Marietta - Chalktoberfest 2023

This year the chalk festival was held on Saturday October 14 and Sunday October 15 in Marietta, Georgia. I had planned to leave Nashville for Georgia on that Sunday but when I found out about the festival I left on Saturday. The Craft Beer Fest part of the festival was only on Saturday. With the purchase of a ticket one could have unlimited beer samples from dozens of local and national brands. I don't drink beer often, maybe once or twice a year, so I did not miss attending this. I missed the chalk festival in 2022 as I was travelling out of the country at the time. The chalk festival has grown a lot, maybe too much for my liking. It has become quite commercialized, with more arts and crafts vendors, more food and beverage trucks, with long lines.

I read that, because the weather was cloudy and cool, the crowds were not as large as last year, so I am pleased I did not go last year as already this year it took a while to take pictures as you had to queue to see them. This chalk festival started in 2013 as a fundraiser for the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art with just a few artists. When my late husband and I went to the 2014 festival the 40 professional chalk artists then were from eight US states. Now this year there were 83 chalk professionals from all over the US, many from Mexico as well as some from Japan, Italy, Turkey, Brazil, Colombia, France and Ukraine. They still compete around the Marietta Square, which has not grown any, so it gets crowded. There used to be around 10,000 visitors to the two-day event, but now the number reaches 100,000. There are also now 400 volunteers working in shifts. You can look at earlier posts of the chalk festival by clicking on the side of my blog. The aerial photo of the Square, below, was taken a couple of years ago, when less crowded.

Glover Park is in the center of the Square, with a fountain, benches, children play area and a couple of kiosks. Local bands were playing on the kiosk stage. The park was decorated for Halloween.

There was also a community chalk competition with categories for schools, children, teens and adults. Below are entries from children and teens.

Nowadays with cell phones, most people were taking "selfies" in front of the chalk arts. But it still was worth waiting to look at all these chalk paintings.

It seems that this year there was more 3D or anamorphic chalk art. An anamorphic image is a 3D illusion. It is an image that has been stretched out on the ground so that the 3D effect is only visible from a specific spot. If you walk around the piece, it starts to distort. Be sure to click on collage to enlarge.

I stopped and chatted for a while with Joel Yau, a skilled artist from San Rafael, California. He has been coming to Marietta for years and I took photos of his art each time. This time his subject was Portrait of a Young Man by Annibale Garracci (Italian, 1560-1609.) Joel told me where to find the chalk artist from France, on the other side of the Square.

While walking there I took some photos of the numerous dogs at the event. I tried to take the photo of a friendly white dog, but he kept looking the other way. Then he suddenly turned around and came so close to my Canon on my chest that I could only take his nose with my little Sony. It was easier to take a photo of some stuffed dogs, not moving.

Chalk portrait of dogs, and one cat, on the pavement were not moving, either.

I passed by more lovely chalk art. The name of the sponsor is below the chalk art, as well as a little sign with the name of the artist and a small box for tips.

I reached the spot where Dogan Sitki, a Turkish chalk artist, had created a 3D portrait of Spanish painter Salvador Dali. Sitki is a talented artist who after obtaining a master's degree in industrial design and working as an academic assistant for two years decided that his passion was street art. He has received awards from national and international competitions. I found a couple more of his work online.

Some of the chalk art was on boards rather than on the asphalt.

There were so many more - and I did not take pictures of all of them, but I tried!

The chalk used is much thicker than regular blackboard chalk. The sticks are rougher so they won't constantly break on the tough tarmac of the road.

As usual, there were many colorful and stunning works on the ground. It must be quite tiring to keep drawing, bent over the pavement all day. As I was walking, some of the designs seem to leap off, especially the 3D designs. I have looked in awe at pictures of Julian Beever's anamorphic drawings, or trompe-l'oeil. He is a British sidewalk chalk artist born in 1959 who has been creating his designs on the rough pavement since the 1990s. He is known all over the world for his chalk drawings. Here are some examples of his work, courtesy Julian Beever, net.

