"Easton Afternoon" featured in the URBAN BEAUTY group exhibition.

"Easton Afternoon" 9x12 Oil on board.

"Easton Afternoon" is for sale during the URBAN BEAUTY show at the Randy HigbeeGallery. Oct.4th-17th. 102 Kalmus, Costa Mesa, California. Opening Reception this Saturday!

See all the work FOR SALE.

All my paintings that I completed during the Plein Air Easton 2014 Competition.

Easton was an amazing experience to say the least.  Where else do you get paint so many different locations alongside so many amazing painters?  I got to meet plein air greats, such as Nancy Tankersley, Stewart White, Eleinne Basa, Greg LaRock, Charlie Hunter, Ken DeWaard and John Michael Carter, talk shop and learn about them as people.  I also met new painters that I had never really knew before, but was blown away by their work, Zufar Bikbov, Za Vue, Jason Csont.  I think one piece of advice that Ken DeWaard helped the most, which was to just not waste too much time driving around looking for the perfect place to paint.  He was right, there were more than enough things to cover.  The people of Easton were more than gracious in allowing me to get anywhere I needed to go or paint.  From backyards to boatyards and docks, I had carte blanch all by just politely asking.  If I were to give advice to anyone new to Easton, it would include the following.  

1. Be ready to paint as much as possible.  
2. Second, ask before going on any private property, chances are they will say yes.
3. Bring your gear and have back ups boards, brushes, paint, etc. ESPECIALLY an extra easel.  I almost never lose things, but for some reason I lost brushes, paints, sunglasses, even my wedding ring (don't fret, it was my non-gold ring as I found out after getting married that I am allergic to gold).
4. Business cards and event info to give out to passersby.
5. There are a lot of artists that have been doing these events for years, they have a lot of experience to share, it's best to listen to any advice given.
6. Paint what you know.  Your passion to the subject will show through.  There is the temptation to paint what you think what will be an easy sell, I urge you to resist that temptation and be true to yourself as an artist.  If it doesn't sell there, you'll find a buyer for it else where.  
7. Have a lunch box cooler bag to keep your water cool.  It's hot and water is not always nearby.  Heat exhaustion can steal valuable time away from painting.
8. Eat as healthy as possible.  Treat yourself like an athlete.  Would you run the 500 meter dash after eating a heavy meal of fast food?  Why do that to yourself and risk heartburn or other things while spending an extended time out doors exposed to variable conditions of sun, heat, rain and wind?
9. Power naps can work wonders, even 20 minutes.  I used this while staying up all night nocturne plein air painting to get me back out to paint during the day.
10. Bring an umbrella for shade and light rain. Also find an alternative place to paint in case of a severe storm.  Lightning is bad, working under a metal umbrella in the middle of an open field is worse.  If you can manage, painting from inside your vehicle can help you from the elements.
11. And last, have fun!  I made some new friends that I greatly respect and admire as artists.  You will have an incredible time there, enjoy it, as it does go by fast!

During my stay in Easton, for seven days, I painted 15 paintings.  Of those, kept 14, and left one on the side of the street, abandoned in disgust.  I knew that I would churn out a stinker or two, so no love lost there.  What I didn't expect was burn out.  My stinker had begun to haunt me and I knew why.  I had a enough paintings and went out to experiment.  A bad idea.  I had desire to try the technique of other artists and was trying to incorporate several styles at once.  By expecting good things could come of this approach and becoming furious when it didn't, was unrealistic.  Yeah, I know, stupid me.  I went out that afternoon and tried to paint again and could not get myself out of the funk.  This had a psychological effect on me of not being able to put out a good painting for the two hour quick draw.  I had really psyched myself out.  So I did the best thing I could do, which was to not paint.  I traded my easel for a camera and spent that Friday afternoon checking out different places.  The next morning, I was back in "A" game mode and was happy with effort after the two hours.  Below is all the paintings I did at Easton, starting with the first painting done at Tilghman Island and ending with the 2 hour quick draw.  Plein Air Easton is an awesome event, the best in the country.  Even if you don't get juried into the main event and you have the chance to participate in the quick draw, I highly encourage you to jump in and sign up.  It's a great way to push yourself to paint in a short time period and challenge your skills.  Afterwards, then go look around and see some of the best painters in the country.  The main event winners from that week are up on display at the Avalon Gallery on South Street.  Don't forget to go upstairs to see the reserve paintings!  There you'll find a lot of inspiration and great paintings.

My Experience "Speed Painting" at Easton.

The last Saturday in July, at the Easton Plein Air Paint Off, I had one of the most challenging sessions of my painting career.  My good friends from the Norfolk Drawing Group, Bernard, Devon and Shara had decided to try out this 2 hour paint off.  I had been going for two years and this would be my third.  The last two times out I had barely finished and came up empty when selling.  I had no illusions of winning awards, but both times I felt I had underperformed.  Those paintings have since been recycled for painting night at the Norfolk Drawing Group.  This past year, we had formed a lose group of plein air painters, with some of the Norfolk Drawing Group members joining us on some weekends.  The outdoor conditions usually provided to be good, and when they were cold, windy or both, Shara, Bernard and I still went out to paint.  With all the painting outdoors this year, we felt we were painting faster and better than a year ago.

