The Drawing Board

Last weekend was the Fox Valley Plein Air painting competition. This is a new event, hosted by both the Jack Richeson corporation in Kimberly, WI, and the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum in Neenah, WI. I want to say outright that I was pretty excited for the opportunity to paint in a new area of the state, and glad of the generosity of Richeson. After visiting the museum a few weeks ago for the Wisconsin Plein Air Painting exhibition, I thought this event would have potential. Unfortunately I was wrong, the trip was largely an expensive disappointment.

I am sure I'm going to step on some toes with this post, so I want to say outright that organizing events like these is an enormous job. The Richeson company is also generally very supportive of artists, especially painters, as their collection will attest. That being said, this was anything but a successful event, and not just because I didn't win an award or sell anything. But more on that later.

The event ran from Thursday thru Saturday, I was buried in work that week, and only managed to get out of Milwaukee after 2 pm. Given that it was a 2 hour drive, I didn't get to Richeson's until close to 4 pm. After getting my panels stamped and driving back to Neenah to check into my hotel, it was already quite late. I decided that I would skip the artists reception to get in a late painting. Sometimes the best light is late in the day.

"The Manor" 10" x 24" oil on panel.

I decided to return to a park I had painted in the last time I was in Neenah, there were some remarkable homes, mansions really, in the area of Riverside Park. I drove around for an hour or so to see what I could find, and decided to use a long rectangular panel for this particular property. I was drawn to the woodwork, and the shape of the spire and the roof line.

After wrapping this up, I found a Chinese restaurant near the hotel and got a lot of food, enough for breakfast the next day. Two beers I brought from home and some TV after cleaning my brushes, then I was out.

"Roley's Boat" 16" x 20" oil on panel.

This next one I did the following morning. I was up before dawn, but didn't manage to get out of the hotel until around 7 am. I drove right to High Cliff State Park, a location I was advised might offer some great vantages. After some confusion on the road (detours!), I was pleased to find that admission was free. I drove around a bit, then settled for a view of some boats in dock at the marina there. It was quite secluded, well oriented to the sun, and rather quiet. There was a boat launch/load area behind me as I painted this piece, and I had a handful of onlookers, but for the most part I got a lot done. This took me about 5 hours. By the time I was done I was quite hungry.

"Horvat Family Carriage House" 11" x 17" oil on panel.

After driving back to the Neenah, I had a sandwich, framed the paintings I had to date, then called my friend Brian, who had invited me to paint at his home. He has a rather old carriage house/garage on his property in Appleton that is gradually falling into the river behind his home. They may well have to demolish that structure soon, given how unstable the hillside has become. I knew this would be a sentimental piece for their family, so I set to work, hoping to wrap up before the light died.

Brian was kind enough to supply me with some green tea, and as I worked, the piece just fell together. I stayed for a bit to catch up, but was by this point dead tired. After saying my good-byes, I drove back to the hotel and found I was too tired to sleep. I hate that.

The following morning was a short day for painting. We had until 3 pm to turn in our work, set up our own easels and hang up to three pieces. We were limited on this day to the Neenah/Menasha - Appleton area. I decided to stay very close to the venue at which we had to turn in our work. I also decided to go small, hoping to get in two paintings in that time. I had two 8" x 10" panels stamped. By 9:30 I was painting.

Riverside park has a small marina, with a couple dozen small sailboats docked at floating buoys. I knew from a previous visit that this part of the water had a very strong current, but when I set up, the air was very still and the weather was hot and muggy. I started working on the first one, a view of the marina. This was the first one I did, "Marina Study, No.1" 8" x 10" oil on panel. As I was painting this one, the sun came out and blew out all the values of what I was painting. I stuck with this one for another 30 minutes or so, then decided to call it. There was more to paint and still time remaining.

For this one I found a piece of shade, under a tree from which to paint. The sun was quite direct by this point. I decided on a view of the dingies resting on shelves at the edge of the marina. I have always found the shapes presented by the sleek forms of the boats and the sharp shadows as they rest one above the other to be interesting. Being by this point warmed up, I approached this one in a strictly Alla Prima manner, laying down each stroke with just the right color, value, and intensity, in just the right spot. I took a lot of time between strokes, mixing color, trying to determine the best way to build the surface of this piece to bring the painting to life. It was largely a study in rendering, I made great use of my Mongoose brushes and a couple of liners. The sunlight was so strong, the shadows were acutely dark, and the foliage made for interesting shadow shapes on the wall behind the racks. If I were to do this one again, I would have spent a bit more time considering the edge quality, trying to build a more specific focal point, that being said, it turned out very close to what I intended at the time. "Marina Study, No.2" 8" x 10" oil on panel.

When I finished, took a walk to see what some of the other artists were working on, then framed my paintings and took them to the museum. I found a spot out front that was close enough to walk them in. I had three easels with me, between my camera tripod and the two display easels I keep at the school. I ended up loaning my main painting easel to Jenny Anderson so she could display one of her pieces off the floor. I set up in a foyer that was well lit by natural light, then caught up with some friends. By this time (2:30 or so) I was quite exhausted and in need of some food and a couple of beers. Some fellow painters and I decided to go to a sports bar that was in downtown Neenah, and ~god almighty~, they were serving 23 oz. frosted mugs of Guinness. Two of those and a grilled chicken sandwich later and I was feeling much refreshed. We headed back to the venue to find that we missed the announcements, which was probably for the best, given how disappointing the judges' decisions were. Then began the long wait for visitors and potential sales.

After a lot of consideration, I've decided that I'm going to be very frank about my opinions of this event. I believe there is a reason why events in Wisconsin are sub-par to events in other communities around the country. I'm sure I'll not make any friends with this post, but the fact is that this event was really a disappointment, and unless the artists involved speak up, it won't get any better. If you feel your sensibilities might be offended, turn back now.

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