GALO: You participate in street painting festivals both abroad and throughout the U.S. In your experience, what has been the most unique or memorable festival that you have participated in? How did this event differ in comparison to the other events you have covered?

CS: The Sarasota Chalk Festival last year was an awesome experience because world-renowned street artists came from every country, so I got to be right where they were working, and I [also] got to meet some of the most influential U.S. artists. Firefly was really cool [as well] because it was so different and we were the only artists there, and we received a ton of support from the crowd.

GALO: You have stated that you have a passion for the ephemeral nature and performance aspect of street painting. How do you approach capturing the “spirit” of each festival in your pieces?

CS: I work really hard at coming up with ideas and trying to tailor them to fit the theme that each event asks to be represented. At Firefly, they wanted something that was musical or festival themed, and sometimes they don’t even have themes, so you have to take what the event wants by brainstorming or even just writing down words that you associate with each theme, until you come up with an image.

GALO: You have also been known to take requests for murals at these festivals. What, in your opinion, was the most interesting request that you have ever received? What about the most challenging?

CS: I had one for the Knoxville Dogwood Festival which hosts festivities for a month, both musical and artistic. I was invited to be the feature artist, and they suggested that I do something with Payton Manning who is from Knoxville, so everyone was really excited to see it. I worked with the festival coordinators who came up with the idea to use the Norman Rockwell self-portrait and turn it into the Peyton Manning one. I had so many people standing around talking; it drew a huge crowd and it was a lot of fun.

GALO: You just recently attended the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Del. Making its debut as the East Coast’s premiere music festival, Firefly boasted an impressive musical lineup including chart topping acts such as Jack White, The Killers, and The Black Keys. How were you able to bring in such a large group of observers despite the festival’s main focus on musical talents?

CS: We were so engrossed in our paintings we weren’t really working to bring people in as much as we typically might, but people came and stood and talked; they were all really great.

GALO: Your artwork largely reflects your experiences at these events, making each piece unique in comparison. How were you able to incorporate the musical focus of Firefly into your paintings?

CS: There was one piece that I did, the one with the girl in front of the sunset; it was a compilation of five pieces from five photographs. I worked with Jake Cooper who was Quarter Master, he took care of anything that needed to be done, and he contacted us and we worked with him through the whole show. We had submitted different images that we liked that represented the festival and he asked that we make a compilation of them. The other images we tried to represent [were of] festival-goers having fun and family fun [events], the free-spirited atmosphere of Firefly.

GALO: You are best known for your portraits. The ones on your Web site really display your ability to capture each person’s personality. Smiling Z, Zoey and Andie and Eatin’ at Crabby Joe’s, all portray individuals with exuberant definitions. Their facial expressions, detailing enthusiasm at every crease, inhabit particular character that it’s the first thing you notice about the paintings. How do you bring each person’s character to the forefront of the painting?

CS: I like to do them from casual photographs rather than what I call “posed portraits” because those are the photographs that really show someone’s personality and character — candid photos.

GALO: I had the opportunity to meet and speak with your daughter at the festival. Does she travel with you often? Is she also interested in art?

CS: Yes, my daughter, Zoey Carr. She started street painting with me when she was about eight-years-old by filling in background colors, and then, when she was 10 or 11, she started to do little paintings on her own. The first time she really started helping me was at the Disney Festival, and a year later we did a joint piece together. She’s been doing full-blown adult category paintings since she was 16.

GALO: Covering events can be extremely time-consuming, demanding a significant amount of travel. How important is it to you to share these experiences with your daughter?

CS: It has been great. It gives us something to do together and I get to know her much closer than if she was off doing her own thing, and it definitely brings us both together. She’s finishing an art degree at UCF. I still work my day job, which can be difficult to balance. I try not to let my art to interfere with my job. I used vacation time to go to Firefly and will do so again for the Sarasota Chalk Festival.

GALO: When thinking back on the various festivals that you and Zoey have participated in together, is there one in particular that was especially meaningful to you?

CS: I guess I would go back to the Disney festival, when she was 16, because it was more of a joint piece that we did together rather than her being my helper, and I was so proud. I have won several awards throughout the years at the Disney Festival of the Masters. A couple of years ago, I won first place for best Reproduction of a Master at the festival. Then, last year, Zoey won the same award at the festival, so I thought that was really awesome and a very special moment for her to receive the same recognition.

GALO: The organizers of Firefly created some fun and innovative ways of including attendees and really getting them involved with artists throughout the festival. The Interactive Art Gallery included photo flipbook stations, interactive window art and the TOMS philanthropic Style Your Sole program, where attendees could design their own shoes or sneakers and have artists complete the designs on spot. Did you sense heightened levels of interaction with attendees? What were some of your favorite events that the festival had to offer?

CS: We were working so hard and so long on those paintings that we didn’t get to participate with the other vendors as much as we would have liked to. We painted from sunup to sundown. We would come back, enjoy a little bit of the music, and then it would be over. I really enjoyed the trees that connected the two sides of The Woodlands venue, with the wooden bridges and the lighted up kites at night. The hammock hangout was also a really cool idea.

GALO: Was it difficult to concentrate on your paintings, given the short amount of time that you had to complete them in and with all the music and people around you?

CS: It wasn’t too bad concentrating; you get into the music and work with it. I went over and listened to Trample by Turtles and really enjoyed them, and Zoey introduced me to Bassnectar and I enjoyed them [as well]; they were a very different band for me so it was interesting to be introduced to this style of music.

GALO: You stated in your bio that you often enjoy replicating your own photographs through painting and other mediums. Firefly encouraged many young artists to submit their photographs of the festival through Instagram. What role do you see new social media and applications such as Instragram and Pinterest playing in building up artistic talents?

CS: I think it’s great. I think things like Tumblr are awesome, because they not only get your things out there to so many people, but you also get positive and negative feedback about your work, so it’s really a great way to interact as an artist.

GALO: Since it was Firefly’s first year, many people expect the 2013 festival to include a considerable amount of growth and additional attractions. Do you see room for much growth for artists looking to display their work? What suggestions would you make?

CS: I would say, yes, there are definitely ways to expand artistic opportunities if Red Frog, the company that organizes the Festival, is open to it. They are an extremely creative group and they came up with so much — this being their first year — that I’m sure there will be even more next year. We were really impressed with a lot of the ideas that they had this year, again they are just really creative.

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