The first annual "Paint the Town", Quickdraw competition turned out to be an amazing event. We had 24 artists participating and every single painting was beautiful and accomplished. We had several hundred people over the course of the night who managed to go through 3 cases of wine in about an hour.
Charmaine Jacobs won the Best in Show with her piece titled "Flag" and Wawi Amasha won the Peoples Choice Award. We ended up selling 15 of the pieces created that day through silent auction. Some of the pieces enjoyed several bidders one upping each other. All in all I don't think it could have been better for the first annual. Thank you to all the artists and all the great people of the community the participated in the event.
I think Kit Boise-Cossart summed it up perfectly for the artists:
"That was a kick and a beautiful evening. All the artists that I painted
with were nervous about the time constraint and the 'competition', andpleasantly relaxed after - encouraged by the images that we all had
created. I was really impressed with their talent, commitment to their
work, and the results. Is was very inspiring.
The audience was attentive and enthusiastic. A lot of folk stopped by
repeatedly while I was painting to check on my progress. It was fun to
interact with them and try to debunk any 'secret magic' about art and
outdoor painting (although there is that magic anyway). It helped me get
a grip on what I've been doing, and loosened me up a bit (my painting
was pretty sketchy). Kinda of like a life drawing class. I spoke with a
lot of parents and kids. Everyone was supportive and engaged."
