Art Battle! (Cont)

 At the start I couldn't wait to see what this would become!

 Stunning!

Here I am walking around enjoying the Art Battle!

Jacqueline Poirier beginning her painting

 The end result is beautiful! Gets her into the final!

 Chen Cao was amazing to watch!

 Cao's painting got him into the final!

 AB Final Round: Champion...Jacqueline Poirier! Beautiful! Can't believe she did that in 20 min flat!

“Going to Battle” Treat!

As I posted yesterday about the Art Battle taking place in Toronto- I am happy to post today that I went and was blown away by the creativity and talent of the artists that competed! The Battle started with 2 rounds of 8 painters that had 20 minutes to complete a painting (no theme- just pure talent)! While the artists were painting, those in the crowd were able to walk around and get up close to the artists and watch their masterpieces unfold. As you waited with anticipation, some artists were talking to friends, people gathered at the bar and some just stayed in place watching a particular painting unfold- all while listening to some awesome tunes by the in house DJ.

After 20 minutes had gone by, I could not believe what artwork had emerged! Each person that entered the building then had a chance to go around and put his or her vote into the ballot box of the painting/artist that they believed deserved to get to the final. An artist I was amazed by was, Chen Cao, (picture above) who created amazing portraits that seemed to emerge with each brush stoke. What really astonished me what that Cao not only was AB 15 Champion (and I learned sells his paintings at high value) but also was born with cerebral palsy. He was just amazing to watch. In the end, a definite favorite of mine, Jacqueline Poirier, won the championship with a painting done in black and white, with a splash of red to showcase the tree that emerged from drippings on her canvas (picture above)!

One of the best things about this event was that after each round the paintings were auctioned off. (I am quite sad to admit that I placed a bid on a painting and it was sold for a higher price). However, on the flip side to auctioning off some amazing pieces of work- those paintings that didn’t have a bidder were destroyed in what they called, “true tradition of the Art Battle”. I also want to mention here, big thanks to Fred Espina- it was a great event!