Fundraiser is quite a draw

COURTESY OF SEAN KERNICK
Sean Kernick depicted himself as a worker bee.

If given the choice between Muhammad Ali’s poetic descriptives to “float like a butterfly” or “sting like a bee,” it seems artist Sean Kernick would go bee.

“I’ve always been enamored by the social function of bees,” he says. “Their work ethic; the way they work for the common good. We should be glad that ants and bees are small. If they were even three times their size, they would take over.”

Kernick’s admiration explains why, when given the chance, he depicted himself as a worker bee with a pencil and a Kangol hat. That buggy depiction earned Kernick the people’s choice award and a finalist spot in The Love Bug, the on-the-street art competition and gallery opening hosted by and benefiting Toxic Free NC.

Now in its second year, The Love Bug was inspired by a fundraiser that Toxic Free NC executive director Fawn Pattison saw in California that had artists drawing their biggest, baddest monsters, according to Ana Duncan Pardo, the group’s communications coordinator. Because Toxic Free NC’s mission is to reduce pesticide pollution, bugs seemed the right way to go for its First Friday event.

Artists in The Love Bug go hand-to-hand creating a bug-centric artwork; a silent auction is held at the end of each 30-minute round, and the artist whose art receives the highest total bid wins and goes to the finals. (There are two adult artist rounds and one round for kids.) The two finalists go at it, and there’s another auction.

The big winner is proclaimed Monarch. Last year, the event raised $2,300. With the help of corporate sponsor Burt’s Bees and local sponsors, the group hopes to double that amount this year.

Kernick says the allure of the event comes from its public nature. “Art tends to be a solo sport. You’re doing it at home in private for the most part,” he says. “Here, you get to see it live, you see artists competing. It’s rare to find a compelling competition that includes artists.”

The artistic pugilist, whose style could be called urban illustration, came close to a win last year but lost to Low-Pop Art artist Paul Friedrich.

“I wanted a rematch,” says Kernick, who worked on his technique in the interim. “I did some trash talking on Facebook.”

Alas, Friedrich isn’t among the 11 adult artists competing. “So now I’m not focusing on one person,” Kernick says. “I plan on stinging them all.”