Third Place Winner!

Juror Ron Donoughe awards third place to my sketch of a chaotic woodpile

Thank you juror Ron Donoughe for choosing my plein air sketch June 14, Cat and Doe as the third place award winner in Plein Air West Reading 2025! Readers may remember that I sketched the same view digitally a couple weeks ago. That one I simply called View From the Woodshed.

Remarks from the juror

Ron Donoughe had some nice things to say about my art. He said that the title intrigued him—where was the cat, and where was the doe? I explained that a doe peeked in at me in the woodshed as I sat there sketching. Later, a shy orange cat did the same (I think she sleeps in there). But she felt safe enough to perch on a nearby log and clean her paws.

He also said that black and white pen drawings are a rarity in a plein air show, and he appreciated this “refreshing” twist. And he liked how a chaotic woodpile was presented in a visually organized way, and especially how the loose marks at the periphery blended in with the overall composition.

Art On the Avenue—your turn to vote!

Tonight’s private preview show and awards ceremony is over. But tomorrow, bright and early, my friend Josh will meet me and other volunteers to pitch the tent that will house the first public showing of all the plein air paintings created by me and the twenty-nine other juried artists of Plein Air West Reading. Art On the Avenue lasts the whole day (Saturday). I encourage you to stop by to admire all the art, visit me in the tent, and to vote for your favorite artist! The People’s Choice Award will be tallied at 5:30 and announced at 6:00, so come and let your voice be heard!

Goodnight!

Painting in a plein air competition is very mentally and physically challenging.

My body aches from holding awkward positions for hours on end, or slipping down the deck steps this rainy week on my way to sketch the greenhouse; and maybe most of all my brain is tired from the calculations and organizational effort required to create many pieces of art and prepare them for a show.

As I write this Friday evening, I look forward to a deep sleep before getting up to prepare the festival tent in West Reading tomorrow. I have so many more things to say about the wonderful volunteers and patrons and fellow artists, but I’ll save that for a later update! For now, goodnight.