Melanie Bortz created a huge chalk mandala on West 1st Street in Kill Devil Hills. [Screenshot from Kill Devil Hills police video]<\/p>\n
In a stressful week marked by election and pandemic uncertainty, an Outer Banks artists work is providing a beautiful, but perishable, distraction.<\/p>\n
Melanie Bortz worked 11 hours over two days to create a large and intricate chalk mandala in a cul-de-sac on West 1st Street in Kill Devil Hills. Bortz doesnt have an official measurement yet, but she said its only her second sidewalk-chalk mandala the first she created for the OBX Marathon, and it was about half that size.<\/p>\n
Bortz, with help from her three daughters, worked on the street art from around 6 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Monday into Tuesday, then 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday. She picked the place because she figured it would get less vehicle traffic. And the timing was based on a pretty good weather forecast.<\/p>\n
That it came on Election Day was a bonus.<\/p>\n
I know people are really struggling with everything that has been happening this year so I wanted to change the energy focus from negativity to positivity, Bortz said. That was the main goal and I think it worked.<\/p>\n
Bortz, who worked as a nurse for 10 years, left the field last year to dive fully into her artwork. She isnt necessarily a chalk artist, but she has created many mandalas, which in Sanskrit means circle. Mandalas are spiritual artworks in Buddhist, Hindu and other cultures, symbolizing paths to enlightenment and healing.<\/p>\n
Bortz has also been teaching about the process of mandalas for about a year at Ascension Studio OBX.<\/p>\n
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More here:<\/p>\n
Huge chalk art project brings positivity to street on the Outer Banks - OBXToday.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Melanie Bortz created a huge chalk mandala on West 1st Street in Kill Devil Hills. [Screenshot from Kill Devil Hills police video] In a stressful week marked by election and pandemic uncertainty, an Outer Banks artists work is providing a beautiful, but perishable, distraction Continue reading