Just before Christmas, Paint Out Norwich ran a Plein Airwinter nocturne event to close out the year. Fifteen plein air artists braved the cold and Stephen Johnston came first winning a bottle of seasonal cheer in the form a nice Champagne for his 16 x 20-inch oil painting of Jarrolds at night. Quite a large canvas and completed in around 2 hours. Impressive.
Its bold brush strokes and dark bluish hue created a strong impression as Christmas shoppers went in and out of his chosen subject. Definitely some Monet and van Gogh by night influences.
Emily Faludy, Paint Out Winter Nocturne, ‘Starry night, Norwich’, Oil, 10x12in, FOR SALE, £350
One artist, Emily Faludy – a veteran of the last two Paint Out Norwichplein air art competitions and winner of one in the oil category, came up all the way from Hampshire for the evening painting event.
She appropriately titled her Red Lion St (from Orford Hill) painting ‘Starry Night, Norwich’ – reminiscent of both the Don McLean song and of the title of Vincent van Gogh’s 1889 painting, ‘The Starry Night’, which it references.
First Nocturne
It was an evening of firsts as it was Stephen Johnston’s first nocturne, along with other artists like Eleanor Alisonand Patricia Harper who were painting nearby and also attempting their first nocturnes. Paint Out had also joined forces with the Norwich Outdoor Painting Group, about half of whom had done Paint Out events before. Among them was a previous Paint Out winner, Richard Bond who was also painting his first nocturne in oils, previously he had tried watercolour at night. He chose to paint from under a streetlamp, minus the minor lamp headgear that some artists sported but which can get in the way of natural colour and lighting. Whatever the artists’ choices of lighting assistance or none, nocturnes are an interesting challenge and sometimes a surprise seeing how they turn out the next day in daylight.
Stephen had an unforeseen problem painting Jarrolds from outside of the Halifax because their neon-lit sign kept rotating in different colours casting inconsistent lighting across his canvas and palette to add to the difficulties of painting at night. Whilst storefront lighting was a distraction for Stephen, for another artist, Eloise O’Hare, the Jarrolds’ window display with a busker playing outside was the attraction. Her painting won an honourable mention for showing a different side to the city at night and in a different painting medium.
Artist Sarah Allbrook painting the Market at the Paint Out Norwich Winter Nocturne
The city of Norwich looks beautiful at night but even more so during the season of Christmas lighting which is mostly tasteful not tacky – although, like art, which is which is always a personal view. Locations painted at included Jarrolds, the top of the Market looking across to the Castle or St Peter Mancroft, Timberhill, the Forum and Christmas Market, and St Andrew’s Halls.
Nocturnes were first introduced to our plein air painting competition events in 2015 and have been a fond feature of many artists since, pushing their practice under different and difficult conditions. Using a more limited palette, often finishing in just 2 hours, but having one hidden benefit – the light barely changes because it’s gone!
Many of the nocturne paintings, including the winner by Stephen Johnston, are available for sale, contact us to check on availability and price, if interested.
Paint Out Norwich Winter Nocturne plein air paintings
Paint Out Norwich 2018 saw over 275 works of art created by 35 artists, each in 2-4 hours, around 7 iconic locations, and across 4 days of extreme weather, first an Indian summer then freezing downpours for two days, then a return to sun and dry. The 14 prizewinners were sponsored by Leathes Prior Solicitors as well as a local interest prize from Norwich Art Supplies.
Wednesday night saw the Private View and Awards event decked out with Paint Out‘s distinctive contemporary, white-walled shelving, that allows the some-still-wet artworks to be displayed fresh, raw and unframed. Well over a dozen paintings were sold in a short buying spree before the award announcements.
The judging is a critical part of the jury-entry art event bringing a professional critique, educative commentary, and diverse determinations on the paintings by art world specialists. The independent judges had to agree on the overall winner and individual media category winners. They were also, however, able to nominate a commendation in their own right for a Judge’s Award prize:
Sarah Flynn, judge’s choice – Rob Pointon from Crewe for “Diagonal Light on the Seafood Stalls”, at Norwich Market
Sarah Flynn said of the process:
“I thoroughly enjoyed seeing such an interesting and diverse collection of mixed media artworks. I loved the Nocturnes – quite a hard thing to do. It made judging a delightful experience and good to do it with Georgia and Tony. What really came across was the fun all the artists had had and the camaraderie which had built up between them.”
