Heber City Plein Air Paint Out

Wired Up- 8" x 10" Oil

On Saturday, I shook off the cobwebs at 5:30 am to head out painting in Heber City, Utah. The annual Heber City Paint Out sponsored by the Midway Art Association was the destination. I took fellow painters Ron Spears and Rob Adamson along with me. If you have never done one of these competitions (this was my first but certainly not my last) they are a lot of fun. I found it a great way to give purpose and strategy to your outdoor painting experience while improving plein air skills and meeting other artists. We arrived in Midway Utah to pay the $10 per panel fee and get out boards stamped. This check in  process ensures that nobody brings in a painting not painted during the designated hours.

I discovered that I really needed to edit the view

We then had until 1:00 pm to bring the finished paintings back, framed and ready to hang for judging. We took off to look for a subject within the specified perimeter of Heber City. I found an old farm right on the outskirts that attracted me and I dropped Ron and Rob in their chosen spots. I painted on the first piece for about two and a half hours.

Rob stuck with his scene after the first painting and Ron and I both busted out a second piece. I think I was warmed up after the first one and the second one came together better for me, despite the heavy chain link fence I had to look through to capture the scene. I found that making choices quickly really focused my attention and made me pay more attention to every color mixture and stroke. At 12:30 we reunited in a mad dash to get to the check in and drop our pieces in frames.

North of Heber- 6" x 8", Oil

We were the last to arrive before the cut off. Artists arriving after us, were not allowed to hang their pieces for judging. It was a lot of fun and Rob ended up winning 2nd place for his piece (sorry I did not get a shot of it). All the pieces from the paint out are for sale through the end of the day today (July 4th) at the Midway Community Center on main street in Midway, Utah. If you are in the neighborhood, go check it out. Next time I might do a little bigger piece and spend the whole time on it, but regardless, I had a great time painting with good friends. If the pieces don't sell, I will bring them back into the studio and tickle them up a bit before a final varnish.