First and foremost, I'd like to briefly clarify what the term "plein air" means. To be short and sweet, it translates from French to English as "Open Air" and basically is "painting from life outdoors in the...open air". Any medium is fine, any style really too. 

This brings us to the topic of my very first blog post which goes in greater detail about the Capitola Plein Air event that I just participated in. It was my first "REAL" (aka multi-day, all professional artists) plein air event, and I'm trying to remember every detail, at the same time give proper shout outs to important people. Be warned though, this is going to be a very lengthy first post. I promise they won't all be so long.

Actually, my first competition was the California State Fair, aka "Plein Air At the Fair". I was fortunate to take first prize at that event with a painting of three cows named Zoe, Fancy, and Monster. The best part about that was not getting heat stroke in the 105 degree weather!

The second was a really tiny one at the Fremont Arts Festival, and I won second place with a painting of a food stand.

The third event was a bigger more renown plein air event at the Benicia Plein Air. I walked away empty handed but it was a valuable experience, and I think I created some of my strongest paintings that day.

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The Capitola Plein Air event was a big one for me. In fact, just to participate you had to be juried in. I was fortunate to be selected, along with one of my closest painting buds, Franklin Lei. Thirty-eight other lucky artists were chosen to the event. Having the juried entry had us both shaking in our boots with excitement and sheer terror because we knew that we had to bring our best work to the table.

The event was five full painting days, and I had to take three work days off to attend. You were only required to attend Saturday and Sunday but a fellow attending artist, Nancy Takiachi, had convinced me that it was worth coming the entire time for. I am SO glad I took her advice because it was truly one of the best times of my life. I also want to mention that Nancy is such an inspiration to me. Her work is incredibly strong, and she took me under her wing at Capitola. 

Packing for the trip was a feat in itself. I'm notoriously indecisive and over-prepared, so I packed ten different frames, oil painting supplies, gouache supplies, and two sets of running clothes that never saw the light of day. I genuinely didn't know how I was going to fit everything into the car.

Early Wednesday morning, I met up with Franklin and our fellow #pleinairbud, Sidney that was there to paint up a storm and for support (but watch out for her, she's a shark in the water when it comes to painting).  We stayed at the Best Western in Capitola which was a nice hotel and there was a discounted rate for the event...but I didn't find out about it until AFTER it was too late. *cry*

Checking in was fun. This event was extremely smooth sailing and well organized, thanks to the meticulous coordinator Jenny Shelton, and a crew of selfless volunteers. I was pleasantly surprised to see that we had goodie bags filled with numerous art supplies (Thanks to Palace Arts Supply), as well as bags filled with snacks. It was reminiscent of all the running marathons that I used to do...except even better!

It was unreal to see so many artists out and about painting. All the passersby were super friendly, and extremely supportive. Everyone was really excited about the event on Sunday, and planned on coming to support all of the artists. The best part, in my opinion, was meeting the other artists. They were so friendly! Barbara Tapp , an extraordinary watercolorist, definitely stood out to me as one of the nicest artists that I've met! We bumped into her numerous times and felt like instant friends.

I managed to complete quite a few paintings. They weren't all fit for the competition, and some days were definitely better than others. My first day felt pretty difficult, and I didn't really get any art out that I truly liked. The area was jam packed with inspiring scenery, quirky colorful houses, beautiful flowers, and incredible seascapes. Here are my first day's paintings. You can tell how much I didn't like them since I didn't even bother to get a decent photo (yet).

Day 2 was much better, and I was feeling a lot more confident. I felt like all three paintings were among my strongest.

Day three was a flop. I had two paintings that I wasn't feeling good about. I bit off more than I could chew for the first one, and the 2nd one was an oil painting which I knew wasn't my strength. I also had a flu or cold, and painting in the cold rainy weather was unbearable to me. I was shaking like a leaf, and couldn't get rid of a pounding headache. 

We decided it was unwise to try to do a nocturne in the rain with me not feeling well, so we hung out indoors and decided to take the opportunity to paint each other's portraits while watching movies. I painted Sidney, and she painted me. Franklin got in paintings of both of us.

Day four we headed back to the pier so that Franklin could crank out a painting he sketched out earlier. While I was hunting for my scene, I passed this garage FULL of stuff. The workers were busy cleaning and painting all of the boats that were for rent, so I decided I wanted to try to paint it. I'm drawn to gritty and not-so-typical scenes, and also anything that seems nearly impossible (a good challenge). It was a fun one, although I don't think I pulled it off completely.

The amazing coordinator, Jenny Shelton, walked by to take some photos. She was really great at meeting up with all of the artists, talking to each one of us, and documenting the whole event. 

I had some time left in the day, so I decided it was time to tackle this view that I had been eyeing but too timid to try. I really wanted to paint the beach and Venetian hotel through the windows of a restaurant. The Sand Bar was a fun view because the letters on the glass were this beautiful vibrant red, and the light coming through the windows had such a nice reflective quality on the floor. I can't tell you how many people told me I was writing it backwards. 

I was pretty happy with the paintings I did that day, and we were all slightly under the weather at this point (sorry, guys), so we decided to call it a night and get our art framed and ready for the morning.

Sidney fell asleep...and I whispered to Franklin that I really wanted to paint her. So we did. She got up halfway during her nap and we tucked her back into the same position she was. She's so patient...

And then it was GAME DAY. The crew got up early, ate our final continental breakfast (mostly chocolate chip waffles, and breakfast sandwiches), and then headed over to the New Brighten Middle School to hang up our work. We were allowed to hang three pieces, and were each given a carpeted wall section. 

It was really neat to see everyone's work up! A lot of the subjects were painted more than once, but it was so interesting to see the different takes and perspectives. There was a lot of hype and everyone was so excited. 10:00 rolled by, and we all had to scoot out to let the judge do her thing. 

Our crew decided to do a quick painting to kill the hour, and we all settled in on the sidewalk and chatted with other artists while we painted. It was fun to show some of my new-found friends what gouache was about.

At 11 we were called back into the building, and I was thrilled to see that one of my paintings had been tagged with an honorable mention. I buzzed around to see the other ribbon winners, and was super excited to see that Barbara had won second place with one of her really nice watercolor pieces! By the time I looped back around to my wall, there was a large group of people with big smiles and excitement. My piece, "Peeking through the Sand Bar" was awarded the Artists' choice! This award is the most meaningful of any that I've ever won, because it is coming from other strong and inspiring artists. It really filled my heart!

I was practically over the moon when I was approached by two kind faces, explaining to me that they were the owners of The Sand Bar and wanted to buy my piece! Best. Day. EVER. 

Overall, it was an extremely memorable event for me. I am SO happy that I participated, and that I was able to attend all of the days. I wouldn't have changed a thing, except maybe bring more warm items to wear for the nocturne. A huge thank you to all of the people that supported me, and to those that offer continuing support. I hope to be back next year!