Paint-out celebrates Sisters Country

Bright and early last Saturday morning, over 30 artists gathered at Indian Ford Meadow Preserve to begin four hours of plein air painting in some of the most beautiful country Central Oregon has to offer. The Third Annual Plein Air Paint-Out was hosted by the National Forest Foundation (NFF) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS).

The timed competition challenged artists to paint and then frame a piece on-site. Some of the artists were able to complete several pieces, all were judged and some were chosen to represent the NFF and USFS as a poster. The poster will be used to recruit volunteers for the National Public Lands Day, which is Saturday, September 24. Some of the paintings will be used by local conservation organizations to express the unique splendor of the Metolius and Whychus areas in marketing materials and other public displays. The images may also appear on T-shirts, reports and other promotional materials.

The event invited participants to offer an artistic eye to the conservation efforts of the "Tale of Two Rivers," a conservation campaign to restore the Whychus Creek and Metolius River watersheds. Artists chose inspiring locations along the Metolius River and surrounding properties. The Indian Ford Meadow Preserve is an important wildlife refuge, and Indian Ford Creek is a tributary of Whychus Creek, which is undergoing fish restoration efforts.

Organizer Karly Hedrick was pleased with the turnout and the quality of the pieces produced in such a short period of time. "It's very interesting, because we'll have 35 painters but see 35 different visions of the same meadow." The community preserve is protected and owned by the Deschutes Land Trust.

Before the awards were announced, Sisters Ranger District Ecologist Maret Pajutee thanked The Roundhouse Foundation and Kathy Deggendorfer for providing the Sisters Art Works building to display and judge the art. Deggendorfer's foundation provided funding for a youth paint-out class taught by Clay Warburton through Sisters Park & Recreation District.

Warburton spent Friday and Saturday working with art students and introducing them to plein air painting.

"We learned about plein air painting yesterday so that the kids would be comfortable today when they were out painting. They did a great job. We had six students painting today, ranging in age from 7 to 11 years old," said Warburton.

Artists came from as far away as Chicago; many came from Portland, Bend and Sisters. Out-of-town artists were amazed at the beauty of the area, the perfect weather and the camaraderie among the creators. The general consensus was they all planned on returning for next year's event.

The awards were announced after judges had a chance to look over all the paintings. Youth Honorable mention went to Mieke Schmidling; Youth Best of Show was awarded to Colton Seymour; Artist's Choice went to Lisa Hoffman-McCabe; the People's Choice went to Norma Holmes; the Poster Award went to Patricia Gifford; Adult Honorable Mention went to Janice Druian; and Judge's Choice went to Nathalie Equall.

Plein air originates from the French term "en plein air" which translates to "in full area." It describes the act of painting while being surrounded by the scenic outdoors. Tying together art and an appreciation of the natural world around us was the main focus of the event. The artists who participated wanted to assist the efforts of the land-use agencies by creating works of art that captured the beauty and rarity of the land around Sisters Country.

The Whychus Creek and Metolius River watersheds were chosen by the NFF as one of five current sites to be part of their national Treasured Landscapes, Unforgettable Experience conservation campaign. As part of this campaign, the NFF will support restoration efforts and work to reconnect Americans with our National Public Lands.

Sisters Art Works, located at 204 W. Adams Ave., will display the paint-out pieces from September 24 to October 6. The opening coincides with opportunities for volunteers to take part in conservation work on National Public Lands Day, Saturday, September 24. Images of Indian Ford will be at the Sisters Harvest Faire on October 8-9.

For more information contact Karly Hedrick at 541-549-0251 or [email protected]