Friday, December 5, 2008

Looking Back at the Laguna Invitational...

'Hatch's Market'......oil on panel......14x19 inches (SOLD)
This painting was on exhibit at the Laguna Museum throughout the 10th Annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational.

Greetings everyone and Happy December! Here is a brief recap of the event.....

We kicked off the weekend with a jovial 'artists only' get together Friday night. Aaaaaah...the warm summer air, fragrant with flowers and salty ocean mist while eating enchiladas at the Strotkamps' yearly barbecue. Jay and Mary Strotkamp, delightful people with a fantastic collection of paintings by luminary painters such as Richard Schmid, Mian Situ, and Scott Burdick to name a few. Afterward, I sat by the pool at our hotel as Ben built an enormous fire in the outdoor fireplace. We lured the curious guests out of their rooms like moths to a...well to an enormous fire.

But it wasn't all just enchiladas and poolside fires. There was serious work to do, paintings to paint, people to meet. Early Saturday morning the participating painters met for breakfast at the Laguna Museum before staking out our 'quick draw' spots. I chose to perch precariously upon a cliff side surrounded by cacti, the colorfully dangerous painting spectators confined to stand upon stairs behind a sturdy metal rail. I felt very safe, like Briar Rabbit in the Briar Patch. No fooling with me. The air horn was sounded by a friendly Australian man in a wide brim hat and we were off and painting! We had a two hour time limit to complete our 'quick draw' paintings. OY! Time has always been my nemesis, and I felt its presence stronger and greater than ever before! I wrestled with it, pulling it's ears and poking it in the eyes with my thin "rigger" brush, used most often for fine details like telephone lines and thin branches but this time mostly for poking ‘Time’ in the eyes. It was fierce. Sweat was upon my brow. The cacti my only friends. I blacked out the last half hour, have no memory at all about it. Think it has something to do with a tangential universe which collapsed upon itself due to the paradox of ‘Time’ being momentarily blind. Not sure. Regardless, I came away with a satisfactory piece of art and it was back to the hotel to clean up and get dressed for the opening night gala, filled with fine art, fine wine and fine food!

And the people! The people I met! So many wonderful people, collectors and painters and fans who made two-hour drives just to meet and support me. Painters I have idolized for years I met and lunched with. All in all, it was an enriching, awesome and exhilarating event and look forward to participating again next year!

Here are a few pics of the fun-filled festivities. Enjoy!

Participating artists Kathryn Stats, Calvin Liang and moi at the yearly Strotkamp b.b.q party on Friday night

Ben working on his fifth enchilada...


Shhhhhhh... I'm concentrating......


Ma'am, please do not throw peanuts at me!!


....delicately perched on the 'cactus bed' ridge....


Okay, I've got 20 minutes left!Yikes!!!


Adding the final touches to my 'quick draw' painting


Mingling folk at the Saturday evening gala


Pictured here with artists Debra Huse and Larry Moore


Jennifer and fellow painter Jason Situ


Striking a pose with artist Clayton J. Beck III


This is where Ben and I hung out most of the evening. The food was exquisite!!!


Hanging out at the museum Sunday afternoon with Matt Smith...


...and award winner Michael Situ


Lookie loos admiring my paintings



Here are some of my favorites. There's more but too many too list!

Award winning painting by Randall Sexton


A very stunning piece by Ray Roberts


A gem of a painting by Kathryn Stats


And lastly, a beauty by Mark Kerckhoff



Signing off with a group shot of the participating artists.
Hope you enjoyed your visit!

47 comments:

Johnnie Sielbeck said...

Very funny story and great photos, too!! Thanks for showing some of the finished paintings.

rob ijbema said...

what a feast!
to much to take in,in one go
beautiful stunning work,all of them
love the little cart in your umbrella painting jenifer,the bits of wood and the one red wheel...loveit!!

Ed Terpening said...

Your painting, "Hatch's Market" is just beautiful! I also love the works you selected by Ray Roberts and Kerckoff. I studied with the later last year in Palm Dessert, he's a lot of fun.

Congratulations on your participation!

Jennifer McChristian said...

You're welcome Johnnie!
Glad you enjoyed the story and pics :)
I'll be right over to check out your blog

Jennifer McChristian said...

Greetings Rob,

...and a feast it was, on all levels!
Thanks for the kudos!

Jennifer McChristian said...

Thanks Ed!

Unfortunately, I never got around to meeting Mr. Kerckhoff at the event. I've been a fan of his for quite some time.
Would love to sit in on one of his workshops!

Michael Pieczonka said...

Great story and congratulations on a great 2 hr painting! Holy smokes.. I can't believe you can pull something that complete in just 2hrs. Were the pieces of artists you posted done in that time too?? Unbelievable!!

Dominic Philibert said...

Thanx Jennifer!
These paintings are beautiful!!!!!!

Awesome!

Maritze said...

Beautiful work. Enjoyed looking around your blog. Your work inspires me to crack open the real paint tubes again.

Maritze said...

Beautiful work. Enjoyed looking around your blog. Your work inspires me to crack open the real paint tubes again.

Billy Guffey said...

Thanks for posting all the pics. Love the bananas!

David Lobenberg said...

