Astronox Music and Arts Gathering is a yearly 5-day festival dedicated to cinematic, downtempo and experimental electronica from across the globe. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to live paint at the festival in 2022 and created a new piece each day!
The vibe of the festival was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The artists displayed in the gallery had the best visionary art I’d ever seen and I was proud to have my piece All Glory in amongst them. Over 60 different visual artists were live painting on canvases and boards across the festival grounds daily.
Night One: Faerie Wings
Once my 4’x8′ panel was set up the first night, I threw a set of 5-color faerie wings up to prime the surface. Each morning after that I would cart my wagon out to the panel, meditate on what I felt like painting that day and get to work.
Day Two: Astro Frog
The first morning, I started with Astro Frog, a froggy astronaut with florescent drippy colors underneath. HIs hand was reaching out to interact with passersby. When I returned later that evening, I realized my panel was in a prime location to catch blacklight from the stage installations, causing it to glow brightly.
Day Three: From the Depths
The second morning, with the UV reactivity in mind, I decided to paint a portrait of a woman’s face half underwater with a rainbow of five florescent, glowing eyes in a radial on her forehead. Many festival goers had little sprouts on their head, which I decided to include in the portrait, as well. This piece became From the Depths and was absolutely stunning when the blacklight hit it that evening.
Day Four: Kale Whale
The final morning, my campsite neighbors invited me over for breakfast tacos and I offered them some kale salad. While we were eating, I starting thinking about a whale made out of kale with a bunch of florescent leaves and petals spiraling out around it. Thus the Kale Whale was born. Later in the day, I had a couple of young ladies come up and ask if they could paint, which I obliged and then worked their little tags into the final piece.
Each piece took me around 3-4 hours to complete, except for Faerie Wings which was done in under and hour. I met so many friendly people at the festival and had such a great time. I hope to work more events like this in the future.
Process Photos
