Villagefest, Palm Springs

Finally! A break from the routine was just what my spirits needed! I met my friend at the Palm Springs airport on August 6Th and we headed toward San Diego. Who knew that there wouldn't be one room available on a Monday night, not us that's for sure! We ended up in El Cajon in the worst possible place imaginable; visualize the grungiest hotel room you've ever seen in a movie and then picture something even worse and you might have a general idea! Strange enough though, the bed was very comfortable and the AC unit worked even though it's probably older than I am! The toilet shook the floor when flushed and nothing could convince me to take a shower in the cracked tub/shower combo that didn't look like it had ever been cleaned! Note: San Diego is now the convention capitol of southern CA. Make reservations!

The last night of our getaway was spent in Palm Springs rather than Idyllwild which we would have preferred, but the 2002 Mercedes that belongs to my friend had other plans. It simply wouldn't go up the steep mountain. After a few sputters and stalls we turned around , coasted downhill and ended up in Palm Springs at the foot of Idyllwild. 108 degrees at 7pm but after reading about the weekly Villagefest we ventured out into the heat to discover for ourselves why it's popular. It's basically a street fair with musicians/singers selling CD's, artists demonstrating their art in the hopes of making a sale and food stands. We opted for a corner restaurant where the mist system raised the humidity to an uncomfortable level. An entertainer on the corner dressed in a Viking outfit kept us amused throughout our chicken Caesar salads. Directly across the street from the restaurant a crowd had gathered and once we finished dinner we joined the crowd. There in the midst of cans of spray paint was a whirling-dervish spray paint artist! Tossing his shoulder length hair back from his face he was in constant motion as he spray painted a background, then added ships, a moon and topped it off by spraying a stencil he had created of Tinker Bell. I imagine Disney wouldn't be too happy if they knew he was using one of their trademark characters in his artwork.
Some of his work.

In the center, angled to the left, is the Tinker Bell is the painting we watched him create. He had a lot of tricks that he used to create lines, suns, moons, mountains etc. Fascinating to watch; I wish that I'd taken notes! He used manila folders to cut stencils out of and had an entire file box of them. He did use the mask hanging around his neck when he sprayed on the background but when he got down to the details he removed it. It almost seemed to be a part of his "act" rather than something he used in order to not breathe in the paint fumes.