Doing Live Painting

In 2002, while I was a senior at University of Richmond doing my art thesis, a friend of mine told me about a live chalk artist he had seen at a conference. Well, that was a seed for me. I began exploring live art and had several pictures in my mind of myself doing it in the future.

It wasn't until 2005 that I did my first live painting in Myrtle Beach, SC. Thankfully, I met an artist well known to the area--Kimberly Dawn Clayton--who does live painting and is a well known folk artist. She was and is a major inspiration to me as I explored the area of live painting. She introduced me to the concept of recycled art and using recycled materials, such as old doors, windows, and wood. She also inspired me in the use of color, being free in form, and composition.

Overall, there are different forms of live art, each unique in their own way. For those of you who might not know what live painting is, it is basically a form of painting done in a segmented amount of time with an audience of sorts.

For myself, I tend to compliment something else going on, whether it is a conference, a worship session, a wedding, a fundraiser, etc. In each setting, I paint something different, according to the people, the event, or the setting. I love painting out whatever is the spirit of what is going on.

Below, you will see some examples of my recent live paintings at the following events:
Catalyst Conference in Atlanta
Sojourners' Mobilization to End Poverty in Washington, D.C.
Alabama-West Florida UMC Youth Conference in Panama City, FL
30 Hour Famine for Woodbridge Church of the Nazarene, VA
ULM Baptist Student Ministry in Monroe, LA
Glow Retreat at North Monroe Baptist Church in Monroe, LA
FB Swartz in Monroe, LA


For more about live painting, you can see my website: www.caitlinbeidler.com.