8x10 Ready-to-frame print on Hahnemuhle Smooth Photo Rag | Includes a white margin so no matting is required.

Original Drawing: 8’x8’ chalk pastel on asphalt . 2019

This piece is about the shared connection between Italy, the square sponsor, and I and was the first time I created my own original work in chalk. The “night behind me” is self-doubt, eliminated as I confidently created using my signature blind contour-inspired style.

The complete I Madonnari Print Collection project was made possible by the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, through the generous support of an FY24 Cycle A Project Grant for Artists. The large-scale pastel images featured were each created on asphalt or driveways from 2019 to 2023 for the renowned annual Santa Barbara festival. Each drawing took me and my teams 2-3 days to complete, and they lasted until they weathered away. By making prints, I can now offer a new experience of this powerful, temporal art form to you and those you share it with.

A portion of the proceeds from these prints will benefit the Santa Barbara County Education Office’s Children’s Creative Project, providing arts education to more than 50,000 students in 100 schools, and the Desert Bloom Art Scholarship founded by Claire Wentzel at Nevada State University to provide annual awards to part- and full-time Art Minors.