PORT ANGELES — The beauty of the North Olympic Peninsula calls to the artist in us all.
The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, which is at located at 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd., is urging everyone from the very young to the very old to grab their paintbrushes, pastels or watercolors and head outside to capture that beauty on canvas.
It’s called painting “en plein air” — literally painting outside — and Port Angeles-based Green Crow timber company is sponsoring the Community Paint Out program that will give painters more than $700 in awards.
The deadline has been extended for submitting works of art to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17. The entry fee is $5.
All successfully submitted work will be entered into the Paint Out Exhibition at The Landing mall from Friday, Aug. 22, to Sunday, Sept. 14.
“You don’t have to have any experience at all,” said Anne Dalton, chairwoman of Paint the Peninsula 2014.
During the community exhibition, visitors can vote for their favorites.
People’s choice awards
People’s choice awards to adults, teens and youths will be presented during a special reception Sunday, Sept. 14, that also will feature demonstrations by professional artists and a mural for community painters, Dalton said.
The Community Celebration & Exhibit will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the fine arts center and art park.
Free activities will include face painting, music, food and beverages.
Registration forms for the Community Paint Out can be downloaded from www.paintthepeninsula.org, where more information can be found.
Artwork can be taken to the fine arts center any business day and must be accompanied by a registration form and entry fee.
Deadline day hours are from noon to 4 p.m.
Professionals painting
Overlapping but separate from the community contest is a juried competition for 32 professional painters.
They will gather in Port Angeles from across the nation and British Columbia, then disperse to paint outdoors from Sequim to Cape Flattery to the Hoh Rain Forest from Sept. 8-14.
The region’s first juried plein air competition, Paint the Peninsula is supported in part by a grant from D.A. Davidson, founding sponsor, and is presented by the fine arts center.
“En plein air,” translated as “in the open air,” is the outdoor painting style that was at the center of the Impressionist movement of the late 19th century.
The intent is to portray a fleeting moment in time at a particular place,” Dalton said.
Artists will paint quickly with pastels, watercolor, acrylic or oil paints, often using broad strokes to capture an impression before it is altered by changing light.
“A total of 160 original paintings will be created throughout the week,” Dalton said.
“There are not many paintings in existence that depict the beautiful, diverse landscapes on the Olympic Peninsula, so this artwork will be unique.”
The artists will hang one painting in the fine arts center gallery on each of five days for public view and advance sale.
The gallery will be open until 8 p.m. each evening, Monday through Friday, to allow visitors time to visit after work and follow each day’s new submissions.
The paintings will be judged by artist Jim Lamb on the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 13.
Monetary awards will be given for best of show, as well as first, second and third place and artists’ choice.
A public reception will be scheduled, Dalton said.
Quick Draw
A “Quick Draw” portion of the competition is set from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, in downtown Port Angeles.
Artists will paint in one of four “stations” and will have two hours to produce a finished painting using watercolor, pastel and oil.
Throughout the weeklong professional contest, the public will be encouraged to observe the painters at work.
To find out where they are, phone 360-457-3532.
Following the festival, Lamb will conduct a three-day Plein Air Workshop open to the public at the fine arts center. Workshop dates will be Sept. 15-17. To register, visit www.paintthepeninsula.org.
For more on this or other programs, visit www.pafac.org or phone 360-457-3532.