Tony Robinson, judge’s choice – Andrew Farmer, of Doncaster for “The Meeting Place”, painted on Elm Hill at night
Tony Robinson, an experienced artist himself, said:
“Thanks for the invitation to a marvellous event initiated by you and laid on with a selfless team. It will remain long in the memory and I urge any artist to put Paint Out Norwich in their timetable in their anorak and don’t miss it next year. It is a great platform for plein air painting…I was greatly impressed by the dedication, quality and inventiveness shown by the artists who took part. The organisers had set an artistic assault-course for them to try to portray and interpret the city of Norwich from her bustling market scenes to the academic quarter, and from the medieval streets around Tombland to 1960s slide-rule architecture in concrete, glass and steel. The result was a fascinating exhibition depicting the many facets of the city and several outstanding works of art. I commend the artists and organisers of Paint Out Norwich on a marvellous festival and the foremost plein air painting event in the UK.”
Giorgia Bottinelli, judge’s choice – Frances Martin, of Norwich, for “Peregrine Falcon Circling Wellington – with His Beak”, at Upper Close, Norwich Cathedral
First Prize, being a combined category and first prize cheque for £500 donated by Leathes Prior, went to Cheshire artist Rob Pointon for his oil painting of Westlegate, “Changing Skyline”. Whilst being a seasoned artist, this was Rob’s first Paint Out. The 36-year-old painter said this of the event:
“PaintOut has been a thoroughly life enriching experience for me, it’s the first time I have entered the competition and despite having competed in other one day painting events was surprised at the intensity of the 5 day competition with back to back days of nearly 12 hours of competitive painting. I don’t normally work alla prima so to push through so many works in a short space of time was a tough but a healthy challenge. Having the competition over a number of days meant I had time to settle in to the beautiful city of Norwich and get past the obvious subjects, but more importantly was to gradually settle into a community of like-minded passionate artists, all giving their all for their craft, but at the same time helping and supporting one another. I have made a number of good friends and look forward to seeing them again at future events. Crammed in-between the intense periods of painting were high-level artist demonstrations and a number of superb lectures by excellent knowledgeable speakers. Before you have chance to catch a breath the work is displayed in the spectacular setting of Norwich Cathedral with wet paint warning signs and a busy Private View. To walk off with a number of prizes including Overall Winner was the icing on the cake! I look forward to future PaintOut events”
Second Prize: Roger Dellar, “Light Coming Through the Market”. Roger last painted at Paint Out in 2016 when he also won a prize.
Third Prize: Sarah Allbrook. 31-year-old Paint Out first-timer Sarah is based in Cambridge but trained at NUA in Norwich.
Watercolour & Acrylic
First Prize: Shaun Carey, “Norwich Market 1”, painted on the first morning of the 2018 event in his stand-out trademark dark blue acrylic style.
Second Prize: Wendy Kimberley,”Wonky Bridges of Norfolk County”. Fresh from winning En Plein Air Windsor & Eton, Wendy picked up a deserved second place with a dark-styled acrylic daytime painting of St George’s Bridge by NUA.
Mixed & Other Media
First Prize: Alfie Carpenter, “He Shall Not Be Moved”. Marking a successful return to the competition despite a little opposition, on health and safety ground, to so many artists painting Anglia Square – hence the painting title! On the Awards night, he sold four paintings within minutes!
Second Prize: Tom Cringle, “The Memorial”, on St Peter’s Street at the top of the Market. Tom is now a regular Paint Out winner and continues to push his work in new directions at the event.
Nocturnes
2018 saw the return for the fourth-time of the popular and innovative nocturne – evening/nighttime painting category that sets Paint Out apart from other competitions.
First Prize: Susan Isaac, “Up The Steps”, painted from the rear of St Peter Mancroft with its eerie gothic feel late at night lit by a single street lamp.
Second Prize: Paul Alcock, “Thorns by Night”, on Pottergate, a now classic local nocturne view with the warm orange glow of its nighttime lighting.
