Home > Signature Events > 2023 CHALK LINES AND VINES ARTIST BIO'S

2023 CHALK LINES AND VINES ARTIST BIO'S

Rachel Hueske

Colorado based artist, Rachel Hueske, has enjoyed creating works of art since childhood. Growing up in Colorado gave her an appreciation for animals and nature. This and her fondness of color and pattern has greatly influenced her work. Rachel uses various mediums, the most loved being acrylic paints.

Trina Baird

I have been a chalk artist for about 7 years and have participated in the Denver Chalk festival, Centennial chalk festival and also the Pastels on the 5th in Loveland. In 2021, in collaboration with my daughter Alex, we won Peoples choice award at the Pastels on the 5th. It has been an amazing journey and I love to see the colorful creations with chalk art. My career background has been in health care for over 20 years, however art has been such a special part of my life. When I am not creating chalk designs, my passion is with wood burning and fused glass art. Life is better with ART!!

Randy Segura

Art heals you and then you figure out how to share that inspiration and healing with others. I love being able to share the process with the public, and after many years of painting murals and signs, my passion for pursuing an artistic life has been reignited through chalk art.

Jennifer Chaparro

Jennifer Chaparro is an award-winning street painter and artist living and working in the Denver area. Born in Michigan, she grew up in San Diego, and graduated with a BA in Design from UCLA. She continued to pursue painting while working in advertising and raising her two daughters. She moved to Palm Beach, Florida in 1999. In 2004, Jennifer and her daughters, began participating in the Street Painting Festival in Lake Worth, Florida. She received her Maestro Designation from the Florida Chalk Art Association in 2011. Jennifer started her own business, Amazing Street Painting, in 2008, focusing on special event street painting (traditional and 3D anamorphic interactive large scale artworks). She has traveled and won awards both nationally and internationally. Jennifer works in a variety of media such as watercolor and acrylic, and freelances as a graphic designer, specializing in logos, advertising, hand-lettering/signs and websites.

Tom Isaacson

Tom retired from teaching in 2012. He taught English, Health, Reading, Computers as Tools, and Writing. While he never taught art, he always incorporated art in his subjects. Now that he has retired, he has more time to pursue artistic endeavors. He enjoys photography, water color painting, colored pencil, chalk, pastels, and pencil. He has participated in the Denver Chalk Festival, Centennial Chalk Festival, and the 7/20 Memorial event as well as other chalking opportunities.

Susan Crum

Susan Crum is an artist from the Canadian prairies who now lives in Aurora with her husband and two kids. She works in watercolor, acrylic and chalk and loves participating in public art. She enjoys making colorful work that conveys joy, curiosity, and a bit of silliness. Her most recent children's book is "Am I Your Favorite?" written by local author Gretchen Kadillak.

Phillip Bernel

Phillip Bernal is an award winning street chalk artist with twenty years of experience. The challenge of street chalk art and murals are a lifelong passion, which led to starting his small business in 2021- Imagine Murals & More LLC. Fine art commissions are open and always seeking opportunities for public art opportunities. www.imaginemurals.com

Mary Tretten

I grew up in Colorado enjoying most any outdoor activity I could get my hands on. I still love camping, fly fishing, hiking, biking, gardening, photography and birding. I have my own small landscape and gardening business called Prairie Heart Garden Service & Design. Previous to owning my own business I managed the perennial side of a wholesale nursery for over 20 years. My husband and I raised 2 boys in Parker. But my greatest treasure is the time with my 4 grandchildren.

Dominique Montano

Dominique Montaño is a wildlife artist from Fort Collins, Colorado. She focuses on highlighting animals and nature in an attempt to illuminate the dangers threatening the world around us. A master’s graduate at Colorado State University focusing on zoology and comparative physiology, Dominique has always been fascinated with the incredible diversity of animals and how they operate in the world around them. Many of her subjects feature dripping or fading areas, alluding to the pressures of human-wildlife conflict that deteriorate the ability of nature to thrive in their environments, as the subjects mix into the background. An interest in animals and comic books at a young age led to a convergence in interests. Illustrating the wildlife she is enthralled by is an opportunity to bring a small amount of that same fascination to the viewer. Focusing on animal movement and the duality of nature allows her passions to coalesce, utilizing an academic career in zoology to strengthen her visual prowess in art. With an eye towards conservation of these animals, Dominique focuses on highlighting the plight of her subjects, and subsequently donates portions of proceeds to animal conservation organizations.

Brad Stratton

In his working life, Brad was a science and math teacher. His teaching venues included stints at Strasburg High School, at Horizon Middle School in Aurora, and at Community College of Aurora. After his retirement, Brad has been keeping busy volunteering with the Special Olympics and the city of Aurora, including serving on the Open Space Advisory Board. Retirement has also provided Brad more free time to be able to dabble in “art,” including graphite, colored pencils, painting and drawing pictures on the sidewalk with chalk. Brad has been married to his lovely wife for 43 years, and has 3 children and 4 grandchildren. He also enjoys photography, outdoor activities such as hiking and skiing, and, of course, spoiling his grandchildren.

