Moments in time and scenes from around Wrightsville Beach will be preserved and showcased during the first Wrightsville Beach Museum of History en plein air art show and wet paint sale Saturday, Oct. 11, from 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Museum director Madeline Flagler said the idea for a Wrightsville Beach en plein air art show and wet paint sale came to her after a similar event was hosted at the Latimer House in May.
Beginning Friday, Oct. 10, the 30 entered en plein air painters will stop by the museum to register their blank canvases and then have until 2 p.m. Saturday to complete up to five works.
Flagler said the artists have been instructed to stay within the confines of Wrightsville Beach for their subject matter.
Wilmington native and prolific en plein air painter Barbara Bear Jamison collaborated with Flagler to plan the event and was excited Wrightsville Beach will be the subject of an en plein air show.
“We thought it would be great to do something on Wrightsville Beach because it is so historic,” Jamison said. “There are going to be 30 really fine artists around the beach and we might paint the same scene but no two will look the same.”
For Jamison, the craft combines two things she loves — being outdoors and painting. The immediacy of the method and the task of capturing the light in one specific moment in time also appeal to her.
“It takes you into a fresher look for painting because it is all about the light and capturing the colors at that moment,” she said. “You focus on the light and the dark. I paint the whole scene in different shades of red first. … I try to capture it really fast in red and then go back with the other colors after that.”
Passersby will be able to catch Jamison and the other painters at work around the beach Friday through Saturday. Collectors may purchase the works Saturday during the show and sale.
With the subject matter of Wrightsville Beach, Flagler said the scenes portrayed would be familiar views but also slightly different depending on what time of day the artist works.
Paintings will be set up inside and outside the museum with 30 percent of the art sales and the artists’ registration fees donated to the museum. Whatever art is not sold Saturday will remain on display for sale at the museum until Christmas if the artists choose.
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