Katherine Taylor can look at an animal and imagine it talking. The skill has helped the illustrator and muralist create her original creatures with human emotion, namely humor, which comes from the animals’ eyes.
“You can’t do funny without having a great eye. It just doesn’t work if the eye’s flat,” Taylor told the Sun. “You have to put a soul behind it.”
As she put it, her work is big, silly, and fun. She’s known for drawing bugs, reptiles, amphibians, and fish because she likes the texture of their skin.
Chalk it up
The Lompoc Chalk Festival will be held at the Lompoc Veterans Memorial Building (100 E. Locust Ave.) from Oct. 17 to 19. Sign up online to sponsor the event, which is free to the public. Follow Katherine Taylor on Instagram @poetry_frog or visit poetryfrog.com.
“I know it’s weird,” she added.
Taylor is going to make her third appearance at the annual Lompoc Chalk Festival. She said she’s done nine chalk festivals this year. In Pasadena she made a “giant weenie dog,” in Palo Alto a lizard, and a porcupine in Zion National Park.
“The purpose of my work is to create spontaneous smiles that make the world happier,” Taylor said.
Local kids and experienced professionals will participate in the festival from Oct. 17 to 19, filling in their concrete squares at the Veterans Memorial Building. “Chalkers” will travel from as far as Southern California and San Francisco for the festival. The weekend is set to feature entertainment, food, and plenty of chalk.
Taylor plans to spend 16 hours during the weekend on her Lompoc square, but the hours started accumulating before the festival. She starts off visualizing a concept, then repeatedly draws it on her iPad. Sometimes she prints out the digital drawing to bring to a festival, but she usually has the drawing memorized. Taylor compared her process to the way some musicians learn music by ear, except she is visual.
“Most people use a grid. … They look at a photo. It’s very planned out,” Taylor said. “Mine is very planned out in my brain.”
Chalking is easy for Taylor once she’s down on the ground.
“I don’t find any of it difficult,” she said.
The only issues she runs into are with the weather. Spending hours in the heat takes a toll, like when she did the Zion festival. At the same time, she likes being out in the elements and the sport-like nature of chalking.
“Chalkers are the athletes of the art world,” Taylor said.
Festivals are kind of like tournaments, lasting for days and exposing artists to the elements. Taylor thinks chalkers have similar mentalities to athletes. They wake up early, stay focused, work within time limits, and ultimately want to have fun.
“It’s a solo sport, but we’re also all a really loving, supportive community,” Taylor said.
Artists help each other tighten up certain designs and photograph each other’s work. Community also builds between the chalkers and onlookers.
“People love seeing the pieces come alive,” Taylor said.
In a large-brimmed cowboy hat, Taylor is usually easy to spot. She likes to talk with people walking by, so much so that fellow artists tell her, “Less talk, more chalk.”
Taylor admitted that she sometimes talks too much, but she likes engaging with visitors.
“You get to interact with people,” Taylor said. “That’s the fun part.”
The festival, organized by the Lompoc Theatre Project, is slated to welcome more than 40 professional artists. Barbara Satterfield, the board president, said roughly half of them are new to the Lompoc festival.
“It’s grown into a really nice community event,” Satterfield said.
The weekend begins on Oct. 17 with a reception for the artists and sponsors. The next morning, artists start arriving at 8 a.m. to begin chalking. Craft booths, food trucks, entertainment, and the silent auction take place between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. At the kids’ corner, chalk squares and face painting are free.
Activities will start again at 10 a.m. on Oct. 19 and go until 4 p.m. Artists finish their squares, but the artwork typically lasts long after.
In past years, the festival was held at the airport, but this is the first year it’s moved to the Veterans Memorial Building. In a new location, it’s unclear how long the art will remain.
“Either we’ll power wash it off if the venue requires that,” Satterfield explained, “but at the airport we could just leave it, and it would be there for weeks. Literally.”
Reach Staff Writer Madison White at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 9 – Oct 16, 2025.