Chalk it up: Edmonton artist spreading playoff cheer with driveway art
An Edmonton chalk artist is using her talents to celebrate the Oilers' playoff run.
Tara Strohschein started doing chalk art for her kids when they were young.
"They absolutely love it, they always want pictures with it, they will try to draw their own drawings as well as they can to match it," Strohschein said.
Last year, while dealing with a chronic illness, she got back into the hobby.
"I started doing some Disney characters, some animals and Pokémon, and kids would come by in the neighbourhood and request characters that they saw," Strohschein said.
Strohschein has been a fan of the Edmonton Oilers since 2008 when she came to Edmonton.
"Unfortunately, when I moved out here, it was right in the middle, the beginning of the decade of darkness," Strohschein said. "Something about it, the fandom in the city and the excitement that they would have, I just loved it."
Her family loves the energy that the playoffs bring to the city and she wanted to use her skills to contribute.
"It's just something I've always enjoyed," Strohschein said. "I sucked at art in high school, but for some reason I can do chalk.
"I am really good at proportioning, looking at a photo and just drawing it out. I usually start in the centre and move outwards."
The pieces aren't quick to make either, some take anywhere from one to three hours.
"Usually, I draw out the whole outline of the character first and then we dive in with the colours," Strohschein said.
"Sometimes I use water to spread out the chalk a little bit more into the crevices of the driveway and other times I just use a pool noodle or my hands to smudge it around."
One of the bigger challenges for Strohschein is that she has to blend chalk colors together to match the Oilers blue and orange "so we don't look like another team – the Islanders."
Another hurdle is the weather, with the possibility of rain erasing her hard work at any time.
She enjoys seeing people's reactions to the art and gets a lot of positive feedback.
"Absolutely love it, brightens up the neighbourhood," said Michael Lotzgeselle, who sees the art on his way to school. "I always come back and look and see what's new, I just really appreciate it. I know a lot of other people appreciate it too."
"It builds the morale behind the sport and everyone's really excited right now, so why not," said Morgan McVitie, who lives close by.
Next on her art docket is a piece with the full faces of Oilers forwards Zach Hyman, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.
Her plan for if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup this year is to do a giant chalk art of the cup.
The Oilers begin Round 2 of the playoffs against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Matt Woodman
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.