3D street painting at Lincoln City, Oregon

I’ve recently had an opportunity to participate as a guest street painter in the Lincoln City Visitors Bureau sponsored Lincoln City Art Festival, held in the Taft area of town, near the beach. It was a small festival geared mostly for children, with loads of hands on free projects for them to partake of – tessellation projects, a magic castle made from recycled cardboard, street painting (of course), face painting and a variety of other art related activities. Local artisans came out in the questionable weather to ply their goods – jewelry, pottery and glass, which Lincoln City is most known for.

I arrived on a Wednesday from Portland – what a drive! The Oregon countryside in that area is simply breathtaking. Lots of antique shops and vineyards along the way which made the journey interesting. It’s all very lush, green and inviting – it gets even better as you approach the coast. I wasn’t prepared for the majesty and beauty of this part of the Oregon coast – it just bowled me over.

The LCVB had asked me to create an image that related to an Oregon coast theme.  I chose the Chinook Salmon, which is indigenous to the area, as my theme. I haven’t really created many natural themed images so I was looking forward to tackling a really big fish appearing to jump up out of the pavement.  Interestingly, many of the locals knew immediately what I was up to and proceeded to give me a more comprehensive education on the habits and qualities of Chinook salmon – thanks everyone!

While I was in Lincoln City, I had the pleasure of viewing many of the local inhabitants –  a few hundred seals frolicking in the inlet next to where I was drawing, a couple of bald eagles the size of a St. Bernard and many other exquisite birds.  I met many locals who were out crabbing and gathering mussels for their evening dinner – boy, did that make me hungry! Later that evening, everyone gathered on the beach and launched wish lanterns – bio-degradable and beautiful – hundreds of them, out over the inlet. A nice way to end the day.

I had a lovely stay in Lincoln City and my painting was a hit. I completed it in 3 days, despite rain the first day (!) and met lots of wonderful people who were happy to have a street painting in their midst. Of course, many asked if there was any way I could make it permanent so it would last longer. Alas, the dilemma of street painting, the ephemeral art that lives only as long as it is being created. Guess they’ll just have to plan for more street painting next year to solve that problem……

Special thanks to Nichole LeSage and her entire team at LCVB, as well as everyone at the Looking Glass Inn, for making my stay so memorable!