I went to the Baldwin Park First Friday Art Stroll for the first time. I bumped into Brad Biggs who organizes the event and he said artists were happy with sales leading into the holiday season. The art stroll used to take place in Ivanhoe Village but since it has moved to Baldwin Park, It has grown in size. Artists set up tables on the sidewalks along New Broad Street. I settled in to sketch the work of Shane Malesky of Chronic Damage. His work is marketed as horrifically delicious. His wife Heather was helping him set up. They found an electrical outlet which meant they had plenty of light. I liked that he had a bold study of a Vincent Van Gogh painting of the artist walking on the roadside. He explained to a passer by that the image showed the artist forging his own path, even if it was a lonely path.
I rather liked the work because of its bold bright colors and dark subject matter. A human skull with is jaw propped open held his business cards. Artists would visit each others booths. One artist vowed to murder the squirrels in his attic by any means necessary. Next to Shane was Jose Tores who came from Deltona to show his decorative art on wood. He spoke with me for a while about how Japanese animation had inspired him to start sketching. Brian Stuckey had photo prints of sculptures done in a bold cartoonish style. They looked like complete scenes from an animated short. Vaughn Belak was having great sales in October and perhaps his quirky dark imagery will continue selling right through the new year. First Friday’s Art Stroll is TONIGHT starting at 6PM. It is a great place to get some original art. Then again you could just order a print or original from this site.