By Jessica Goodman
Times-News Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, July 18, 2009 at 9:15 p.m.
From red to blue, orange to green, in bright vibrant colors, kids of all ages, from just starting to scribble to professional artists, downtown Hendersonville is marked.
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Alex Blankenship, 15, sketches from a photo of singer Johnny Cash.
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Saturday was the 13th year for Chalk It Up, the annual sidewalk chalk art contest. The contest is second to the beautiful talents displayed by members of the community.
"It's fun. They look forward to it each year," said Pam Gessler, mother of 12, with nine children showing their artsy side. "They like the prizes, but it's fun to do it and think of an idea."
150 artists
Barbara Hughes, with Narnia Studios, organizes the event each year. One hundred fifty people came out to create on the concrete from First to Sixth avenues along Main Street in Hendersonville.
"Wow, 13 years have now passed since the beginning of 'Chalk It Up!' Almost half of the contestants this year hadn't even been born" when it debuted, Hughes said.
The Tuttle triplets and their mom, Chris Tuttle, were out on a stretch of concrete. Anna, Elizabeth and Caleb, 8, feverishly colored in their squares.
Anna did a self-portrait, the blonde hair in pigtails. Elizabeth, or "Lizzy," created a geometric pattern and Caleb designed circles that looked like a spaceship.
"I encourage them to draw a picture ahead of time," Chris said.
"I drew mine," beforehand, Anna said. "I made an art book and found it in there."
"I was going to draw a tower, but I thought it'd be hard, so I started drawing these circles and it kind of looks like a spaceship to me," Caleb said. "And I like blue."
A family affair
Hughes said 42 family units showed up for Chalk It Up, the most ever. They varied from fathers and sons creating next to each other to full families making designs. The Kelsch family took up four squares on the south of Main Street. Reece, 12, Quinn, 10, Grace, 7 and Katherine, 4, all drew things they loved, from kitty cats to cars.
"Concrete makes it turn out a little rougher," Reece said. "It smears, which is different than on paper."
The Gessler family took up a large portion of a block. Members of the family have been drawing in Chalk It Up since the event started.
"We used to do this a lot," said Bethany Gessler, 20. "We used to make chalk roads at our home and bike on them."
"We all plan on planning, but some of us do it five minutes before," Hannah Gessler, 22, said of creating an art piece. "It's fun."
The winners for 5 & under: Katherine Kelsch, Phineas Smith, Ella Neve, Abigail Welch, Makenna Marcy
The winners for 6-8 years old: Arianna Juarez, Ben Williams, Caleb Tuttle, Grace Kelsch, Madison Bailey
The winners for 9-12 years old: Reece Kelsch, Liam McBride, Michaela Orr, Johanna Conejo, Chloe Ford
The winners for 13-20 years old: Sam Benson, Alex Blankenship, Hannah Rochester, Abigail Gardner, Annalace Gardner
The winners for 21 & over: Michelle Benney, Hannah Gessler, Katie Hughes, Anita Segers, Michelle Ford
The winner in the charity category(50.00 US Savings Bond): Kate Brighton drawing for Absolute Theater Company
The winner in the professional category(100.00): Yoriko Russell