As I was slowing walking around the Square I finally reached the surface where Jean-Marc Navello, from France, had drawn his chalk art. By then the crowds were diminishing and I was able to speak to him. He certainly looked up when he heard me speak in French. He said I was the first French person he had seen during the two-day event. He asked me if I was there on vacation and was surprised when I told him I had lived in Cobb County for decades. Jean-Marc came from Toulon, in the South of France. He is a graphic designer and illustrator who started his street painting when he saw a chalk festival in France in 2010. Since then he has not let go of his chalk set. His work that day was a 3D piece inspired by modern art.

Jean-Marc told me there are two types of street painters on the ground - first, those who reproduce paintings by great masters or some designs and, second, those who practice free art, which is what he does, mostly in 3D. He said: "It's pure creation. I first create my image on a computer, print it and use it as a model for the reproduction on the floor." Jean-Marc is a multi-award winner, from France, Italy and Great Britain. I asked him if he had entered many street competitions in the US and he replied that is is not easy, as he needs a sponsor to help with costs, and so far he has only been to Marietta, Georgia. He added that it is an ephemeral art form and thus difficult to find sponsors. Below is more of his work.

Chalk street painting is certainly ephemeral - here this weekend and gone within days. But what is not ephemeral? Wealth is made and lost, good health can disappear, friends can drift apart, colors fade, borders shift, and memories are forgotten. Permanence is an illusion. So, let celebrate this ephemeral art and enjoy it while it lasts.

Qual è la vita ma l'ombra di un sogno fugace? - Umberto Eco, Italian, 1936-2016 (Qu'est-ce que la vie sinon l'ombre d'un rêve éphémère? - What is life but the shadow of a fleeting dream?)

A stay in Bangor, Maine

In mid-November I was back in Greater Atlanta, Georgia. I intended to take pictures in a park nearby for a fall blog post. Time went by too quickly and instead I just took a couple of photos of the leaves in the backyard.

In lieu of this fall blog post I'll relate my summer stay in Bangor, Maine. In early June my daughter asked me if I would like to drive with her, my son-in-law and the kids to Bangor, Maine. I replied, no thank you - it is too far. I had only planned to drive the two hours north to Paducah, Kentucky. Nashville, Tennessee to Bangor, Maine is about 1,330 miles (2,140 km) about the same distance as Brussels, Belgium to Budapest, Hungary - it's quite far as I said.

She explained that three of the four grandchildren were going to attend several weeks of Chinese language immersion summer school in Bangor. She only could stay with them part of the time but then had to get back. As an enticement she offered to have me fly there and then she would come back when the Chinese school ended. She said we could drive down the coast of Maine and on the way stop a day in Kennebunkport, Maine, then New Hampshire and also in Newport, Rhode Island where I had always wished to go, and then stay in Boston a couple of days and I could fly back from Boston. So I went. Because Bangor is close to Acadia National Park summer lodgings are difficult to find. My daughter could only find a small farm to rent. The owners lived in another house adjacent to the original farm. The owners, the wife, drove a Prius, a Toyota hybrid (instead of one of those big SUV vehicles) and the husband, a pick-up truck. Actually, compared to Nashville and Atlanta, there were a lot less SUVs in Maine (where winters are rigorous and they could say they need them, not like in Deep South downtowns ... but in Maine they are more mindful of the environment.)

The farm was built in 1900. Chickens were free to roam and would come to the front door. They would run to greet us as soon as we drove into the farm. Horses were in the back near a wildlife trail. (Click on collage to enlarge.)

I took some photos of the interior but found some better ones on the owners' site (theirs were taken in winter.) The farm has 3 bedrooms, a large bathroom, a kitchen with eating area and two front rooms with a piano. I stayed in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

My daughter and her family drove to Maine a week prior to the start of the Chinese summer school so they could visit the area and Acadia National Park. This park is about 41 miles from Bangor. It is located on Mount Desert Island and Isle au Haut. The highest mountain on the Atlantic Coast of the US, Cadillac Mountain, is in this park.

In its 49,075 acres (76.7 sq mi or 198.6 km2) the park contains wetlands, forests, meadows, mountains, lakes, streams, beaches and a large diversity of animal and plant life. Millions of visitors come to the park and I believe reservations are required now to enter it, at least in the summer months, because of the congestion. In 1929 the name of the park was changed from Marquis de Lafayette Park to Acadia National Park in honor of the former French colony of Acadia that used to include Maine. The center photo is of my son-in-law - he had to fly back to Nashville after a week in Maine.