Marking the winding down of Colman’s production operations at the historic site and brand with a heritage stretching back over 200 years, Paint Out was granted access to the early 16th-century Grade I listed Benedictine Priory, Carrow Abbey and its 12th-century ruins on site. Carrow Abbey has been the subject of a number of notable paintings including “the Carrow Abbey hunt”, by the artist Philip Reinagle in 1780.
We are grateful to Unilever for two engraved silver Colman’s mustard pots that were presented to the winners.
First Prize: Alex Atkinson, “Rising from the Ruins”. In 2017, Alex won the Spirit of Norwich Prize at Paint Out.
Second Prize: Kate Gabriel, “Autumn at Carrow Abbey”
The Spirit of Plein Air award once again went to Taverham-based American artist John Behm for his braving a plunge into the River Wensum by scaling Fye Bridge, in order to rescue another artist’s work and easel!
A further prize, the Spirit of Norwich, sponsored by Norwich Art Supplies was awarded to Hannah Bruce for her diverse collection of artworks of Norwich in various media and styles.
The People’s Choice Exhibition vote went to Sarah Allbrook, who also won the Third Prize in Oils and sold very well at the Exhibition.
Paint Out Norwich 2017 saw over 200 works of art created by 37 artists, each in under 3 hours, across 3 days of Indian summer weather around the city. Wednesday night saw the Private View and Awards event packed out with a buzz around the unconventional yet contemporary, white-walled shelving, curated display of mostly unframed artworks.
The ‘raw’, fresh off the easel, look embraces the fact that many of the paintings are literally still ‘wet’ and are sold to art lovers, in a giant white pizza-style box, as if freshly baked. Unlike other competitive reality shows and events, Paint Out is uncontrived, unpredictable, spontaneous public theatre, where you can truly ‘experience art, live!’
“2017 has been our most exciting year yet, not only in terms of the quality produced, but its diversity, and I have been blown away by the enthusiasm of the artists taking part. The event is as much about the art as the artists connecting with each other and the local community – they get three days of intensive art experience in a competitive environment, leaving as better artists, and with friends for life, and Norwich gains a living record of three days in October.” – James Colman
Paint Out Norwich 2017 Judges
Paint Out Norwich 2017 Winner Eloise O’Hare with Katy Jon Went and Marcus Dickey Horley, Photo by Simon Finlay
The judges on the night, all of whom have links to Norwich or Norfolk, were Marcus Dickey-Horley (Curator of Access and Public Programmes who has worked at a number of major London galleries), Hugh Pilkington (Cley16 curator), and artist John Wonnacott, who also delivered a fascinating art talk “Confronting Appearances” during the week long celebration of art and plein air competition.
The judging is a critical part of the event bringing an edgy critique, educative commentary, and varied views of the paintings by art world specialists. The independent judges had to agree on the overall winner and individual media category winners. They were also able to nominate a commendation in their own right for a Judge’s Award prize from Cass Art:
Marcus Dickey Horley, judge’s choice – Paul Alcock from Southend-On-Sea, “Looking Back”, at Mousehold Heath
Hugh Pilkington, judge’s choice – Richard Bond of Norwich, “Indian Summer”, also at Mousehold Heath
John Wonnacott, judge’s choice – Susan Field, also of Norwich, “Communication”, at Norwich Market
Overall Winner, Eloise O’Hare
Paint Out Norwich 2017 Winner Eloise O’Hare, Photo by Simon Finlay
First Prize of £500, donated by Leathes Prior, went to Norwich resident Eloise O’Hare for her watercolour and ink large painting of Norwich Station’s railway tracks, “Keeping Track of Time”. Eloise previously won Third Prize in 2015. Last Saturday, she also painted the spectators walking past and arriving at the VIP Directors entrance of the Norwich City v Hull City football match, at which some fans were wearing vintage Colman’s shirts. Ed Balls and Delia Smith, among others, feature in the painting and Delia came over to see herself in the large format painting. It was also on show in the Cathedral Hostry 19-28 October, alongside the competition paintings.
Media Category Winners
Further prizes, sponsored by Strutt & Parker, were awarded in each of 5 categories:
Oils – Emily Faludy of Peckham, London, “Morning Illumination” on Riverside. Emily only went full-time as an artist 4 months ago and was “shocked but said that “life should be one long painting trip”.
