Plein Air Easton

With the weekend finally here I arrived at the Tidewater Inn on Friday evening and enjoyed a delicious hamburger with bacon in the Hunter’s Tavern. There  had been light traffic  on the Chesapeake Bay bridge because the weekend was supposed to be wet. I had been practicing store front painting in Frenchtown , NJ, completing a well composed  horizontal image of the Blue Fish Shop. The woman in the shop asked me for a price, but later replied that the owner would not be purchasing it. Long horizontal images go nicely over a doorway so I hung it up in my apartment. The dress shop on Harrison Street was my intended motif for the Quick Draw.  However at start time, 10 a.m., there were already three artists with their easels poised to depict the same scene. I could even get into my intended spot! So I set up easel and umbrella  (there was already a steady shower) to face away to the right. There was a bright crepe myrtle bush, a  two story blue painted wood frame house, a black lamp post, ochre masonry, and  distant misty looking trees. The sky really was that pink tint I was expecting. The work went well until the wind and water increased. The rain began to blow horizontally under the umbrella, onto the palette, and dripped down the painting. I laughed because it was so absurd to be painting in those conditions. Eventually I stopped working when the panel was all wet and the oil paint would not move anywhere I wanted, but it  trickled  down the surface. My clothes and sneakers were soaked and I felt chilled. At noon the artist would be allowed to set up easels in the ballroom of the Tidewater to begin the judging and sale of the Quick Draw works. I had to put a price on my piece to participate, but I didnt think much of the piece. I marked it for quick sale and went to purchase coffee for myself and a fellow artist. The coffee was my best move all day! The sale room was very crowded and the excitement of the art and the people filled me with warmth. The painting is still in my studio and I think it isn’t too bad considering the circumstances.