10.16.2009

From the Flu to Florence

Last weekend I had the honor of judging the "Paint the Town" Plein air Event in Florence, Colorado - a small, historic town of art and antiques nestled between Canon City and Colorado Springs. "Paint the Town" is a 2 day, non-juried competition and attracts plein air painters from all over Colorado. Over 25 Painters participated and at least 50 pieces were entered into the show. This was a lot considering the weather was nothing short of miserable, with fog and freezing rain. My hope was to judge the show, then enjoy the opening the same day.
That was not to be; the week before I went down with the flu and had just enough energy to drive the 3 hours (through bad weather) from Alamosa to Florence and back - to bed.
I was happily surprised and rewarded for my effort by a show of some excellent work, mostly watercolors. Unfortunately, I have no pictures but for the benefit of this post, would like to name the artists:
First Place - Ken Hartman,"Oak Creek" - Watercolor
Second Place - Tom Lockhart,"Minnequa Canal" - Oil
Third Place - Coleen Bobinac,"Santa Fe Ave." - Watercolor
Juror's Choice Oil - Martin Lambuth
Juror's Choice Watercolor - Blenderman
Juror's Choice Acrylic - John Alderman