Watercolour – Andrew Horrod, of Sutton in Surrey, “Five Past Four, Gunton Building”, painted outside NUA.
Mixed & Other Media (Acrylic, Pastel etc) – Ginny Bain, of Norwich, “Safety Railings onto the Wensum”, from Riverside
Illustration & Printing – Beverley Coraldean, who studied at Norwich School of Art and Design, “Café Britannia ~ A Sunny October Afternoon”, from Mousehold Heath. Beverley uses “a combination of architectural perspective drawings, detailed cityscapes and hand-drawn type to explore [her] love for cities”.
Nocturnes – Robert Nelmes, who also won the Royal Norfolk Show 2017 Paint Out, of Roydon near Diss, “Sasha Eating His Chips”, outside Grosvenor Fish Bar.
Further art material prizes were sponsored by Cass Art and Norwich Art Supplies including the judge’s commendations, above.
The Spirit of Plein Air award once again went to Norfolk-based American artist John Behm for his watery endeavour, positioning himself in kilt and bare feet in the River Wensum to get the best angle of view to paint Bishop’s Bridge.
A further prize, the Spirit of Norwich, was awarded to Alex Atkinson for his “Under the Elm” on Elm Hill. The artist, who lives in Norwich, clearly knows his city well.
Paul Gadenne, who travelled up from Kent, as in past years, just to join in the public paint out, won the public entry prize for the Ketts Heights and Mousehold Heath event on Sunday, for his painting “Norwich Cathedral”.
“Paint Out is an art event aiming to redefine 21st century en plein air art practice, evolving the genre to reflect our contemporary world. We are ambitious in our aim to deliver the most innovative plein air art event in the UK, where artists, collectors and public observers are all treated to a dynamic live art experience.” – James Colman
The paintings remained on view at the Norwich Cathedral Hostry as part of the Hostry Festival and Paint Out exhibition until 28 October. Over 8,000 people saw the 150+ paintings, with some 30 artworks selling. Exhibition visitors chose the pastel work of art “Red Beret” by artist John Patchett as their Public Vote Choice.
Artist John Patchett, ‘The Red Beret’, Norwich Market, Pastel, 50x32cm, £425 SOLDSee more of the paintings and artworks from the competition week in our online art gallery.
Primary Art Class teacher Emily Gopaul teaches Impressionism for young artists on 14 October, in Norwich. With over 10 years teaching art to primary and secondary schools, Emily is an experienced educator who believes that,
“all children are entitled to an art education that is inspiring and diverse, one which sparks a love of art as well as develops skills in a range of materials.”
Bloomsbury Curriculum Basics, Teaching Primary Art and Design, Emily Gopaul
Emily is the author of Teaching Primary Art and Design, published by Bloomsbury and out in October 2017. This workshop is aimed at young people aged 5-15. In this workshop, participants will explore the key concepts and techniques of Impressionism through looking at well-known examples. They will work ‘en plein air’ at easels on the Quayside to create their own impressionist painting on canvas after experimenting with the techniques and approaches of famous impressionists.
We will be emphasising the effects of light, mixing colours on the canvas, using complementary colours and using artist’s tools and techniques.Take home your own impressionist masterpiece!
Paint Out winner Richard Bond teaches an artist Watercolour Skills Masterclass on 14 October, in Norwich. Learn from one of the best practitioners of this art.
Taught by award-winning watercolour artist Richard Bond, this workshop is aimed at keen beginners and intermediate-level students wishing to improve their painting skills and explore different styles and methods of watercolour painting.
The course will compare and contrast the working methods of different well-known artists, and some of the key factors that help make for a successful painting.
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Topics cover:
Painting materials and equipment
Preliminary drawing in pencil
Direct painting with the brush
The controlled wash
Using a limited palette
Tonal painting
Paper weights and surfaces
Brush types and sizes
The workshop includes painting demonstrations by the tutor and constructive appraisals of students’ individual work.
Paint Out‘s first public en plein air art event of 2017 saw a dozen or so artists find fresh views and a new perspective of Norwich seen across the Market to the Castle, the Guildhall, and St Peter Mancroft, on a sunny bank holiday weekend Sunday.
