A local teacher has found a way to break up all the COVID-19 talk, and help the community move past the stay at home order quarantine time by sharing some extremely positive “chalking ” while inspiring her elementary school students.
Positively Osceola recently connected with a local artist who’s done just that in her driveway in St. Cloud, all while balancing being a mom and a second grade teacher at St. Cloud Elementary, making sure other people’s children get their remote assignments every day.
In the evening, Katrina Maassen breaks out the chalk, heads out to her driveway and entertains her four-year-old daughter Londyn.
It started when Maassen looked around her own Pinterest and Instagram accounts, and saw teachers doing chalk art of their own. It inspired her to order some chalk of her own.
“I grew up with art, I just hadn’t done anything with it in a while, so I decided it was time to get back to it,” she said.
With her four-year-old as an influence, the first drawings were inspired by Londyn’s tastes in popular children’s books, then she was able to have some fun by dressing up when the drawing was finished and become a part of the chalk scene.
Each of the pieces take from 45 to 90 minutes, and there are usually five or six drawings on the driveway at any one time, unless rain comes and does a bit of “erasing.”
“At first it was simple stuff, just pulling in literature. Then I starting asking my students for their favorite book series and then it became “their” series,” Maassen said. At that point the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Trolls, Peanuts and Dog Man became popular subjects, with my daughter Londyn still dressing up and becoming part of the chalk pictures.
For a week, she highlighted essential workers like first responders and other public workers. She began sharing the work with friends on social media, who suggested she should make her art public, which she’s done, and now Positively Osceola is helping others experience her amazing work!
“It became something positive and happy to look at,” Maassen said.
Positively Osceola would like to thank Katrina Maassen for making a Positive Difference in and around Osceola County, and we hope to share some more of her “chalking” as it becomes available to enjoy!
