Waxachie 2008

Paint Out in Waxahachie- 2008

For the third year the awesome folks at the Ellis County Art Association have sponsored a "Paint Out", centered around the historic downtown area of Waxahachie, Texas. The event usually last about 10 days; this year it was from May 30 until June 8.

Although I was unable to paint the full 10 days, I was able to paint June 2nd thru June 7th and as usual, it was a lot of fun. And, it proved to be a bit challenging - this painting outside business! The wind gusted up to 30 and 40 miles an hour a couple of the days, blowing all kinds of grit and added "texture" into the fresh oil paintings, as well as blowing easels over and turning palettes into small wooden kites. Colorful kites I might add! But what fun is life without the challenges?

Friday morning, June 6, there was a "quickdraw" event on the courthouse square. The participating artist had 90 minutes to start and complete a painting. This is always a lot of fun, and it had an little added incentive to participate- the paintings would be auctioned off on the courthouse square at the end of the 90 minute painting period. I was very pleased and thankful when my "quickdraw" painting "Faces of Justice" sold during that auction.

Friday evening all the paintings that were painted during the 10 day event were gathered and taken to the historic "Chautauqua" auditorium to be judged in the paint out competition, which was followed by an art sale. I was pleased again when the quickdraw piece "Faces of Justice" won a $100 Gift Certificate from the Jack Richeson and Company Fine Art Materials. Brushes... I always need more brushes.

Below are a few photos from the event.

S.Miller painting "Faces of Justice" (2008)

Auction on the Steps
Auctioning off "Faces of Justice" on the courthouse steps. (2008)

Artist Chris Galvin works on a watercolor of a 47 Plymouth

Painting and easel setup of "Jail House Rock"

47 Plymouth

S. Miller finishing up "Forty-Seven Plymouth" (above)
Easel and Plymouth painting (Below)

Past Paint Out Events- 2006 - 2007

• Image Bearer won best of show in 2008 Visual Arts Society of Texas 40th Annual Visual Arts Exhibition
• Plein Air Ramblings...
• Paint Out in Waxahachie, Texas - 06-07

The French expression en plein air means "in the open air" and is most used to describe the act of painting outside in the environment. It is by far the most enjoyable painting experience. Most who try it once are hooked.

Part of the appeal for painting "en plein air" is the natural light. While painting from photos gives the artist more unrushed time, photos do not capture all the subtle colors and depth that can be observed in nature.

Usually, plein air paintings are done quickly, within a couple of hours and are painted on smaller panels or canvas, rarely no larger than a 12" x 16". The primary reason for the short time and small painting surface is the ever-changing light. Light and shadows will change dramatically in a 2 hours span of time.

You can learn more by clicking here!

What is a Giclée?

Like the long standing European tradition of rendering one image at a time, these giclée images are printed one at a time on canvas. These unique prints capture even the most subtle tints and minute details of the original painting. Giclée prints render deep, saturated color which are as close to the original artwork as is possible.