hands, but would stop and yell “Look a frog! He goes ‘ribbit’!!”. These small moments made me smile and made my day worth while.  I enjoy art for this very reason and find that it is something I do not make enough time for and hope to do more of in the future.

    A work in progress…
    Finished Picture
    So much fun! …and so dirty. Hoping my mom can work her magic and get the chalk out of my shorts.
    Got Zach dirty with my black chalked hands!
    Love being in Savannah! It feels like I’m home again.
    Visit the following link to the SCAD Sidewalk Art Festival for more information and this year’s winners…