In less than a month, one painter will receive $15,000 for a painting entered in the PleinAir Salon. Now that the final bimonthly contest is over, the contestants are set, and 19 more entries are eligible for the big prize, which will be announced at the Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE) in San Diego, April 24-28.
John Buxton won the top prize in the contest, First Place, with his oil painting “Great Falls of the Passaic” — and that piece also won Best Figure in the Landscape. John Pototschnik took Second with “Land of Abundance.” Third Place went to Kathleen Hudson for “Bright Morning, Timberline Falls.” Hudson also won Best Oil for “Coastal Silhouette.”
The Best Artist Under 30 award was won by Tuerxun Tuergeng, thanks to his piece “Plein Air in Jaipur.” Best Student was won by Jiamo Xiao with “Cloud Scenery,” and Best Artist Over 65 went to Leslie Leviner for “Morning Light on Ruby Peak.”
Awards were given by subject and by medium. Best Acrylic went to Linda Wilder for her piece “Rundle From Vermillion.” Best Pastel was won by Jacob Aguiar for “Gentle Stroll,” and Best Watercolor went to Larry Cannon for “Sedona Sentinel.” Best Sketchbook was won by Steven Hill for “Kittitas Valley.”
The awards in subject matter are as follows: Best Plein Air, Mary Jane Ward, for “Jackson Falls, New Hampshire”; Best Building, Jingfeng Li, for “Chateau de Selles sur Cher”; Best Floral, Karen Hitt, for “Cindy’s Gift”; for Best Landscape, Cory Trepanier, for “Wilberforce”; Best Nocturne, Mark Daly, for “Harbor Lights, Camden”; Best Outdoor Still Life, James Newman, for “Australian Trumpet Beach Party”; and Best Water, Mary Jane Ward, for “Great Falls, Potomac River.”
The PleinAir Salon consists of six bi-monthly contests, with the First, Second, and Third Place winners of each contest, and the category winners, automatically entered into the annual competition. First prize in the annual competition is $15,000 cash and the publication of the winning image on the cover of PleinAir magazine, along with a feature story. Second Place earns an artist $3,000 and an article in the digital edition of PleinAir magazine. Third Place yields $1,500 in cash. Three additional finalists win $500. Aside from First, Second and Third Place overall, categories include Best Oil, Best Pastel, Best Watercolor, Best Acrylic, Best Plein Air, Best Building, Best Figure in the Landscape, Best Floral, Best Landscape, Best Outdoor Still Life, Best Nocturne, Best Water, Best Student, Best Sketchbook, Best Artist Under 30, and Best Vehicle.
The winner of each bi-monthly contest is featured in this e-newsletter and profiled on OutdoorPainter.com. In April, the $21,000 in prizes will be awarded to the annual winners at the 2017 Plein Air Convention & Expo in San Diego, California.
