Grand Prix of Art

September the 21st was the Grand Prix of Art and it was pouring rain the night before and, although sunny in the morning, the hourly forecast looked grim with thundershowers predicted for 11 am - one hour into painting time. However,  that forecast was wrong and we had a wonderful "summer" day. Lovely fresh air, enough sun for nice shadows- a perfect day for a plein air competition. I had a 12 x 16 canvas and an 8 x 24  one. I drew location #1 which is out by Garry Point. After spending some time peering through my viewfinder to see which direction I'd look in and which shape I would use, I decided to go with the tall narrow canvas so I could have lots of sky. I painted the rocks and driftwood along the shore leading up to the fishermen's memorial. It is like a needle for mending nets.
It was a beautiful day with lots of people out walking. Many were interested in the Grand Prix and quite a few had been looking forward to it. I was set up ready for the whistle at 10 am and managed to complete it before the 1pm whistle. I had pre-wired it and did not frame it- just painted the edges - so it was ready to turn in for judging. Then we got lunch,had entertainment, and got all the results.  Stephen Chen had been at tent #1 with me and painted in the opposite direction- he was looking at the river mouth and I was looking towards Vancouver Island. His was the top award as picked by the judges. However, I was fortunate to sell my painting. It isn't the actual sale that matters as much as the fact that someone likes it enough to buy it. There was a great turn-out to see the paintings - and lots of people came out in the rain today to see and buy paintings too. The popularity of this event continues to grow. This was the fourth year. - and a really successful one.