Erik Greenawalt

Erik's passion for chalk art began more than a decade ago in the driveway of his suburban Pittsburgh home, when his then-toddler-aged daughters, Jaycie and Jenna, first asked him to draw Mickey, Cinderella, Elmo and Eeyore. Those young art directors were very demanding and wanted more and more elaborate pieces. Erik soon became known as "The Chalking Dad" among his neighbors. Today, Erik — who in real life is a Certified Public Accountant working in corporate finance — is also a certified "master" chalk artist in the Florida Chalk Artist Association. He participates in street painting festivals around the country, where he joins other artists in creating large-scale, elaborate chalk drawings over several days. Erik especially enjoys drawing portraits of pop culture and sports icons.

Nicole Fuentes-Vargas

Hey there! My name is Nicole and I’m a Boston transplant who loves to create! My days are spent working with young children during the week and I spend any free time on weekends meeting with friends, trying new breweries and of course spending time outside. I’ve been a freelance artist for a few years and I’m so grateful to have stumbled upon Chalk Art and enter the welcoming community. Excited for what’s next!

Corbin Hillam

Corbin Hillam has been a free lance illustrator for 45 years. Most of his work has been in the area of children’s book publishing, both in children’s picture books and educational publications. His illustrations have appeared in over 200 books. Corbin has written and illustrated six of his own books. For the past 20 years Corbin have been doing public art. He has done painted murals in public schools and in private homes. He has participated in the Denver Chalk Fest since it’s second year. Corbin has done many chalk murals for Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He has also done chalk murals for the Dinosaur Research Center in Woodland Park, CO; for Crystal Bridges Art Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas; and the Frisco 4th of July Festival in Frisco CO. Corbin and his wife recently moved to Aurora to be close to their two grand daughters.

CheChe Arts

Chelsea and Cheyanne, the CheChe Arts dream team, were both born and raised in Colorado. Their love for bright colors, warm sidewalks and dusty knees has brought them together for over three years of chalk art. Chelsea is a full-time artist whose passion lies in illustration. Her love for nature, animals and whimsy is the driving force behind much of her work and she loves adding her own magic to animals, characters and creatures. Cheyanne loves doing large pieces in public settings. Her use of color and brilliant, bold shapes creates eye-catching works that are often commissioned for publicity and promotional events. Together they have done events all over Denver and especially love brightening up driveways with a huge variety of art work for any special occasion.

Alex Baird

I have been doing chalk art for over 2 years and have participated in Denver Chalk Art Festival, Centennial Chalk art, and Pastels on the 5th in Loveland. This is will be my 2nd year at the Chalk Lines and Vines and I am so excited to participate in it. I am currently attending Colorado State University with a major in civil engineering and plan to graduate in 2025.

Tessa Fuqua

Tessa Fuqua is a Colorado-based artist. Her creations range from illustration and painting to large chalk art and murals. She is a two time award winner at the Denver Chalk Art Festival and has showcased in various galleries and venues in Colorado. She has created murals at Crush Festival in Denver, Chula’s on Broadway, Orchard Town Center in Westminster, and Fraser Mountain Mural Festival. Her art work tends to be colorful and positive. Tessa is also a commercial and film actor. She is always pursuing new things and through the course of life has been a lawyer, teacher, radio show host, and barista. When she is not painting or drawing or acting she loves to be outdoors or enjoying sports. Her favorite past-time is hanging out with her husband and family.

Jaycie Greenawalt

Jaycie Greenawalt, of Irwin, Pa., has learned her chalking skills at the hand of her father, Erik, aka The Chalking Dad. When she was 3, Jaycie inspired The Chalking Dad by asking for “The Little Einsteins” to be drawn in her driveway. As she has gotten older, she has partnered with him on many projects and has begun creating her own masterpieces. Jaycie will be a junior this fall at Slippery Rock University, where she is majoring in dance and accounting.

Joel Owens

Joel Nathan is a performing sidewalk chalk artist from Columbia, SC. First getting his start performing for the premiere of Marvel Studios' Black Panther for his local theater, his work got out more to his community. This would eventually lead him to do work for local business', concert venues such as Elton John and Imagine Dragons, and at other festivals across the country. He still resides in his hometown of Blythewood, where he still creates chalk art for social media when he isn't traveling.

Tamara Kula

Outdoor canvases beckon to Tamara Kula. “Don’t hold back,” they whisper. “Draw as big as you can dream.” Tamara has always enjoyed ephemeral art, from sprawling chalk creatures to fantastical snow sculptures to intricately carved pumpkins. As a child, and later as a teacher and a mother, she has spent many hours filling up inviting sidewalk spaces with chalk art. After recently discovering the joy of creating large 3D designs with chalk, mainly on her own driveway, she is now fascinated with anamorphic illusions. She finds the inherent impermanence of chalk freeing, a reminder to live in the moment. She is also partial to the bright colors that blend so magically. Tamara lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her husband and two sons.