The vision of James Colman to keep landscape artists challenged by looking at the urban environment in new ways has seen a hundred artists gather on Mousehold Heath in 2015 for panoramic views of Norwich, and in 2016 saw artists amass in Tombland and take to canoes on the River Wensum.
Last weekend was the turn of an open-top double-decker bus, supplied by Dolphin Travel with amiable driver, Andrew – who also supplied the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack that kept the artists painting in the hot sun during the afternoon session.
Artists featured
Paint Out artists Mary Kallagher and Jan Halliwell
As well as members of the public including an artist’s teenage son joining in, there were Paint Out regulars including the artists: John Behm, Mary Brady, Karen Adams, Jack Godfrey, Mary Kallagher, and James Colman himself.
Some artists like Jan Halliwell travelled down from Lincolnshire to join the Norfolk paint out on the streets of the city, alongside the bus.
Paint Out welcomes experienced artists to its juried-entry art competitions but also runs public entry paint-outs for artist of all ages and abilities to encourage people into discovering and furthering their artistic creativity.
Art skills workshops were run the day before to tutor budding and honed talents alike.
The Paint Out Bus will return
Artists on the Paint Out bus
“The Paint Out bus this weekend provided us with a fantastic hub from which to tell the world about our forthcoming 2017-18 programme plans. Our artists found their elevated experience inspirational.
For contestants at Paint Out Norwich and Wells, it provides a great add-on for our Nocturne and main events and provides a forum with which to engage with the public. Chameleon-like, expect the bus to take on many guises in its quest to take plein air painting across the UK.” – James Colman
Public Paint Out “on the bus” for Artists of all ages & abilities
This Sunday 28 May we’re calling amateur and professional artists to draw and paint with us around the Chapelfield, Forum and Norwich City Hall area. For extra height and a fresh view of the city you can opt to paint from a static double decker open top bus.
The 28 May paint out is available all-day 9-5pm but do come along, morning or afternoon or both.
Bus stop times are 9-9:30am & 1-1:30pm for pick ups from Guildhall/City Hall parking bays from which we may drive to painting spots. If you miss the bus, or can’t find us, call 07808 970429 or 07432 608015 to find out where we are.
We’ve also art workshops to brush up your skills on Saturday 27 May, the day before.
The weekend of 27-28 May sees Paint Out provide an excellent opportunity for aspiring and seasoned artists to acquire and refresh core skills in Tonal Oil Painting, Perspective and View, and Social Media Promotion tips at Saturday workshops. These are followed up with a Sunday public paint out to practice what is learned and enjoy the sights of Norwich from the height of a static open-top double-decker bus or nearby on foot.
All Norwich workshops begin at Anteros Arts, 11 – 15 Fye Bridge Street, Norwich NR3 1LJ and may include indoor and outdoor work.
Tonal Painting With Oils – Nial Adams
Nial Adams in the studio
Nial Adams is a landscape artist painting oils in the classical style of tonal realism. His work features well-known locations, as well as abstracted artworks. He works from his studio in Hevingham under the title of Big Norfolk Skies.
In this session, Nial will share some of his knowledge on the aspects of creating tonal value in your artwork. You’ll be working in oils on canvas, with a restricted palette. This fundamental aspect of art will help you to create greater depth and contrast, whether you’re painting or drawing, from landscapes to portraits. Suitable for aspiring and seasoned artists.
Perspective drawing for the award winning view. Norfolk artist Eloise O’Hare, famous for her lively paintings of landscapes will lead this fun and hands-on workshop. After a brief discussion and looking at some example work, you will be taken outdoors to draw by the river. Eloise will help you to find the perfect view for your drawing, plan the composition and will teach you some simple tricks to get your perspective just right.
Social Media guru with 15,000 followers, and 100,000 views a month, Web promotion specialist (“how to get to no#1 on google”) Katy Went will help you learn how to maximise your social media reach for your artworks with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc – and how to find the best platform for your style and expertise. How and when to write your posts, how and where to share them for 7,000+ reach and 20% interaction.
Paint Out Norwich 2016 Awards and private view at the Hostry, Norwich Cathedral – Photo by Simon Finlay
The 2016 plein air art competition saw 33 artists create over 150 works painted outside in changeable weather across 3 days including the public Tombland paint out.
