The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center is hosting a “Paint the Peninsula” competition this week. Twenty six plein air artists (literally, “in the open air”) have come to town to paint and compete as they create artistic expressions of the great outdoors of the Olympic Peninsula. They came to the Dungeness Recreation Area yesterday and I visited with five of them as they worked. I’ll introduce you to the five I met, along with their work, in the coming days.
I met Jane Wallis, above, first. She has come to the competition from Poulsbo which is about an hour from Sequim. She works in oils, pastels, and watercolor.
Jane did a pen and ink sketch of her intended work before she pulled out the paint.
Here’s a closer look at her canvas. All the artists I met worked on a small scale. They bring paint and canvases for nearly a week’s work so size matters. The artists’ works are hung after they’re produced each day and are on sale at the Fine Arts Center.
Here is my camera’s perspective of Jane’s view. I arrived mid-afternoon and missed the sun all the artists enjoyed earlier in the day.