Today I participated in a Plein Air painting competition in Hammonton, NJ. This was a first for me and I learned alot about what it takes to finish a painting in adverse conditions. Yes, the sun was shining brightly all day at Batsto Village where I chose to paint the sawmill with the water flowing over the dam behind, but the problem was the unending wind which kept up at 15 mph all day. My canvas left the easel no less than four times and once landed face down in the sand. Between paintstrokes it was all about holding the canvas to keep it from flying away. And what took me by surprise was how quickly the time went by. At the start I felt like I had all the time in the world to get the piece back to Hammonton Art Center by 4pm. But then suddenly it was 3:30 and I had to rush to get it done. Overall, I think the painting was a miss; close, but a miss nonetheless. However, I did enjoy the day; and I was happy to be accompanied and assisted by Joan. She made sure I was fed, rested and encouraged. Plus, she was quite good at chatting with passerbys; something I'm not that good at when I am painting.
