A Dickens of a Christmas

Things have been moving at a fast pace as we get ready for Christmas presentations - A Dickens of a Christmas and Memories of Christmas Past. One of the parts of the presentation will be a Christmas gallery of winter paintings that typify Christmas memories. Do you have one you would like to submit? If so, send a digitized image by e-mail to ecampbell@cityofgadsden by Friday, October 30. Be sure to include dimensions so that we can plan spacing. Artists will be notified of acceptance by E-mail on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Sorry, we cannot accept shipped paintings for the Christmas exhibit. Call for more information. (256) 546-7365)

Exhaustion & Euphoria

I took the week off after the Plein Air Marathon - I have felt both exhausted and exhilarated before, but never more so than on Friday evening, May 1, at the close of the Wet Paint Auction on First Friday. That auction, however, was not the end of the Festival. The night of the First Friday Wet Paint Auction we sold nine (9) paintings of the 32 that were up for bid. And the bidding began on those other paintings that were not included in the "Artist Selection" for the first auction. (Each Festival Artist could select one painting to be included in the Wet Paint First Friday Auction.) So, bids are ongoing on at least 45 of the other paintings completed during the Festival. More to come - we will officially begin the ON LINE AUCTION with the "Director's Choice" paintings (another 32 or so)for your purchase. The Webmaster will be in tomorrow to finalize the plans, but this is the format that we have proposed: Thumbnails of "Director's Choice" paintings will be up for bit, with link to enlarge for better viewing. Enlarged view will include Title, Artist name, Size, inventory number, minimum opening bid, current bid and bidding instructions. Bids will be sent via email so that date and time bid received is automatically recorded. Then the bidder will receive an email confirming the bid and telling whether the bid is the current high bid.
More information tomorrow after webmaster works on the presentation package for auction. Enjoy these other photographs from the most exhausting, most exciting, most exhilarating, most rewarding week ever at GMA!

The River was beautiful

I guess the most challenging day for "lunch" call was while the artists were painting around the Coosa River & backwaters. We even resorted to special delivery sandwiches that day so that prime painting time wouldn't be lost!

Works in progress

Somewhere along the line I forgot to continue to use my camera as I should have, but thought these photos showed a good sampling of artists at work. Photographs of paintings of some of the works will be included, and in my next blog I will cover the important ON LINE AUCTION which will begin Friday, May 15 or Monday, May 18, depending on webmaster time line.

Plein Air week - my thoughts

What a week - from beginning to end, everything (well almost everything)worked well. The weather was good, the artists were everything we had hoped they would be -friendly, engaging, and creating beautiful works of art. The volunteers showed up on time and were in place with smiles and helping hands. The City opened its arms wide and welcomed the Festival participants, and what could have been a disastrous wash out on Friday produced some of the most exciting paintings under adverse morning weather giving way to a sunny afternoon. Here are some pictures made during the event, thought you might enjoy.

Pictures of Spring in Gadsden

Craig Reynolds, Featured Artist

Sometimes local artists are overlooked when searching for that special painting; but don't miss Craig Reynolds from Gadsden. Craig's late father was a quite successful watercolorists in the Southeast, and his sister is a successful artist in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Following in the family tradition but coming into his own when he pursued his art full time, Craig brings his paintings to life with the use of strong contrast, perspective and color combinations. His style of loose brush strokes and soft edges bring out the impressionistic side of realism. Whatever the subject, Craig brings his own original style and interpretation to his work and his paintings portray pleasant memories and a sense of peace.

Deborah Pellock, Featured Artist

Growing up in Michigan, Deborah won several awards for her drawings and studied at both Macomb and Oakland Colleges. Presently she lives with her husband in Suwanee, Georgia, and says that plein air painting has enhanced her ability to understand color and light, shadows, edges and atmosphere. "I feel a real joy and satisfaction when I capture beauty in the ordinary. My goal is to not just create art, but to create a feeling. I want pwople to see the unseen in my paintings. It is my prayer that you will enjoy my paintings as much as I enjoy the feelings I have while creating them." Deborah

Time is getting close for Plein Air Festival. The banner across Broad Street was put up yesterday; all hands and the cook seemed to have been involved. Mike Hilton, Superintendent of Public Works, and Kristin Sherman Cantrell, President of Sherman Group, LLC, stopped traffic while City crewmen Tim Kimbrough and Beau Griffith operated the bucket truck and hung the colorful PLEIN AIR Banner.

Historic Downtown Shots

Among the interesting features of Historic downtown Gadsden are wonderful period Churches with quiet alcoves, buildings constructed in the early 1900s, and delightful street vendors. Plein air artists will be painting in the downtown area on Friday, May 1 during Gadsden's - First Friday - the liveliest day of the month in downtown!

Scenes Round Town - Before the Rain!

Thought you might like to see some of the streets where Plein Air Artists will be painting on Wednesday, April 26. These photographs were taken the week before Easter - Enjoy!

Featured Artists & Rack Card for Welcome Centers

Just discovered our original blogs have been "archived" and list of participating Featured Artists is no longer available. So, here is a repeat with a few additions.

FEATURED ARTISTS

Ronald Bayens- Auburn, AL http://www.ronaldbayensportraits/

Larry Bishop - Birmingham, AL

Donna Chieves- Birmingham, AL

Greg Little - Oakland Park, FL http://www.gregorylittle.com/

Deborah Pellock - Suwanee, GA http://www.deborahpellock.com/

Brenda Plunkett - Cave Springs, GA

Jan Polk - Southgate, KY http://www.janpolk.com/

Dmitriy Proshkin - Chattanooga, TN

Rick Reinert - Charleston, SC http://www.rickreinert.com/

Craig Reynolds - Gadsden, AL http://www.craigreynoldsstudio.com/

Robin Roberts - Decatur, AL http://www.robinrobertsart.com/

Linda Steed - Huntsville, AL

Anne Stickney - Northport.com www.renaissanceartgallery/annestickney.htm

Tommy Thompson - Florence, AL http://www.tommythompsonart.com/

V...Vaughan - Round Rock, TX http://www.v-vaughan.com/

Photo of Rick Reinert - Featured Artist

Just keep trying if at first you don't get it done!
"Nature and sunlight have provided me with the ultimate reference library. I believe that it is possible to study painting for a lifetime and never have to venture more than one square mile for constant challenges and a wealth of subject matter. Every day offers unique and exciting opportunities for the artist who follows the light."

Featured Artist Rick Reinert - South Carolina

Sometimes you just get a chance to have a "do-over" so here is mine! I was trying to edit Rick's paintings to add his photograph and inadvertently removed the blog! I'll try again --