2018 Quick Draw Contest winner, a watercolor painting done in just two hours, by Michael Solovyev, LaChine, Quebec (Image provided)

SARANAC LAKE – The second decade of the Adirondack Plein Air Festival returns from Aug. 12-17.

Artists will be out painting all week and most of them welcome spectators. The process of creating a successful painting, when the light and weather is continuously changing, is a challenge for painters.

On the day they all go to paint at the Paul Smith’s College VIC, which is Tuesday, Aug. 13, it’s a great opportunity to go for a hike and watch them at work. Hike around Heron Marsh or do the Barnum Brook or Boreal Life trail loops and check on their progress a few hours later.

The VIC is also hosting a 30th Anniversary exhibit indoors.

Event information, maps to painting locations, and the list of participants will be available at Event Headquarters: the Adirondack Artists Guild Gallery, 52 Main St., Saranac Lake.

The Show & Sale will take place Saturday, Aug. 17 at the Harrietstown Town Hall on the corner of Main Street. Hours are from noon to 5 p.m. and there is no admission fee.

There will be upwards of 400 paintings on display, all new, all created during that week. The artists will also be present to meet and converse with visitors.

The Show & Sale actually opens with a ticketed reception on Friday evening, Aug 16. Attendees will have the first chance at seeing and purchasing the new paintings, refreshments are provided, and $6,500-plus in awards presented at 8 p.m. Sixteen of the painters are totally new to the event and some are probably totally new to the Adirondacks, too. Registration opened in February and by the time it closed, nearly 100 artists had applied.

Several years ago, as artist attendance grew to unmanageable numbers, the Adirondack Plein Air Festival joined the ranks of many of the other major plein air events in the U.S. and attendance became a juried process. Each year a different team of three “Selection Jurors” are invited to take part. They are usually professional artists who have attended the event in the past, they are from different parts of the country, and often work in different mediums. Artists interested in participating will need to submit 3 images of their work with their application. Without seeing any names, the Selection Jurors will score the works submitted by each artist on a scale of 1 – 5. The results are totaled up and ranked in order and the top 50 artists are selected for participation. Each year it’s great to see that some of the regulars and locals are returning, but also that new artists, from all over the country, are interested in coming to paint the Adirondacks. New York State always boasts the most participants, but new ones are coming from as far away as Minnesota, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Each year a new “Awards Juror” is selected to choose the prize winners. In 2019, the Awards will be selected by Delaware artist Sarah Yeoman. No stranger to the Adirondacks, with a family camp on Indian Lake, Sarah has been doing prize-winning watercolor paintings of the region for many years. She has taught workshops and exhibited at the Lake Placid Center of the Arts and will be doing a Plein Air Painting workshop on Aug 10-11, just prior to the Festival, at the Paul Smith’s College VIC. The 2-day workshop is for all media, (participants will bring their own materials), and is designed for all levels of experience. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn from a master painter. Contact Saranac Lake ArtWorks for more information.

The schedule for the Plein Air Festival is not new, and remains the same as past years:

Monday, Aug. 12: artists may check-in at event headquarters, the Adirondack Artists Guild Gallery, 52 Main St., Saranac Lake; painting can begin after canvases are stamped; there will be a “Meet the Artists” reception, on the second floor terrace, sponsored by the Hotel Saranac, from 7 to 9 p.m.; nocturne painting will also begin after sundown.

Tuesday, Aug. 13: the Paul Smith’s College VIC will host the painters and spectators are invited to come walk the trails and watch artists at work, visit the Butterfly House, and enjoy the 30th Anniversary Exhibit in the building. See paulsmith.edu/vic for their full schedule.

Wednesday, Aug. 14: on this day artists are free to choose any painting locations in the area; maps with directions will be available at event headquarters.

Thursday, Aug. 15: “Paint the Town” Day! Artists will paint in and around the Village of Saranac Lake on this day; each is asked to donate one small, unframed painting, for a Silent Auction that will be set up at the Adirondack Artists Guild Gallery. Bidding will open at 5 p.m. and part of the proceeds are donated each year to the school art program. This day is also a 3rd Thursday ArtWalk, so artists, authors, performers and more will be set up on the sidewalks and parks from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 16: artists will paint the Saranac River from the Fish & Game Club property, which is just north of Saranac Lake on Route 3. At 2 p.m. their framed paintings are due in the town hall. The Special Preview Party will open at 6 p.m. with awards presented at 8 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 17: Quick Draw Competition, 9 to 11 a.m.; artists will set up and paint in the village for two hours, then bring completed paintings to set up outside the Town Hall and a winner will be selected; the Show & Sale in the town hall opens from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

The Adirondack Plein Air Festival ends at 5 p.m. Saturday. Nothing is scheduled for Sunday as it is a travel day for the artists. Every year a few people show up Sunday looking for the exhibit — it’s only on display Friday evening and Saturday.

For more information about the 2019 Adirondack Plein Air Festival, visit SaranacLakeArtWorks.com, pick up materials at the Adirondack Artists Guild Gallery, email info@saranaclakeartworks.com or call Kathy at 518-891-3799.