Constable: Libertyville siblings' chalk art illusions to escape pandemic now fill a book

The year of the pandemic scrapped exotic vacations and fun travel plans.

But not for 10-year-old Cam Everett of Libertyville. The boy appeared to hang-glide in Rio de Janeiro, walk the Great Wall of China, zip-line over Niagara Falls and jump rope with kangaroos. All thanks to his big sister, Macaire Everett, the artist.

Not that Macaire, a 15-year-old freshman at Carmel High School, was always an artist.

"It was like little doodles, more of a once-in-a-while kind of thing," Macaire says of her art ability. "It really hit with the quarantine. That was my first time getting into art."

Stuck at home near the end of March 2020, with her engineer dad, Matthew, working out of one makeshift office and her mom, Christine, running her consultant business out of another makeshift office, she and Cam were a little bored. "You guys need to go outside," Macaire remembers her mom saying. "She told both of us to find something to do."

So Macaire picked up the chalk she sometimes used to draw hopscotch or rainbows and drew a bundle of brightly colored balloons on her driveway.

"It was very simple and I was just starting," Macaire says, explaining how she wanted some bright, upbeat colors. "Balloons just came to mind."

They decided it would be funny to have Cam lie on the pavement and act as if he were holding the balloons and flying into the clouds, so he grabbed his stuffed bunny, Hopper, and struck a pose.

"That first day, I set my goal for 100 days in a row," remembers Macaire, who made good on that pledge. Because the 100th day landed on July 4, when Cam posed next to the Statue of Liberty, the pair did a 101st pose together for the first time the next day.

"She's the artist," says Cam, who notes that his favorite drawing might be the one of him "jetting around Toronto" on a recreational watercraft. "I wanted to pose because I was more flexible."

Their dad would shoot photos of their creations from above.

"In the beginning, he had a ladder, but now he has a drone," Macaire says.

The family cleaned out the basement workshop so that when rain or snow covered the driveway, Macaire could draw on that indoor concrete floor. In days with drizzle or bright sun, they set up a tent across the driveway.

Seeing her creations wiped away at the end of each day stirred some feelings of loss.

"In the beginning, it was a lot less difficult," Macaire says. "As they got more complex, it was more difficult to see them washed away. But I knew tomorrow I was going to create a new one."

The process required the help of the whole Everett family, and then some.

"At one point I almost ran out of chalk and the neighbors started donating chalk," says Macaire, who would find gift chalk left at the end of the drive. "It was really awesome to see the community be so into this."

She outlines her drawing in white chalk, making sure to leave room for Cam, and then colors it in. Initially compact, she soon expanded her drawings to cover a 12-by-16-foot concrete canvas. "It took a lot more time, but the effect was amazing, especially with my little brother, who is tiny compared to that," Macaire says.

"I wanted to include him because he didn't have anything to do, either," she says. "It was a team effort."

After 25 days, their efforts came to the attention of WGN-TV, which included a segment about them on the news. Then came other media appearances, including Zoom sessions with "Kelly and Ryan Live" and the "Today" show.

"After the 101st day, we started getting worldwide requests," Macaire says. "Hundreds and hundreds."

People who followed her on Instagram @macairesmuse or went to her macairesmuse.com website offered suggestions.

"They'd ask, 'Could Cameron come to Brazil?' and then they'd scroll down and say, 'Never mind. He's already been,'" Macaire says.

After finishing 101 days, Macaire spent the rest of the summer doing driveway drawings on Tuesdays, Thursdays and once during the weekend. She and Cam do other crafts together and play Ping-Pong, where Cam, who plays tennis, can hold his own, Macaire says. But between cello lessons and a full school schedule, she now draws only on weekends.

"I'm taking 'Intro to Art' this semester," Macaire says, adding that her late grandmother in Colorado was an artist who painted and did ceramics. As much as she enjoys her newfound interest in art, she's got other interests, too.

"I'm really into engineering," she says. "I used math for every single drawing for scale."

Macaire also got a geography lesson through her drawings. "I'd be sitting there, reading to her about Brazil or St. Basil's Cathedral," says Christine Everett.

Macaire has a YouTube channel, and her drawings are in a book called "The World From Our Driveway," available on Amazon. A second book already is in the works, says Macaire. Her artwork also has sparked another desire she hopes could be fulfilled in 2021.

"My brother and I have never been out of the country," Macaire says. "We actually just got our passports."

Where to find Macaire and Cam

Book: “The World From Our Driveway” available at Amazon.com

Website: macairesmuse.com

Instagram: @macairesmuse

YouTube channel: macairesmuse