She gave me the parameters I had to work within – here’s how much pavement you get (we estimated that we could draw the image at about 1/2 scale the original, at 75′ x 25′) and here’s how much time you get to make it – only 6 days! That was it – the rest was up to me to design as was necessary. I used chalk pastels on paper and the original art was framed and then auctioned off as part of the festival fundraising.

Additionally, Sue honored me with a request to create the original art for the event poster: a portrait of Michelangelo’s Delphic Sibyl. I was game and eagerly jumped into the project planning. I had recently finished off several large Vegas casino mural projects which involved creating over 11,000 sq. Sue asked me to spearhead the project as I had extensive experience in art directing / painting large mural projects and was used to managing teams of artists. A feat never before undertaken at any festival in the world this was going to be a dream project for many folks involved. I knew she & her husband Joe were planning something big for the 10th Anniversary event but I didn’t realize how big! Talk about ambitious – over 300 figures and yards of architecture, this masterpiece would surely be a show stopper if created. ‘How would you like to tackle the Sistine Chapel ceiling?’ Set in Paris and Italy, this lyrical first novel interweaves two parallel love stories, offering readers a unique view on the research and inspiration that goes into creating historical novels such as The Girl with the Pearl Earring and The Birth of Venus.Back in 2003 I got a call from then director of the Youth In Arts Italian Street Painting Festival, Sue Carlomagno, about a crazy idea she was dying to share with me. Why does he seem so familiar? And what is his connection to the great Renaissance painter? Yet as her own affair grows deeper, Tulia's sidewalk artist grows more mysterious. As he takes her on a tour of Europe's artistic treasures, she begins writing the story of the painter Raphael and his secret lover. While in Europe researching her next novel, twenty-something American Tulia Rose falls headlong into a romance with a handsome sidewalk artist. Susan Vreeland, author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue

'A fantasia of a double tale skimming through the art capitals of Europe with double muses, double love pursuits, double Raphaels, even double authors, a tale dripping with idealized romantic settings, mystery, art, and a touch of magic, The Sidewalk Artist will keep readers wondering what is real and what is artifice-as fine paintings always do.'

The Sidewalk Artist by Gina Buonaguro