Justius Miller studied a reference image on a smartphone before returning to her work, koi fish drawn in chalk. They seemed to swim along the Boardwalk.
“I’ve been doing art since I was young,” the 12-year-old Bayside Middle School student said Saturday morning at the Oceanfront.
Fish took form in pastel colors, pinks and oranges.
“I want my art to look beautiful,” Justius said. “I want people to like it and I want people to think, ‘Oh, that’s like really nice.’ And I want people to have inspiration.”
She participated for the first time in Saturday's Chalk the Walk. The contest and showcase brings together artists of different ages to create works and enjoy those made by others at three blocks along the Boardwalk.
This year’s theme was a “Wonderful World of Color.”
Students and professionals worked in designated boxes while passersby stopped to appreciate. This year’s featured artist was Nicole von Kuhl, a muralist and street painter from Alexandria. She worked on a large chalk image of King Neptune.
Von Kuhl has been working with chalk for more than two decades, sometimes showing and demonstrating her work at events around the world. She got her own start when her mom suggested they participate in a festival like this one.
“It is really a wonderful thing to get young artists involved early,” von Kuhl said.
They can show their work, practice and meet others.
“And the best thing they can do is walk around and see some of the more professional artists to get to pick up some tips and tricks and learn how to do it to increase their art,” she said.
Saturday was Justius' first time creating a work with chalk, aside from drawing on the sidewalk at home. She heard about Chalk the Walk from her mom, Renada Burrell, who was sitting nearby.
“I love that she's able to express herself through her artwork,” Burrell said.
And she was glad there were artists of different experience levels involved.
“It allows her to see that this is something that she can do in the long run," Burrell said, "and she's also able to see other artists and see other art forms.”
Justius hoped to see the work of others once she’d made her drawing of koi come alive.
“Whatever you draw, it's like ... it's like you.”
