The Start of Solomons Plein Air

As typical for me and Deb, we had dinner ‘out’ Tuesday.  Since she had a meeting already scheduled on Solomons, having dinner over there was a reasonable choice.  We also knew that the Plein Air event was going to be kicked off at The Striped Rock, so we figured an early dinner there might be nice.

After dinner, which was a nice Cod Fish Sandwich and salad, I wandered around a took some pictures.  I’m not sure who all the artists where, but here are some of the photos from the party which was sponsored by Avian LLC and hosted by The Striped Rock.


A Plein Air event is where artists paint out in the community over a specified time frame.  The Solomons Plein Air event which started Wednesday lasts through Saturday. This multi-day event has  several aspects.  First there are invited artists that are painting from Wednesday through Saturday in the Solomons area.  The Nocturnal Quickdraw competition is Thursday evening from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Riverwalk.  On Saturday there is another competition called the Paint the Town for a Cause  This event supports one of the local food drives.  The Solomons United Methodist Church has developed the HeartFELT food drive.  HeartFELT stands for  Feeding Empty Little Tummies (FELT) and supports 65 children in the area by providing a backpack full of food on Fridays. All of the art created during the Solomons Plein Air will be for sale.  Half of the proceeds from the sale of the Paint the Town for a Cause works support HeartFELT.

I liked the colors of Jennifer Cooper's drum

 

 Groove Span Duo provided the tunes for the party.


 The party was for the invited artists... not me, so I really didn't catch the names, unless their name tag was legible.  Here a few of them chatting, and obviously are having a great time.

 Raymond Ewing is participating.  Check out his website here.












 The setting sun cast just the right light on everyone.  A little rough contrast, but the sparkle in her eye and warm smile reflect the atmosphere of the event.

















Judy Switick from Avian LLC enjoying conversation.

 Duane Sabiston has a blog you should check out at http://blog.duanesabiston.net/













  Bruno Baran's work can be seen on his site http://www.brunobaranfineart.com/Local_Landscapes.html


George Netherton, from St. Simons Island, GA specializes in landscapes.  His work can be found here.

I'm sure I didn't capture every artist at the event, but tried to capture the feel of it all.  The party went on for quite a while, and fortunately for me, the melodies and rhythms from Groove Span carried over to the Riverwalk.  It made for a nice evening.

As time moved on,  I waited around and watched the sun drop,  and then tried some more night photography.

I ran into several friends and have a conversation with a passerby about photography.  It was really interesting.  A guy walking his German Shepherd asked if I was a photographer.  I guess he noticed my tripod, so it wasn’t a particularly much of a stretch to ask that question.  I told him that I have a photo-blog, and he asked if I sold any photos.  Thinking about it now, I wonder if I might try that… guess it can’t hurt – right?  Anyway, he said he has bought a camera and lenses and gear.. but forgets most often to take it with him on vacation.  That’s been his main objective; to take photos in the islands, and only once did he take some photos with a smaller camera while parasailing.  This was all said with a thick accent – Greek I think.  It matched his slightly darker skin and thick mustache.  Seemed like a really nice guy.  We watched the setting sun dropping behind the bridge and he suggested that there were not enough clouds this night to get a really good sunset.  He then showed me some photos on his phone to show a really good sunset…  and it was.  It was a very colorful evening he had captured on his phone’s camera.

As it turned out, Tuesday was very pretty as well, though maybe not quite as much contrast and drama as the photo on his phone.














I really enjoyed the time on the river.  It was getting pretty cool and reminded me that fall is in the air, soon the leaves will be turning colors to rival the sunset.  Of course the sky itself is pretty spectacular full of stars; I'd really like to get out west or at least West Virginia to get a look at a true dark sky without any light pollution.

The shutter speeds of 30 seconds start to show how fast we move in this world.  The light streaks on the bridge are the cars and trucks motoring along at 50 MPH or so.

A beautiful night.
Blessings,
Brian