FRESH – Creation

Much of FRESH is all about the process of creating art. In this sketch, Christie Miga is on her knees as she creates a drip painting during the event. All of the paints are diluted just the right amount so they can flow and blend into each other freely. At times Cristie used gravity to let the paint flow and other times she would lay the painting flat and blow the paint into areas of the canvas where she wanted it to spread. She had the painting done within an hour and at the end of the night it was auctioned off. I had to work extra fast to catch Christie since she was in constant motion. The FRESH performance space also had other areas where guests could play and interact. For instance there was a small Zen dirt garden where people could rake the dirt and arrange delicate stones and sticks in any way they likes. I created a big Z and then with some twine wrote orro so the garden had the mark of Zorro. I have a pet Cockatoo named Zorro so I leave his mark whenever I can.
Besides the drip painting, we all helped create a mural each night by using an overhead projector hung from the ceiling. I was asked to make a hand shadow puppet and then Evan Miga traced the shadow I made onto the large sheets of white paper hung on the wall. He asked me to finish it up, so I added an eye and other details to bring it to life.
After each evening’s performance, the real fun would start. The music would build and then all the dancers would come out and dance. I joined them every night and it was always fun. Once in a while we could get an audience member out on the dance floor and then things really got large. It turns out Evan is quite a dancing fool and on occasion he would jump up on the dirt mound and play king of the mountain while dancing. On the final night, Evan pulled Jessica Mariko, the troupe’s founder and choreographer, up onto the mound and they had a blast while everyone else clapped. Being on the floor and sketching every night I was no longer just reporting on the event, I was a part of the event itself. This was a creative and inspiring environment and it is a shame it is only in town around Valentine’s Day. Every day should be Valentine’s day.