16 prizes were awarded, the first of which went to Sue Mann, renowned for painting from a bicycle, who won this year’s Spirit of Plein Air Award for being the first to take the plunge and paint from a canoe.
This year we innovated again by running a ‘Freestyle’ larger form, 2-day, event alongside our classic Core event of 4 separate 3-hour painting sessions. Our groundbreaking Nocturne event returned for its second year with an increased number of submissions.
Paint Out Norwich 2016 Winning Artists and Paintings – Photo by Simon Finlay
The new Freestyle event was won by Robert Nelmes for his widescale painting, “Norwich Market”, and the runner up second prize went to Brian Korteling for his very urban Magdalen Street flyover, complete with graffiti, “Waiting for the bus”. This prize category was sponsored by La Ronde Wright.
Tom Cringle, Untitled, Paint Out Norwich Second Prize overall, Nocturne First Prize – Photo by Katy Jon Went
The returning Nocturne event was won by Tom Cringle for his “Untitled” spire at night, with Michael Richardson‘s “Night Time in the Lanes”, coming second. This prize category was sponsored by Sowerbys.
The Core event was won in Mixed Media by Alfie Carpenter, for “Guildhall Aglow”, with runner up Tom Cringle – who also won Second Prize overall, sponsored by La Ronde Wright, lifting his prize total to £500. In Watercolour, Richard Bond‘s painting of Norwich School playing fields, “Between the Showers”, won, with second place going to Andrew Horrod.
Chris Daynes, The Yellow Canoe, Paint Out Norwich 2016 Oils and Overall First Prize – Photo by Katy Jon Went
The Oils category saw second place go to Roger Dellar, and first place to Chris Daynes for “The Yellow Canoe” which also won the overall First Prize and a £1000 in total including his category win, sponsored by Strutt & Parker. We are also grateful to Archant for sponsoring several second placed prizes as well as the Watercolour and Mixed Media categories.
In addition, the three judges – David Curtis, Sue Grayson Ford, and Nick Holmes, also commended oil paintings by Jerome Hunt “Cathedral Facade Shadows”, Tanya Pawsey, “Swans from Bishop Bridge”, and the mixed media piece by Claire Stevens, “Oldest Iron Bridge”.
The Paint Out Norwich 2016 competition, with multiple categories, saw 16 awarded prizes in total, old and new locations, and continues to provide artistic challenges and opportunities for both seasoned plein air professionals and aspiring amateur artists. Over 180 artists registered an interest this year, with over 40 being accepted into the third-year of Paint Out Norwich. 33 took part, producing 140+ paintings in the exhibition.
The art exhibition runs from 19-29 October at the Norwich Cathedral Hostry, access is also open during other arts, literature, music, and theatre events of the Hostry Festival. Over 140 artworks are on display from the artists aged 26-75, some of whom – including a mother and daughter pair – took to Pub and Paddle‘s canoes to paint from the waterline of the River Wensum, discovering new and old views of the city alike.
Artist Richard Bond, Paint Out Norwich 2015 winner painting Norwich Cathedral from Tombland during Paint Out 2014
In 2015 Paint Out ran a 100-person mass public paint out on Mousehold Heath, Norwich and also a sunrise on Wells Beach, North Norfolk. This year we are running a Sunday afternoon paint out for all in and around the historic Tombland and Cathedral Close/Quarter district. These public paint outs are great opportunities to paint alongside experienced competition artists. If you want to brush up your drawing or painting skills, there are art workshops the day before at Anteros Arts on Fye Bridge St.
Sunday 16 October 2016, Norwich, Tombland afternoon paint out (1-4pm)
The cost is just £10 for individuals or £20 for families to come out and paint together with the opportunity to have the best and most varied paintings, drawings, collages, hung in Anteros Arts Centre.
There are plenty of places you could paint including Princes Street, Fye Bridge, Tombland, around the Cathedral Gates, Cloisters and Close. Dozens of artists will be there, come and join them and take art back out onto the streets of Norwich.
From midday, you can also get a prix fixe special lunch+drink deal at North Cafe Bar for just £7.
Norwich Tombland Sunday Paint Out
Artists painting on Mousehold Heath at Paint Out Norwich 2015
