Posted in Art, Event Review

PIPAF Atlantic Edition 2021

Posted on by Edward Wedler

Last week, for three days, twenty artists competed in the Parrsboro International Plein Air Festival Atlantic Edition (PIPAF).

The spectacular Parrsboro coastline offers artists great inspiration.

For the first time, Anne and I were juried in to compete alongside great talent from across the region — from Weymouth, Nova Scotia, to St Andrews, New Brunswick.

Each morning and afternoon we scattered out between Advocate Harbour to Five Islands to pick our spot and paint the landscape. One day, Anne painted inland at Newville Lake, north of Parrsboro.

I seemed to gravitate to the built (and decaying) environment. Two of my watercolours captured abandoned buildings and trucks at “Parrsboro’s Bone Yard“. Others avoided this site. Once completed, we posted our artwork online at the PIPAF website and also to our online gallery.

On Saturday evening at “The Gala”, artists’ entries were judged by the owner of Zwicker’s Gallery in Halifax, Ian Muncaster. Aside from “Best in the Show”, categories included “Best Use of Light”, “Best Seascape”, “Best Nocturne” and more.

My nocturne entry, “Late Night Donuts“, was painted at night opposite Tim’s. People claim I left Anne stranded on a dark rural road to paint Partridge Island bathed in moonlight. Not true. She insisted I leave her there to paint. Her painting resulted in, “I Might Have Heard a Bear“.

Sunday, the last day of the competition, saw these twenty artists joined by others to paint in the Quick Draw event.

PIPAF 2021 Quick Draw Event attracted other artists and art lovers.

In addition to seeing our art-loving friends from the Annapolis Valley, we got to see our Halifax Urban Sketcher friends from Halifax who join in on the Quick Draw event.

While Anne and I did not win any prize, we reached an important milestone in our art journey. We were “juried in” to compete against the best in Atlantic Canada. We grew our network of like-minded artists, met new friends, discovered friendly townsfolk, and grew to love the land. So much so, that Anne booked us a cabin to return at the end of the month to capture the colours of fall in Parrsboro.

REFERENCE

PIPAF 2021 Special Edition: Anne & Edward Fine Art Newsletter XVIII
(Here, is included the full story behind “I Might Have Heard a Bear”, several of our paintings, and more.)

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Author:

As an artist, I explore the nooks and crannies of our geography on foot. I interpret and paint our urban and rural landscapes in watercolour, with a splash of ink and a dash of mixed media. I love the left-brain-right-brain dance of watercolour as it mixes with some control yet yields some surprising results, and I savour the spontaneity of plein air art. My dream is to "slow travel" across Canada and Australia, to masterly paint and cavort with like-minded artists and art lovers along the way, and be continually inspired by the contemporary and historic giants of the art world (I patiently seek a benefactor and the support of fine art collectors to fulfil my dream).

One thought on “PIPAF Atlantic Edition 2021”

  1. Bob

    Thanks for this — I really like Edward’s work.

    We used to have Paint Sea on Site here in Lunenburg every year but cancelled last year and a mere shadow of its former self this year — not a victim of Covid but of changing demographics.

    FYI — I am delayed in starting my conversations related to ACFA, so it will be a couple of weeks before I check in with you about what I am hearing.

    Brian

    Brian Arnott Principal Novita Interpares | Leaf + Branch

    novitainterpares.ca

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