We left at 5am to make the long journey up the Eastern Shore to Easton, Maryland.  Every year, Easton holds a week long Plein Air event for the best painters in the world.  I submitted this year, but wasn't accepted, (no surprise there).  The great part of the week event is the two hour paint off, otherwise known as the quick draw.  

Our journey encountered rain on and off, but checking the WeatherBug App Radar hinted that all would be clear of rain by 10am.  At best, we hoped for cloudy skies and no rain.  The road trip up was uneventful, except the unfortunate turtle in the road. Sadly,  I had no time to avoid the turtle. Devon, riding shotgun with me was grief stricken, but snapped out of it when the 18 wheeler next to us had it's bumper fall off and nearly hit us.  Now we both we were wide awake!  

After getting into Easton, we registered and started to pick out our spots.  Devon and I chose the main street of the event.  Shara and Bernard chose the old hotel down the street.  After setting up, I found another spot in the alleyway.   I knew it was a good simple location and would allow me time to finish.  The subject was a small cottage like brick building with slate shingles for a roof.  In the composition, I was feeling really good about the painting.  Because I was in a dark shaded alleyway I knew the sun wasn't going to be a factor.  But I was painting with my easel on one side of the fence and me across from it.  If I dropped any equipment on the other side of the fence, I would lose time jumping over and back to get it.  Little did I know that would be the least of my worries.  After getting the outline a massing in the cottage, roof and bushes. I began the center piece of my building, the double windows.  I thought this was going to be a strong painting already.  As soon as the front bush and windows were done. The rain crept in.  A drizzle at first, but I kept going.  I knew if it kept up, I was going o be in a bad spot.  Made progress on the house behind it and he chimney was the right shade of red to not take away from the main cottage.  Then it happened.  A torrential down pour.  At first I tried to tilt be easel at an angle so it was shielded from water.  Then my actual bottom tray was soaked.  In a despair ate attempt, I thought my rain parka would make a good cover between my head and easel.  I looked like an idiot, and idiotic idea got paint all over the parka.  Dumb idea.  It was bad now as the rain actually increased in intensity and I foolishly kept trying to paint.  The guy across the yard on the other side of the fence had gone now. Earlier, he was sticking it out like me, and I had hope if he could manage, I could manage.  I looked to my friend Carol across the garden.  She has been plein air painting for awhile and came prepared with a pro umbrella.  Damn, I knew I should have bought one of those umbrellas!  If you aren't familiar with what I'm talking about, these umbrellas are designed to block sun out of your painting and provide shade.  And of course the obvious, allowing you to paint in the rain!  I've always shunned using an umbrella even when walking.  I don't mind the rain, except when painting.  I should have on invested in one though since I've been rained out of two really good painting spots before.  So, here I am, totally drenched, paint all over myself and now I notice that the bottom of my paint pallet is flooded with water.  I thought to myself maybe it was time to throw in the towel.  But, I decided I had invested a lot into this trip, I'll be damned if I'm going to not finish this painting.  Checking my clock, 11:06am, I had less than an hour to finish this painting!  I ran over to Devon who had been sprayed wet by the wind gusts, his watercolor papers got soaked, but he was under the original awning we looked at before I picked the alleyway around the building.  The artist under the adjacent awning from Devon was still painting, I asked if he thought they would delay and he replied, "Two hours, rain or shine, it ends at 12pm!".  So with that, I became determined to finish with less than an hour left.  Setting up quickly next to Devon under the awning, I began to get into Painting Night mode where every other 10 minutes, I’m asking Devon how much time left.  This wasn’t so bad, except that I kept calling Devon, “Bernard” since it’s usually his job to keep time during our painting sessions at the Norfolk Drawing Group.  I tried to correct myself, and every time I slipped, I had to apologize to Devon.  Painting from memory, I tried my best to remember everything thing from the original painting spot.  I knew there were things I was going to leave out, but time was running out and there was still a good foundation on canvas still.  I focused solely on finishing this painting and every time I asked Devon what time was left, it felt like was more and more in trouble of not finishing.

Sometimes a painting can develop very slowly and then suddenly a miracle happens.  A few quick brush strokes, and suddenly the painting looks finished.  This happened to me and with five minutes left, I was able to fix a couple of small stray areas and then sign my name.  After stepping back and taking the painting in, I knew already it was a huge improvement over last years painting.  And with less time spent painting it to boot!  Making a mental note of everything, I came to realize that choosing a simple subject paid off.  I was feeling super stoked about the whole experience.  When Bernard and Shara came back, they said a volunteer offered to old umbrellas over them while they had painted!  I was sure when it began down pouring during the competition, they would be cursing me.  To my surprise, they had an awesome time, even with the challenges of the weather.  Getting my work out for judging and for public to see, I wondered how many artists actually finished.  Walking around I quickly noticed most of the artists selected for the weeklong painting competition had finished.  A lot of the work was really impressive, simple in composition, but strong in color.  Next year, I’m going to have to step it up a notch.  

After the high of speed painting wore off, I was pleasantly surprised to meet a buyer.  Awesome!  We all packed up, grabbed some BBQ and then stopped by one of the last High’s Ice Cream shops in the state before heading home.  Who knew they had an “Ice Cream Happy Hour”?  Two scoops on a sugar cone cost me 69 cents!  Looking back, I felt vindicated for the past two disappointing outings at Easton.  Next year should be even better.