– Bob Bahr reporting, Editor PleinAir Today –
Elise Phillips’ top winner at Paint Annapolis was a matter of capturing life in constant motion.
Lead Image: “Clearing Skies,” by Elise Phillips. First Place at Paint Annapolis
“I painted all three of my competition pieces on the City Dock in Annapolis,” Phillips says. “I love that view for the constant activity and the ever-changing light. For the painting that won First Place, it had been rainy and gray, and before you knew it the clouds started breaking up and clearing out. When I see something like this happening, I make sure to get them in first, since before you know it, it has changed. The sailboats started gearing up for races and added the perfect sparkle for the painting. Again, when it comes to putting the sailboats in, I quickly indicate them when I see them in the position I want.”
Ron Boehmer was the judge. He mentions four things about Phillips’ painting that impressed him. “I chose the piece for the top award for the following combination of aspects:
- the effective naturalism of visual statement with regards to light and space,
- her elegant, sensitive, and poetic statement of color,
- her rhythmic and painterly notations to represent the nature of light and form among the numerous boats in the scene, and
- the sense of complete statement and perception in the painting.”
