Cow Parade Austin 2011

The Cow Parade is coming to Austin, Texas!

CowParade is the largest and most successful public art event in the world, beginning in Chicago in 1999.   Some of the locations where the cows have been on display are New York City, London, Tokyo, Brussels, Dublin, Prague, Stockholm, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Boston, Paris, Milan, Houston, San Antonio and Istanbul. It is estimated that over 100 million people around the world have seen these famous cows.

Over $20 million dollars have been raised for worldwide charitable organizations through the auction of the life-sized cows.

I have entered a design and am anxiously awaiting to see if it was accepted. The application said the artists would be notified on May 2 and have until June 3 to deliver the finished cow. I haven't heard from them (today is May 11).

I submitted a mixed media design (I would need several months to completely mosaic a cow so this will be a mix of mosaic and painting). The name of my cow is Fly Me to the Moon. The theme is Outer Space, which is one of my most favorite things to do. I envision a painted background of dark purple. Next, irregularly shaped large spots that will be covered in mosaic and grouted. The tesserae will be a mix of stained glass and costume jewelry. As always, each piece of glass is ground or tumbled to ensure there will be no sharp edges.

You would be surprised at the time I spent researching a name! I thought about this cow during the nights and would wake up with what I thought was a clever and unique name, only to run to Google and find that it had already been used in a previous Cow Parade entry, or is in use by some business entity. Divine Bovine, Comet Cow, Galaxy Cow, Moovie Star, Groovy Moovie, Constellation Cow, Starry Night Cow, Cosmic Cow, Celestial Cow, Moo-ky Way, Satellite, and one name that I won't mention that is involved in a copyright infringement lawsuit (not a Cow Parade name).

It seems this competition opened in October, 2010, and somehow I did not hear about it. I'm really surprised that it slipped by me, because I have been well aware of the Cow Parade phenomenon since 1999. That was the year that one of my favorite couples went to Chicago to see the first Cow Parade.

This same couple heard the exciting news in April 2011 -- they also missed hearing about it last year -- and they called me and encouraged me to enter a design. I hand-delivered the application on April 14.

IF approved, I will be scrambling to get it done on time. I will need to enlist the help of friends to get the cow, bring it home in a trailer, set it up somewhere here at the house, and after completing the work, somehow get the life-size cow to the display. I don't know many of the important details: Who paints the base coat, who sprays the finish coat, where do I pick up and deliver the cow, does a sponsor help with the transportation, etc. Through my internet research I have learned that the cows are sprayed with a final coat of a two-part clear coat normally used on cars. So I will probably mask off the mosaic sections of the cow during this procedure. Since it appears that the date to notify the artists has slipped, then has the delivery date of June 3 been moved forward? How will I be notified, email or phone call?

Here is a link to Cow Parades of the past.

http://www.cowparade.com/WorldwideGallery.php

Cows will be on display until October 2011 when they will be auctioned and the proceeds will go to the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas. It would be such an honor and privilege to watch my cow sold at auction to help this worthy cause! I read somewhere that the cow that earned the most money for charity at auction went for $146,000 and was covered with Waterford crystal!

Read some interesting facts about the Cow Parade here:

http://www.cowparade.com/inc/aboutus.php

Since my mosaic work is so labor intensive and time consuming, I decided to get a head start on my cow. I chose the most beautiful of all the stained glass in my inventory and started cutting and grinding. I think my plan is a good one, because I can mosaic areas based on time constraints. If I have enough time, most of the cow will be covered in mosaic, and if I don't have enough time, the areas not covered by mosaic will be painted. I am creating little sections on mesh as I go. Here are instructions on how to do that.

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-mosaic-on-mesh

The backbone area will not be mosaiced because I have heard that people like to pick their children up and set them on the back of the cows.

I visited Google Images many times and saw the most awe-inspiring photographs of outer space. I happened across a fabulous site that has hundreds of blog entries detailing far-away galaxies, all accompanied by the most stunning pictures imaginable. The site is called Ministry of Space Exploration (so don't be concerned about the unfortunate appearance of the link). Here is the link:

http://minsex.blogspot.com/

What if my design is not selected? I have an alternate plan. I will create a large wall hanging instead, using Wediboard as the substrate. This design will feature planets, nebulas, galaxies, comets, all in dramatic glowing colors of outer space: iridescent purple, fuschia, blue, red, orange, white, all on a background of black and other dark shades and variations to attempt to convey the vast unknown reaches of outer space.

(to be continued)

Update, May 12 - I received an email from CowParade, and the artist selection will continue through the month of May. On July 27, CowParade will host a special Preview Party at the Long Center before the cows are put on display throughout the city.