By Cory Bilicko
Managing Copy Editor
Mother Nature was the first competitor the Belmont Shore Sidewalk Art contestants had to contend with Sunday morning. As more than 100 experienced and emergent artists taped to the sidewalk the paper that would be their canvases for the day, they endured spirited morning breezes that lifted their 38″ x 50″ drawings and drove small white flowers from fruitless pear trees to the surfaces of their art. The fierce shark that Melissa Murphy was creating almost got washed back into the ocean when her drink spilled next to it.
After several hours of troublesome air currents, the heat began to bake the sidewalks and force artists to really sweat it out until their 4 p.m. deadline, when judges would come by.
When all was sketched and done, judges Michael Stearns, Blair Cohn and Ralph Millero decided that Brighton Smith of Garden Grove would walk away with $350 more in his wallet as the first-place winner. Cecilia Linayo of San Diego finished second, and David Gilmore of Long Beach won third place. Jason Arias, Parker Konyak, Jamie Kivisto, Julio Jimenez and Diane Nuyon were all recognized with merit awards.
To see more of the sidewalk creations, go to http://www.justinrudd.com/chalk.html.
