Interactive #FreeYourself mural shortly after finishing it on set up day
What a weekend for Carini Arts and Adelman Fine Art at Wonderfront Music Festival in San Diego. I live painted two 8' x 8' murals, one of which was an interactive experience. I also showcased a gallery display and did some body painting.
Interactive #FreeYourself mural, or what was left of it, on Sunday
On the last day of the festival, my body paint model/canvas Tovi finally managed to pull me away from my booth so I could hear a couple songs from Noah Cyrus. She opened with "Noah (Stand Still)," and as I was able to break out of game mode and breathe for the first time in a bit, I started to tear up. Sometimes I wonder if I'm dreaming or if all of this is really happening as my dreams are lining straight up to the sky and into space. It's very emotional thinking about it, particularly when I contextualize just how dangerously I was flirting with death right at the time that everything came together. I am so grateful for this opportunity and everything else in my life right now.
My incredible body paint canvas/model Tovi
One of my favorite memories from festival weekend was a little boy that saw me live painting one of my murals. I stopped working to offer to paint something on him, but I think he was a little shy. Later in the day, he came back by with his mom and I could tell he wanted to paint. I pulled my easel in front of my mural and put a blank canvas on it for him, along with some of my paint and brushes so he could live paint at his first festival while everyone passed by and Hippie Sabotage played directly across from us. As he was finishing up, there were a couple young girls that caught the tail end of that and I could tell they wanted to paint too. They left before I could reach them, but they too circled back. I set up the same thing for them.
I told the parents of the little boy and the little girls that we would hold the wet paintings so they could enjoy the festival and that they could come pick them up at the gallery this week. I told the gallery that when they come in, I want them to take down one of my paintings and put theirs next to mine so they can walk in and see their work on the walls of an art gallery.
Young artist in training doing a little live painting for his first festival
I would like to give a special thank you to my festival sponsors Blick Art Supplies and Nova Color