August 2025 - Bill Fulton Watercolors

Honorable Mention at Whidbey Island Plein Air

2 Comments / August 19, 2025

Last week this painting earned an Honorable Mention ribbon at the Whidbey Island Plein Air competition. I spent four days painting on Whidbey Island with 50 other artists, ending with an exhibition of our paintings on Thursday night. There were some great paintings there! Whidbey Island is quite picturesque, especially the area near Coupeville where Ebey’s Landing Historical Reserve is located. The Reserve was created to preserve the farmland and farms that were established by the first settlers in the nineteenth century.

I painted ten paintings over the course of the four days, which is a lot for me. Since this is my third summer at this event, I had a better idea of where to look for subjects, so I didn’t have to drive around as much. It was fun seeing other artists as they painted with me and at two dinners hosted by the organizer, Pacific Northwest Art School. I camped out at Fort Ebey State Park, and enjoyed good weather until Friday, when it rained. Here are some of the paintings I made in addition to the one above.

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Back to the Washington coast

My son Guy and I returned to the Washington coast July 16-18 as I was the facilitator for a Plein Air Washington Artists paintout. As facilitator, I had to organize and publicize the event back in February, which took a flurry of activity. Then at the actual event, I was the on-the-ground coordinator, helping people find the gathering places, answering questions, and facilitating a review at the end of the first two days. We had about 15 people and I think everyone enjoyed the camaraderie and the great painting opportunities.

The first day we painted on Rialto Beach with its crashing waves and sea stacks. The second day we hiked .7 miles to Second Beach where we had a variety of islands, outcroppings and beach scenes to paint. On the third day we painted in the harbor at La Push, with its boats, docks, and the offshore islands looming over the harbor. What a great place to paint!