![\"Hillcrest](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/web2.jpg\")
<\/a>Mercado, an abstract painter and ArtWalk novice, describes a life without art as a life without heart. Sporting fine arts degrees in architecture and interior design, Mercado says she remains inspired by nature, colors that communicate and accidents that teach.<\/p>\n
\u201cMistakes often become the most popular compositions,\u201d the 33-year-old Tijuana-born artist said. \u201cAccidents teach me to improvise and learn new techniques. Art is like life; nothing\u2019s black or white, things are just the way they should be. For me, art\u2019s a responsibility. I work as a perfectionist treating every piece as a masterpiece, challenging myself more fiercely than anyone else could.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ashton is an abstract painter and a veteran at the festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve served ArtWalk San Diego since the event was a series of downtown studios and galleries outlined on a Xeroxed map,\u201d Ashton said. \u201cLiberty Station is a phenomenal venue to exhibit your work. Steady streams of people truly interested in art meander through the grassy park all day long. Work is seen, postcards are taken home and sales continue months, even years, down the road. So there\u2019s the event itself and the afterglow of what happens after the show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cottrell heaped praise on Ashton.<\/p>\n \u201cKate Ashton is not only an incredible abstract artist that works with neat textures, she\u2019s a teacher with a mentorship program for San Diego\u2019s emerging artists,\u201d Cottrell said. \u201cKate has introduced many of her students, now successful artists, to ArtWalk NTC as well as ArtWalk\u2019s sister counterpart held annually in Little Italy. Through the years we\u2019ve established relationships and ultimately bonds with so many amazing artists like Kate and John Gibbons, whose colorful art glass is very popular.\u201d<\/p>\n Cottrell added that the Mexican Consulate aided in cultivating a following of Mexican artists, including jeweler Adrian Arango. \u201cAdrian\u2019s repurposed jewelry made of shells, antique buttons, leather and interesting used items, is a show favorite,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n An 11-year veteran of ArtWalk NTC at Liberty Station and Little Italy\u2019s Mission Federal ArtWalk, Cottrell described each art fair as an opportunity to gather collectible and approachable facets of art for a free, family-friendly public event. This year will offer interactive play with the Rady Children\u2019s Playful Learning Academy for Young Children<\/em> (Alexa\u2019s PLAYC); ArtReach San Diego; The Monart School of the Arts; The Living Coast Discovery Center; as well as face, henna and letter-brush painting with amusement artists.<\/p>\n \u201cAttendees can preview the art, artists and activities on the ArtWalk San Diego website,\u201d Cottrell said. \u201cAnd we support the beautiful work of our artists as an ongoing process even after the show, making a concerted effort to connect people with artists for pieces that they\u2019re now ready to buy.\u201d<\/p>\n For Ashton, said festivals can be emotionally draining.<\/p>\n \u201cShows are a roll of the dice,\u201d Ashton said. \u201cSome days you sell your socks off while others simply become an opportunity for your work to be seen. Successful shows are the best drug on the planet; you feel fabulous and validated as an artist. I mentor artists and I feel just as elated when they sell. We\u2019re all tired at the end of shows, but nothing beats the high of selling well!\u201d<\/p>\n Over 25,000 attendees are expected over the course of both days. \u201cArtWalk is not only my passion, it\u2019s passion for the artists, its sponsors and its audience,\u201d Cottrell said.<\/p>\n ArtWalk NTC will also feature the works of San Diego\u2019s \u2018Inocente\u2019 since the release of the 2012 Academy Award-winning Best Short Documentary of the same name. Musical performers include Marissa Grace, Steven Ybarra, Teagan Taylor Band, Vanja James & Ed Kornhauser, Bart Mendoza, G. Burns Jug Band, Robin Henkel, Many-Strings, Nina Francis, SABA, Manny Cepeda, Tolan Shaw and LA Edwards.<\/p>\n For more information on ArtWalk NTC, please visit artwalksandiego.org\/ntc<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a>