Students waited in line behind the cones, smelling the fumes, as they waited for their turn to receive a masterpiece.
The artists sat at the tables with masks on, while music played in the background. These were no ordinary artists.
Both of these people were spray can artists. Ordinary spray paint was their media.
Program Council brought the two artists to campus on Tuesday and painted in the Mall area from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Onaome Makoro, a Program Council Chair, said that the idea to bring spray can artists to campus came from the Program Council’s national conference, the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA).
“We saw spray can artists in New Orleans and San Antonio and wanted to bring them to campus,” said Program Council Chair Laurie Orlando.
The two artists, Joe and Lindsay Watson, who also go by Joe and Lefty, are from Florida. They have painted about 24,000 paintings in two years.
According to their Web site, spray can art started in Mexico City during the 1970’s. This form of art is known by different names such as scratch graffiti and Spray Can Art.
Each painting is done on Bristle board with spray paint. The artist uses plastic bags, paper, lids, tops or caps and a putty knife to manipulate the paint. Each piece takes from one to 15 minutes depending on size and difficulty.
Visit http://www.joeandlefty.com for information on Joe and Lefty and find links to other spray can artists, examples of paintings and booking information.