I’m very happy to say that this painting was accepted into the Little Gems Show at Scott Milo Gallery in Anacortes, WA. Of the three I submitted, this was the only one accepted, but I’m satisfied with that. I like the painting for its freshness and simplicity. Sometimes a simple subject is the best.
The show runs from July 30 to August 29. There will be about seventy small paintings from members of Plein Air Washington Artists. I’m intrigued to see the other paintings accepted into the show. Hopefully I can get to the opening on July 31 to see the artists and the awards ceremony. Unfortunately a trip to Anacortes and back, with the ferry ride included, takes the better part of a day.
You know how modern life is so restricted? “No Trespassing”; ‘Keep Out”; “Do Not Enter”. It’s the fortress mentality everywhere you go: electronic gates, high fences, security cameras, insurance regulations. Where’s a painter gonna paint?
But yesterday I found a refreshing exception. I went to the South Park community of Seattle with other plein air painters from Northwest Watercolor Society. South Park is an older residential neighborhood right next to the rust belt industrial zone of the Duwamish Waterway. There are bridges, cranes, marinas, old barges, aging hulks, tugboats. Everything a painter wants, but most of it is locked up behind chain-link security.
As it happened, I stumbled into a boatyard of sorts. In a two block area, boats were parked chockablock together with all kinds of marine debris in between. It was completely open. No fences, no barriers — a painter’s paradise. It’s too good to be true, I thought. I’ll probably be kicked out as soon as they find me.
I poked my head into the dark interior of a sheet metal shed and found two weatherbeaten characters sipping coffee amid a bewildering assortment of cables, wrenches, cutting torches, welding helmets, and oversize clamps. One of these yard birds had a beard down to his belly button. The other wore a pair of comically wide shorts. I said timidly, “I’m a watercolor painter. Do you think it would be all right if I made a watercolor painting of your boats?”
Mr. Longbeard chuckled and said, “You can paint your picture anywhere you want. Just don’t let the forklift run over you.”
As I backed out of their den, I realized that these fellows probably have a steady stream of painters coming through their rusting paradise, and I was just one more. What a breath of fresh air! I set up my easel and tackled my subject, a neglected old wooden boat with a tarp over it. I thought to myself, if this isn’t a plein air painter’s heaven, I don’t know what is.
One of my goals is to get my watercolors into juried shows. I like the prestige of the shows and the increased visibility for my paintings. This means submitting my work in the form of a digital image so the judge of the show can make a decision to accept or reject it.
The first thing is to select which paintings I want to enter. I read carefully the prospectus for each show which details the requirements for acceptance. Then I choose the paintings that I think will be a good match. I make sure the digital images are the right size, then I upload them to the website for the show, making sure I meet the deadline. It’s a lot of work.
The deadline for the Little Gems show at Scott Milo Gallery in Anacortes was yesterday, so I spent a good deal of time preparing for it last week. The maximum size for this show is 11×15 inches. Most of my paintings are slightly larger than that, so I needed to paint some smaller images.
I liked the painting (above) of two fishing boats at Fishermen’s Terminal in Seattle because it was loose and free, but it needed some work. I tried painting it a second time, but the result wasn’t as fresh. So I touched up the original painting by toning down the white of the pilothouses in the reflections and sent it in.
The docks at Dabob Bay
For my second painting, I chose this scene at the docks of Rock Point Oyster Company in Dabob Bay. I painted this scene four times before I was satisfied with it. Each time I painted it, it got a little better.
The dock at South Bend, WA
I had to touch up this painting also before I sent it in. The reflection under the dock was tentative, and left too many white spaces. So I darkened it and let it blend into the paint on its lower edge. I also added some birds.
Will my paintings get into the show? The gallery will notify painters of their acceptance or rejection on June 15. I’ve had a few paintings accepted into this show in previous years, so I’m hopeful one of these paintings might make it. But it all depends on the judge.
Most of the paintings in the show will be oil or acrylic paintings, so perhaps my watercolors will be looked on favorably. Or maybe not. Most of the paintings will be quite realistic and detailed, so perhaps my loose, impressionistic style will be an advantage. Or maybe not. You never know.
One thing’s for sure. The attraction of getting into a show is a great stimulus for making better paintings, and it spurs me on.
