Inspired by NSB's beauty, artists gather for the 13th annual Plein Air Paint Out
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Preston King sat at a high-top table by the railing at the Avanu on Flagler rooftop area Tuesday evening as he worked on a pastel painting capturing the start of the sunset and part of the iconic landscape of Flagler Avenue.
He was one of 21 artists invited to participate in the Plein Air Paint Out event in New Smyrna Beach, which marks its 13th edition this year.
The event, which began Tuesday and runs through Saturday, gives artists a chance to be inspired by the city's natural landscapes and create pieces that they hope locals and visitors will want to buy.
The event is organized by the Marine Discovery Center in partnership with the Artists’ Workshop NSB — two local nonprofit organizations that share the proceeds with the artists. Half the money from each painting sold goes to the artist, while the other half is shared by MDC and Artists’ Workshop.
13th edition: Plein Air Paint Out in New Smyrna Beach benefits MDC, Artists' Workshop
The "Evening Paint Out” at Avanu Tuesday was just the first of several open-air painting sessions planned for the week. Other spots in the city included restaurants like The Garlic and Third Wave Café, as well as other venues like the Victoria 1883 Bed and Breakfast.
The week also involves two daily art demonstration sessions, one of which takes place at the Marine Discovery Center on Barracuda Boulevard, as well as other special events.
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The event’s “wet gallery,” containing the week’s works, is open throughout the week in the Artists’ Workshop campus located at 540 Barracuda Blvd, where the public is invited to view and purchase paintings.
“They are actually our biggest donors,” Tina Pritchard, who is part of Artists’ Workshop NSB and is helping with the art demonstrations, said of the participating artists.
“We have a lot of collectors,” Pritchard said about the positive fundraising results from previous editions of the event. “Every year is a little bit different. You can’t really predict which artist is going to sell the best … . What we do see is that most of the iconic images of New Smyrna is what people buy.”
The nonprofits work together to provide housing for artists from out of town, and with restaurants to provide free meals to those who participate in the painting sessions throughout the city.
She also said the partnership with MDC is “great” for the Artists’ Workshop, as it represents a chance to combine both nonprofits’ educational missions: art and environment.
“One of the ways we are really leveraging that partnership is through our Eco-Artists Camp, where they bring youngsters in the summer and take them out in the field to teach them about conservation,” Pitchard said. “And then we teach them an art lesson based on what they learned that day.”
She said that program’s demand has been growing over the past couple of years.
Invitation to NSB Paint Out ‘a feather in my cap’
King knew about Paint Out through his circle of artist friends.
“Within our circle, it’s a well-known, prestigious event,” King said. “And the fact that it’s invitational is a big feather in my cap.”
King said he is expecting to draw a lot of inspiration from the tropical landscape of New Smyrna Beach — something he doesn’t find in his hometown of Homerville, Georgia.
“I’m from South Georgia where it’s nothing but straight, boring pine trees that the paper companies have planted in equal rows, like bars on a jail cell,” King said. “The foliage here, the landscape, and thrown in with the waterscapes is just very inspiring, everywhere I look.”
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King has a background working as a nurse, but always kept up with painting.
“And I retired a year ago,” King said. “This is all I do: I travel and paint.”
Locals hope to be inspired by Paint Out
Besides the artists, the event is a chance for locals to see the works being created in their own backyard.
Jerry Goff and Cathy Brown, two New Smyrna Beach residents, watched as King and other artists at Avanu began their work.
“This gentleman here paints in pastel, and that is really hard (to do)” Goff said of King’s painting, adding that he likes to see watercolor paintings, which are less common than pastel and oil ones.
Goff has been attending Paint Out events for nine years and does some painting in his own free time, as well.
“I usually try to catch several of their demonstrations,” Goff said. “And you can really learn from their demonstrations. All the artists are very open and willing to share about their artwork and their craft.”
Brown, who has lived in the city for 20 years and has been painting for the past six years, said this was her first time attending the event.
She said she imagines artists will be inspired by “the beach, the beautiful foliage, the flowers, the dunes.
“There is so much beauty around here. You can’t help but be inspired by it. It’s everywhere,” Brown said. “We haven’t been ruined yet.”
She said that she hopes the event will “reinspire” her to start painting again.
“I’ve been working too much and not setting aside time to paint,” Brown said. “I’m hoping that I’ll get inspired.”
Painting New Smyrna’s environment
At another table at Avanu, Barbara Ortiz and Michelle Held worked on a pastel sketch and an oil painting, respectively.
Ortiz said she likes the “immediacy” of the pastel and “having my hands on it,” even though she also works with oil.
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“It kind of combines painting and drawing in a nice way,” Ortiz said as she drew a palm tree in a dark green shade. “But then oils are great because it’s buttery and mushy.”
Ortiz, who is also a New Smyrna Beach resident, said she prefer to paint the city’s natural landscapes no matter the medium.
“I paint at the Smyrna Dunes Park all the time,” Ortiz said. “I can paint that park a thousand times, because it changes every time I go down there … There is a peacefulness and tranquility there that I like.”
Held, a Sarasota resident who has participated in the Paint Out for seven years, also said she likes to paint the city dunes, especially to capture how different the scene is.
“They are completely different now,” Held said, highlighting the importance of art representing the changing environment. “We’ve lost so much of our dune. I’ve sold a couple (paintings) that I wish I didn’t, because it was back when the dunes were huge.
“In a lot of cases, we are actually painting things that may not be here next time.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NSB hosts artists for 13th annual Plein Air Paint Out event
