Fight or Flight, Come Rain or Shine

It says thunderstorms. The weather app on my phone. THUNDERSTORMS for Denver next weekend. Despite that, I'm still looking forward to the Denver Chalk Art Festival, my favorite art event of the year. As an introvert this event is a perfect opportunity for me to work and also to talk with other art enthusiasts. 3 years ago, my first time doing the Chalk Art Festival, I got a phone call from a girl who had taken my business card and wanted to tell me in her sweet little voice that she really liked my piece. How touching that she shared my love of that piece so much that she wanted to call and tell me!

This year I'm recreating my painting "Fight or Flight." It always gets a reaction, and though my goal isn't to simply provoke a reaction, I'd rather make art that viewers feel strongly about than art they are indifferent to. So, what's it about? Here's an explanation:

A two-headed pregnant woman holding a gray cat simultaneously flees and fights a coyote Cerberus. They struggle in a vivid red domain. Visible through the circle created by the contorted bodies is a view looking down and across the crop circles and eastern plains of Colorado.

This is the psycho-emotional battle in being of two minds about a situation. One part longs to flee and continue the life one once had and clutches a dead element of the past. The other part engages the current challenge and coming change, embodied in the pregnant belly. Surrounding the figures is the red seen behind closed eyelids, revealing where this struggle takes place. The view of the plains is the view from a landing plane and indicates real life encroaching.

I'm curious how this year will go... will people really show up? Will the streets be running with water? Or will the storm blow over and we'll all sweat it out and burn off our fingerprints while being geeked-out excited to create our pieces?