PAAR Paint Out - Day 9 The Quick Draw

The Quick Draw is an event that we started last year. The artist check in at 8:30 a.m. and find their spots to paint. Set up and are ready to start painting at 9 a.m. They are then asked to turn in their finished painting at 11:30 a.m. This year we added something special. We were able to get different sponsors to give awards and we had a juror come in and judge the event. I asked Sharon Sahovy to help me with the event, since we added more details and the board was doing so many other jobs with the paint out. After the judging the artist were then able to set up 4 paintings they had done in the past week during the Paint Out for sale in Library Park. The Library was kind enough to let us hold our day event in their lovely park. We all started arriving around 7 a.m. and several of the board members came to help Sharon get set up for the event. We were finished around 8:15 and started checking the artist in as they came. Last year Joan Coffey and I ordered red buttons that said "I survived PAAR's Paint Out", this year we thought because of the awful winds that everyone was enduring, that it was appropriate to order more buttons. "I survived the WIND" PAAR's Paint Out 2008. As artist checked in they were given a button as a memento of their hard work during the past week. After checking in the artist, I looked around to find my spot for painting. I had several places in mind, but I actually changed my mind at last minute. I loved the way the morning sun was back lighting the tower on the Riverside Municipal Auditorium, with all the foliage and the distant palms. So I started at 9 a.m. along with all the other artists painting my scene. I was finished around 10:15. I kept looking to see if I should do more painting and I am the worse at overworking. So I decided to frame the painting and turn it in. Since I was the chair of the event, I thought I could then help out with other artists that would soon start turning in their work. Luckily I had artists who were not painting who could help with the judge, the artists etc. Lucy Heyming, Louise Smith and Lilly, thank you so much. What great help they were. After all the artists had turned in their works we went to a local coffee shop for sandwiches, that way the judge could come and do his job and leave without the added pressure of artists looking on. Surprisingly he was done in a short amount of time and at 1 p.m. I announced the awards and gave the artists their prizes. We then set up for the afternoon sale of the paintings, and after all the clean up, we met at the Spaghetti Factory for dinner. What an overall great day. The weather was perfect, no wind and actually very warm 75 degrees. Enjoy the art, my painting is below and enjoy the photos (courtesy of Pat Ford).