Concrete plans

"It's a unique experience to have people walking by telling me how beautiful my drawing is," Walsh said.

This weekend is the second time Walsh will be participating in Festa Italiana, an annual street fair that raises money for developmentally disabled adults and children. About 10 artists participate and some pair up. Images of Italian are predominate but artists can choose their subject matter.

Last year, Walsh drew the birth of Venus as an eggplant, with a variety of other vegetables surrounding it. The image was an Italian postcard, complete with a stamp in the corner.

This time around, Walsh isn't quite sure what she's going to draw, though she promises "something with sunflowers."

Walsh is a freelance graphic designer and muralist whose day job is sign maker at Whole Foods Market in San Mateo.

With liquid chalk and a bit of artistic splash, Walsh informs shoppers of everything from sale-priced vegan cookies to cooking classes.

Walsh graduated from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts after attending high school in Virginia. She moved to Southern California and taught art before returning to Boston to work in galleries. Incorporating art into her career is an opportunity most art school graduates don't have.

"It's an incredibly small percentage of people who major in art that actually get to use it," Walsh said.

To prepare for Festa and other festivals with chalk artists, Walsh takes most of her inspiration from the human figure and nature as well as flipping through art nouveau books.

Starting Saturday, Walsh will begin mapping out her image before she hits the concrete, but finds new ideas come to her while she is in action.

"The second day is when it really happens," she said.

The ephemeral nature of chalk art doesn't bother her. At a recent festival in Danville, she finished a complex mosaic piece only to sit back and watch it be driven over by an SUV.

However, she does capture her elusive images on film. Last year at Festa Italiana, firemen gladly took the artists' cameras and went up on the ladder for breathtaking aerial shots. Walsh hopes that this will be the case Sunday.

Walsh also receives photographs from festival attendees who stop by Whole Foods with copies of their own photographs.

If you see Walsh this Sunday at Festa Italiana, don't inquire as to how she feels about the art disappearing the next day.

"It's amazingly annoying how many people ask that," Walsh laughs.