I Madonnari Street Painting Festival 2010 - Santa Barbara, CA
by Rod Tryon
"I had the good fortune of living right around the corner from the birthplace of street painting in the United States. I Madonnari - the first street painting festival in the U.S. - was created by Kathy Koury, director of the Children's Creative Project and has been presented in front of Mission Santa Barbara for the past 24 years. I lived in Santa Barbara for 18 years and participated in I Madonnari 17 times. I moved to the east end of Long Island, NY in 2003 and missed the festival desperately for the seven years I was gone.
This year Kathy invited me back to be the featured artist for the 2010 festival. It was a wonderful experience. I had a great time painting there once again and seeing many old street painting friends and Santa Barbara friends. I've street painted all over the world, and seen and met many madonnari but I'm always extremely impressed with the talent of the artists who participate in I Madonnari.
For the past number of years I have created 3D images for most of my street paintings. At I Madonnari this year they requested I create a traditional Madonna and child image. I found a beautiful painting by Bouguereau and utilized my artistic license to "tweek" it a bit by adding a 3D frame and had the figures in the painting coming out of the frame.
The street painting was 14 feet high and 17 feet wide. It took about 50 hours over a six day period. The weather was fabulous. The crowds were fantastic and all my friends made it an unforgettable experience. Can't wait for the 25th Anniversary festival next year. If you are near Santa Barbara around Memorial Day - go by the Mission and check it out."