Upfest: My First Live Painting Event
I applied to Upfest on a whim. Then, through some freak of the universe, I actually got in.
Thrilled to bits and armed with an idea I'd been itching to try, I sat down to figure out how exactly I was going to pull off a complete piece in one day. That's when the nerves kicked in. This time, though, they worked in my favour — this was my first ever live painting event, and failure to complete was simply not on the table.
So I got to work. I tailored my concept to fit the dimensions I'd be painting on, did a full practice run, and planned the piece down to the smallest detail — stencils made in advance, nothing left to chance.
The day itself passed in a haze of get it done. When I looked up and realised I'd pretty much finished, with hours still to spare, I was chuffed — and got to spend that time properly enjoying all the other art happening around me.
That's when it hit me, properly, deep in my soul: comparison is futile. Every single artist there was painting something completely different from everyone else. There's no ranking, no comparison to be made — just a wall full of wildly different visions, side by side.
And then, just to top it all off, a local art collector offered to buy my finished piece.
Honestly? As an artist, it doesn't get much better than that.