My daughter flew back to Nashville after her 3 weeks and left the big van in Bangor. They use this large van to transport the 4 kids, 3 adults (including the au pair) and two dogs (no SUVs for member of my family.) For commuting to work they just have two small passenger vehicles. But the van is quite high and long - I was afraid to drive it. Fortunately the au pair stayed during my time there and he drove. He is an Italian of Moroccan ancestry and his family lives in France now, so he speaks Italian, Moroccan Arabic, French and English. We ate most evenings in local restaurants and pubs, apart from the day the Italian soccer team won the European Soccer Championship, its first time since 1968. Our au pair was so overjoyed that he treated us to a pizza dinner. That week was also my youngest grandson's 10 years old birthday. He requested a chocolate cream pie. I found a bakery in Bangor that was able to bake one especially for him. Below is the van, the bakery, the pie, the au pair with the Italian flag wrapped around his shoulders and my grandchildren. The grandson in the center is letting his hair grow to donate to a group helping young cancer patients who lost their hair.

The first Sunday after I arrived I was pleased to meet one of my blogging friends for lunch in Bangor. I had been reading her blog for years until she eventually stopped blogging. Ruth's original blog was named "synch-ro-ni-zing" and her last blog, ended in 2017, was called Birds of the Air quilts where she showed the quilts she made. Ruth and her husband retired and moved to a small coastal town in Maine, not far from Bangor. It was so much fun meeting her after having read her blogs for over a decade. We met at the Mason Brewing Co. Restaurant along the Penobscot River. We ate outdoors as it was a warm day and also because of Covid.

I was surprised by the long list of beers and ciders. Ruth told me that there are a great many pubs and restaurants in the area featuring local artisanal beers and ciders. Later I read that behind Vermont, Maine has the second highest number of breweries per 100,000 residents in the USA. The 100 or so local breweries produce New England IPAs, English ales, stouts, porters, sours, Belgian, farmhouse, lagers and more. They have the largest variety of hard cider that I have seen outside of France and Belgium. Most restaurants and pubs will offer "sample beers" of your choice in 4 small glasses. I did not try them since I am more partial to cider.

I remember writing Ruth and telling her I was going to stay in a small town in Maine - Bangor. She answered that Bangor was one of the largest cities in Maine, and with 32,000 residents is considered the unofficial capital of northern Maine. Well, when you consider that the population of the state of Maine is 1.34 million, Bangor is ... large. But coming from greater Atlanta with 6.09 million and the state of Georgia with 10.83 million, I thought Bangor was tiny ... oops! The weather was nice though, not as warm as in Atlanta. We did not have to use air conditioning and I was chilly a couple of times. Of course, in winter it must be quite cold - much too cold for me. Here are a couple of photos of the city in winter (courtesy the Bangor Daily News.)

Definitely a city to visit in summer, in July like I did. At least for us southerners ...

Cloudland Canyon in Georgia

 More fall foliage ...

Last week, after my walk in Nashville Centennial Park, I was going to visit another park to catch more fall foliage.  Unfortunately it rained, then after a couple of blustery days, most of the leaves had blown off the trees.  My little Autumn Glory maple tree that was planted last year had colorful leaves but two days later they were all gone.

Not long ago I read an article saying that just looking at still photos of nature could lower stress levels.  A study in the Netherlands at the Vrije University Medical Center showed that by looking at images of nature for several minutes it had a calming effect on the brain.  A professor at the University of San Diego said "There are studies that show that looking at pleasant images can provide a type of mental escape for individuals during times of moderate stress."  Then I read that a small team in the Department of Psychology at Canada's University of Waterloo discovered that enjoying nature through virtual reality such as photographs "engages the parasympathetic nervous system which helps us relax, as opposed to the sympathetic nervous system - in charge of "fight or flight" responses and releasing adrenaline and cortisol."  Right now, with our stress related to the virus, politics, weather and more any calming effect is welcome.  I looked at my autumn photographs to find a pretty one.

