Although this art form is new to most countries, it has a long tradition in Europe and is thought to have originated in Italy during the 16th century.

Italian madonnari were vagabond artists noted for a life of travel between festivals, and were the visual arts counterpart of minstrels. They often lived solely from the coins tossed onto or next to their drawing as homage to the Madonna and possibly their skill. They arrived in towns and cities to paint religious pictures directly on the beaten earth or paved public squares, using chalk, brick, charcoal, and colored stones as their medium. In Italy, street painters are called Madonnari after their practice of reproducing images of the Madonna (St. Mary). Their work is tied to the rich history of Italian religious art, and is connected to icons, as well as votive and ex-voto paintings (an offering given either prior to, or in gratitude for an answered prayer or miracle).

For centuries madonnari were true folk artists, reproducing simple images with minimal materials. During the Second World War these artists suffered many hardships and were greatly reduced in number. Thanks to the International Street Painting Festival in Grazie di Curtatone in Northern Italy the art form has been revitalized. Today a growing number of artists are carrying on the tradition and are introducing new images and materials.

I brought my mother to the Massey Street Painting Festival on September 15/16, 2007.

We both wanted to meet Ulla Taylor. She is not only extremely talented, but very approachable and friendly. Even though she had to get her artwork completed for the competition, she took the time to chat with us. Here is my mom (left) and Ulla (right).



Below are a couple of other pictures I took at the festival. If you click on the smaller gallery image, you can see the larger image.

At three years old, her mother Hildegard despaired at the continual appearance of smiley faces drawn in biro on the white walls at home.. but she encouraged Ulla in her painting...

At seventeen Ulla went to art school.. At eighteen she landed her first pavement art commission with Melbourne City..

Twenty-three saw her on her first international tour as a part of Chalk Circle.. Now working solo, she loves her work, touring and making art at a "grass-roots" level.

With pastels and knees pads in tow, Ulla creates public, (con)temporary street and corporate events- in Australia, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

Ulla has won prizes in competition pavement art and her paintings are represented in government, corporate and private collections in Australia and overseas.

Kurt Wenner has combined traditional street painting techniques along with classical training, illusion, and performance to invent an art form all his own. This has come to be known as anamorphic, illusionistic, or 3D street painting. Wenner's development of this technique is featured in the National Geographic documentary Masterpieces in Chalk.

Artists using this technique today can trace it back to Wenner's invention in the early 1980's. His three-dimensional images have inspired festivals and public events throughout the world, as well as others to continue the practice of bringing images of icons and popular culture to an ever changing public. While the art form continues to develop one thing has remained unchanged, madonnari and their paintings continue to vanish after a festival, or with the first rains.

Julian Beever is an English chalk artist who has been creating trompe-l'oeil chalk drawings on pavement surfaces since the mid-1990s. His works are created using a projection called anamorphosis, and create the illusion of three dimensions when viewed from the right angle.

Besides this pavement art, Beever also paints murals and replicas of the works of masters and oil paintings, and creates collages. He works as a freelance performance artist and creates murals for companies. He has worked in the UK, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Spain, the USA and Australia.

Rod Tryon has been street painting for the past 20 years. He visited the inagural "I Madonnari Street Painting Festival" in Santa Barbara, CA in 1987 (the first street painting festival ever held in the U.S.) and knew it was something he had to do.

He has participated in the Santa Barbara festival 17 times including appearing as the featured artist in 1993. Rod has been a featured artist in numerous other street painting events worldwide.

When he's not at a street painting festival, Rod works as a freelance artist focusing on pastels on paper and canvas, acrylic paintings, graphic design, pastel illustration and computer illustration.

See a video of Rod Tryon at Street Painting TV.