Love those cute wagon wheels and the sunlit leaves coming out of the shadows and the whole tamale for that matter! And your signature under painted reds just warm the whole scene up beautifully.

David Lobenberg said...

I'm sorry...not leaves but bananas!

http://www.onpainting.wordpress.com said...

Wow - what a group of beautiful paintings. Your piece is just stunning. There are very few who handle color as well as you.

Stefan Nuetzel said...

Thanks for posting this, Jennifer! I really envy you, painting in such company. Your painting is stunning und the subject matter so well choosen. You don´t need to idolize these folks, you are among them.

Ramesh Jhawar said...

Hi Jennifer!Followed the link from Stacey Peterson's blog.Your paintings are truly awesome, especially 'Hatch's Market',Making Our Way Across’ and last but not the least,'Letting Off Steam'.

Jennifer McChristian said...

Hey Michael,

Thanks for visiting and I appreciate your kind words!
The paintings I posted from the other artists were not from the 'Quick Draw'. Mind you, if they were, I can understand your astonishment ;-)

Looking forward to catching up with you to see what you've been up to!

Jennifer McChristian said...

Thanks Dominic!

Jennifer McChristian said...

Thank you Maritze.
I too immensely enjoyed perusing through your art blog!

Jennifer McChristian said...

Bill, Dave,
I appreciate your comments and thanks for stopping by!

Jennifer McChristian said...

Thank you Bill :)

Jennifer McChristian said...

Stefan,

... always a pleasure to hear from you!
I appreciate your very generous and warm comments.

Jennifer McChristian said...

Thanks Ramesh!

Theresa Rankin said...

Woohoo!! Your painting "hatchs Market" is a real stunner, Jennifer, and the roster of fellow artists is incredible!! Like a lineup of painterly luminaries. Everyone of them is a favorite of mine. Especially love the K. Stats painting...it truly is a gem to use words! I like the quick draws as long as no one throws peanuts..lol! Thank you for your enriching comment on my blog it sure helps!

Joe Kresoja said...

Looks like a fun time.

drips of paint said...

thanks for sharing ....

what an experience

Merry Christmas

Cooper Dragonette said...

Great post Jennifer! So much good stuff to see and read, but of course you know I stopped and lingered at Hatch's for a long while! Fantastic!
Let's paint together next summer in Wellfleet!

Stephen James. said...

Wow, you are amazing.

Jennifer McChristian said...

Hi Theresa,

Your lovely comments are much appreciated :)
Yes... Kathryn Stats is a very gifted painter as well as a fiery, funny and extremely amiable individual!

Jennifer McChristian said...

Tim,
Merry Christmas to you too!

Joe,
Yes, good times were had by all :)

Jennifer McChristian said...

Hi Cooper,

Thanks for your comment!
And of course, I would LOVE to paint together in Wellfleet next summer. Looking forward to it!

Jennifer McChristian said...

Thank you Stephen!

Robin Weiss said...

Looks like a great time Jennifer!
and some great paintings!!

Have a Merry Christmas!!

Rizwan said...

Hi, I am glad to see your stunning work. Great, well done. I am also an artist and you can see my work at Plastic Cards

Alex Perez pintor contemporaneo said...

Jennifer, a great artist you are! excellence in plein air.
wish to you a wonderful new year 2009 full of creativity and joy.

Alex Perez

Daniel Peci said...

Love the umbrellas!so much color...

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

Great post, Jennifer. How I love your "sweat on the brow" description of painting under the gun!
Despite the pressure of having onlookers (peanut throwers) and painting with ones "Idols", you still reached deep and got it DONE!
You Rock!

Kim VanDerHoek said...

Jennifer, A friend pointed out your work to me and I'm a fan. Your paintings are amazing! I saw you at the invitational (but watched quietly). I can only imagine what an experience it must have been.

Thanks for posting the photos and writing a recap! I thought the web site for the event would have a few photos of all the happenings and maybe a few shot of the winning painters with their paintings but, there are only a couple of shots posted. Thanks for sharing these!

I'm looking forward to seeing more amazing work of yours this year!

Jennifer McChristian said...

Thanks Aslam, Robin and Rizwan!
I appreciate the comments :)

Jennifer McChristian said...

Hi Alex,

Thanks for visiting!
You too have a creative and joyful year!

Jennifer McChristian said...

Hi Mary,

YOU rock for sending me supportive and encouraging vibes :)
I admit I did experience tremendous anxiety prior to the 'quickdraw' but plowed ahead anyway.
As Georgia O'Keeffe remarked: “I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.”

Cheers!

Jennifer McChristian said...

Hi Kim,

Thanks for your kind words.
I'm glad you enjoyed the photos and recap!

Scott Daly said...

Beautiful work Jennifer.

Jennifer McChristian said...

Thanks Scott!

Becky Joy said...

What great photos. I love the colorful paintings with the umbrellas. And Ray's piece WOW. I took a class from him years ago (my first workshop) to loosen up use big shapes. All of these painters I have been drooling over their work.

Jennifer McChristian said...

Thanks Becky!

I too said WOW when I first laid my eyes on Ray's painting (as well as all the other paintings displayed at the museum).
How fortunate that you had a chance to take his class!

Jack said...

Yeah,Its really very funny story and nice pictures too!! Hope u had a great time..
--
Jack
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