 

While looking I found many photographs of Cloudland Canyon State Park that I had taken a couple of autumns ago.  As you may recall, while driving back from Atlanta to Nashville, I would stop in Trenton, a small Georgia town in the mountains where I would sell some of my books at a second-hand bookstore.  To get there I had to drive through the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia and then drive around several switchbacks and steep ascents, pass by Cloudland Canyon State Park then descend toward Trenton.  Cloudland Canyon is located in Rising Fawn, Georgia, on the western edge of Lookout Mountain.  It was named after the child of a Cherokee Indian chieftain.  The Cherokee Nation occupied the area then and their custom was to name their child after the first thing they saw.  So at dawn, the chief saw a fawn rise from its bed and thought that he hadn't seen anything more beautiful.  He gave the name Rising Fawn to his child.  After the land grab by the white settlers the Cherokees were banished from their ancestral land and sent to reservations provided by the US Government in Oklahoma.  Their route came to be called the Trail of Tears.

The village had several names until it finally was changed to Rising Fawn to honor the Cherokees.  It is located in the northwestern part of Georgia, close to Alabama and Tennessee.  Starting in 1939 the state of Georgia purchased parcel of lands close to Rising Fawn for a state park.  The Civilian Conservation Corps then worked on connecting highways to Cloudland Canyon State Park.

That November I left early for Trenton and decided to stop at the park.  Years before, in winter, my late husband and I had stayed there for a long weekend, but I had taken few photographs.  Armed with my Nikon and cell phone, I was going to take photographs this time.  GA Highway 136 to Cloudland Canyon is narrow with sheer drops down the mountain on one side, and it's a bit scary.  On the map below I placed a green cross where the state park is located, to the right of Trenton.  (Click on collage to enlarge.)

After parking my car it was just a few steps to the spectacular panorama.  With 3,488 acres, Cloudland Canyon State Park straddles a deep gorge cut in the mountain with elevation going from 800 to 1,980 feet.  It has cascading creeks, dense woodland, wild caves, sandstone cliffs, 1000 feet deep canyons and two stunning waterfalls tumbling over layers of sandstone and shale into pools below.  The views are breathtaking.

As mentioned above my late husband and I had stayed in one of their cottages.  Now they also have yurts and offer campsites for tents, trailers and RVs, as well as backcountry and pioneer campsites.  There are picnic areas and shelters, a gift shop, 16 miles of horseback riding trails, fishing, caving, canyon climbing, and more.  Below are a cottage interior and a yurt and yurt interior.

Near the information panel I could get a glimpse at one of the waterfalls.

I walked a bit to the side to get a better view.

The other side of the canyon was also quite scenic, but I did not want to get too close to the edge.

There are 64 miles of trails.  The popular trails are the Overlook Trail, the strenuous Waterfalls Trail and the moderate West Rim Loop Trail.  I walked toward the Overlook Trail.

At first the trail was paved and smooth.  Then it became rocky and lead to some stairs.  There were too many steps for me ...

I turned around and went to sit nearby for a little rest.

I had not the time or the energy to take the heart-pumping Waterfall Trail.  You have to climb down, and back, 600 stairs to the bottom of the canyon to see the two waterfalls, Cherokee Falls and Hemlock Falls. (Photo courtesy GA State Park site and Atlanta Trails.)

If you are adventurous, there is more to do in the area.  Close by is the Lookout Mountain Flight Park.  It is the largest and most popular hang gliding and paragliding school in the United States.  They state that each year the school teaches, certifies and solos five times as many pilots as any other school.  The hang gliders launch from 1,340-foot McCarthy's Bluff.  It is as small business owned by the same family since 1980.  (Photos courtesy LMFP.)

Thrill seekers can fly tandem 3000 feet over Lookout Mountain.  I'm sure the view must be gorgeous from that height.  Maybe my blogging friend and parachute jumper DJan would not think twice about hang gliding there?

But for now I'll pass, maybe later ...

Thanksgiving is coming up.  I wish you all a festive Thanksgiving with your family and/or friends, or just by yourself.  Stay safe.