Top awards, interesting paintings, more sales — the summer event at Saranac Lake, New York, keeps getting better.
This year 55 artists participated in the Adirondack Plein Air Festival, with 45 of them selling a total of 86 pieces. The works created ranged from Laura Martinez Bianco’s “Main St., Saranac Lake, Midnight”— the 7-year-old event’s first winner of the Outstanding Pastel Painting award, to the 2 1/2” piece by Patrick McPhee that won a $250 gift certificate from Rice Furniture.
“Yellow Birch,” by Eberhart Froelich, 2015, oil. Best of Show
The $1,000 Best in Show award went to Eberhart Froehlich for “Yellow Birch.” Second Place was won by John McNally for his oil “Rocks at Franklin Falls.” Outstanding Watercolor went to Gretchen Kelly for “Morning Mist,” and Outstanding Oil/Acrylic Painting was won by Kari Ganoung Ruiz, who was the first artist to register for the event when entries were made available online, according to organizer Sandra Hildreth.
Marilyn Fairman’s painting, “Lake Flower,” was chosen for the cover of the
2016 Saranac Lake Chamber of Commerce Visitors Guide
Marilyn Fairman was honored with the selection of her painting “Lake Flower” as the cover image for the 2016 Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce Visitors Guide. People’s Choice went to Patrick McPhee for his body of work. Jodie Mauer won Most Unique Painting Done at the VIC, an award given by Paul Smith College to a painter depicting its visitors information center. Honorable Mention went to Adriana Meiss.
Kirk Larsen, Sandra Hildreth, and Marilyn Fairman
This was the first year the Adirondack Plein Air Festival had a Quick Draw. Nikolay Mikushkin won that contest, with Honorable Mention going to Deena Ball, Sandra Hildreth, Gretchen Kelly, and Crista Pisano.
Kirk Larsen served as judge. The event was organized by Saranac Lake Artworks.
Hildreth says she feels the event was a success. “It introduced and reintroduced the beauty of our region to 55 artists from all over the East Coast and Canada, some of whom have attended this event every year,” she says. “It attracted hundreds of visitors to the community to watch the artists paint and to come see the exhibit, also enlightening them about the amazing place where some of us live. A large number of people, consisting of both visitors and locals, now have new paintings to enjoy in the comfort of their own homes.”
Nikolay Mikushkin’s Quick Draw winner
Hildreth reports that the tentative dates for next year’s event are August 15-20.
