2nd Annual Prescott Plein Air Art Festival: the Experience

The 2nd Annual Prescott Plein Air Art Festival took place October 21-24, 2021. The weather outlook was excellent and I looked forward to being part of this fun event once again. During the week prior to the event, I selected panel sizes and built frames to be ready for the event. I began thinking of places I love around Prescott, AZ to paint. In my mind, I began composing potential paintings that I thought would be fun to do. Some of these paintings were of places I had painted before or are some of my favorite spots around Prescott. The event was set up for three days of painting with a reception following. Fifteen artists were part of the event and it is a joy to bump into other like-minded artists and compare notes.

I chose to paint in the Granite Dells from the Constellation Trails for the first paint out. I had produced a painting from this same spot a couple years back and wanted to improve on the ideas from that. I envisioned a foreground of pine trees and manzanita bushes, with a dramatic morning sunlit Granite Dells as the focus of the painting. I chose a 12×24 panel to paint on and was excited to get to work. Later that day, and not far from my home, I set up for a view of Granite Mountain for a small 8×10 palette knife oil painting. The afternoon light was bright but the direction of the sun during this time of year still created for interesting color and shadow. For the second paint-out day, I chose a lesser known location to paint fall aspen trees. Just a short drive from downtown Prescott, out Copper Basin Road, resides a surprise grove of Aspen trees. The colors were at their peak and the sun bathed the yellow leaves in a golden glow. I decided to go for a panoramic format on this painting with a 8×21 panel and to use a palette knife for more expressive textural use of painting. The last day of painting was at Watson Lake at the upper gazebo. I’ve always enjoyed Watson Woods with it’s gallery of massive cottonwood trees. I thought to create a painting on a 12×24 panel looking South at Watson Woods and the hills beyond around Prescott. The morning was cool and overcast. Once in a while, the sun came out to highlight the fall colors and I tried to capture the feeling of filtered sun on the trees. The wind picked up and was blowing directly in my face, so I moved to the other side of the gazebo for a smaller 12×12 painting, zooming into a cove of Watson Lake exhibiting vibrant yellow cottonwood trees.

The reception was held on the final day of the event at the Finn Restaurant of Touchmark in Prescott, AZ. I framed the paintings the day before to prepare for the show and sale. All frames were custom built by me at my workplace: The Frame & I in downtown Prescott. After setting up the display and enjoying a delicious lunch by the Finn Restaurant, we welcomed in the pubic to view our creations. Judges were asked to choose a Best of Show and an Honorable Mention, and the viewers were asked to choose a “People’s Choice Award” to be announced at the conclusion of the event. I had good feedback and many stopped to talk about my paintings. I did notice many were choosing my paintings for a the People’s Choice award but had no idea how many. I was surprised to find that my painting “Pining in the Dells” received the most votes for the People’s Choice Award!

The paintings moved to the Phippen Museum in Prescott, AZ through the month of November and are available for purchase there. Find out more about the Phippen Museum and their hours of operation on the website: Phippen Museum | Art & Heritage of the American West (phippenartmuseum.org).

Here is a slide show of photos from the Prescott Plein Air Festival: