This is a time to lift each other up, even in the simplest of ways.
We’ve been sharing stories of how families are doing that in their own communities across North Texas.
In northwest Fort Worth, there’s a mother-daughter artist duo sharing some cheer with their neighbors at the Marine Creek Ranch community with some amazing works of sidewalk art!
Jan Riggins and her 13-year-old daughter, Olivia, started putting their chalk pastels to good use last week, drawing several vibrantly colored images of various animals.
“So I went out to my front yard and chalked out the koi. That didn’t take long, so I added the tarantula, much to my arachnophobic husband’s dismay,” said Jan. “By then, my 13 year old daughter wanted in on the fun and asked if she could help me with the next one.”
That same night, the two chalked out a butterfly together. Then an orca whale. By this point, Jan said Olivia was itching to do more and drew a beautiful jellyfish and frog on her own.
Neighbors have something to look forward to when they take a walk around the block to exercise during quarantine. Now, Jan and Olivia are getting requests through their neighborhood Facebook group.
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“Someone in our neighborhood messaged me on Facebook that her son was turning four and couldn’t have a party, and asked if we would come over and chalk something on her driveway,” Jan said. “We knew it would rain that day, so we used her porch instead. The family stayed inside until we finished, and we were able to watch his reaction from the car when he came out. It was priceless!”
For the past five years, Jan has participated in chalk art festivals across Texas and her next one was put on hold.
The experience this week has allowed her to bond with her daughter and teach her new skills -- including work on a huge 3-D frog on the sidewalk in front of their home.
“We started doing this because we enjoy sharing art with others, and it’s been an amazing bonding experience for the two of us,” said Jan. “Neighbors are offering to buy us more pastels and offering up the use of their driveways. We might even have a few more birthday kids that might get a surprise one morning, and hopefully a lucky family on Easter morning might wake up so a surprise on their driveway.”
