Paint Out Norfolk 2020 saw some 50 artists take part in a Covid-distancing coast and countryside plein air art event. Well over 400 paintings were created and the three judges: Sarah Flynn (Sworders), Amanda Geitner (EAAF) and artist Bruer Tidman, had a tough choice to narrow them down to 3 main prizes and a personal commendation each. James and Katy also awarded two artists with the Paint Out Spirit of Plein Air prizes for their body of work produced during the event, consistency and quality. The prizes, as in 2019, went to a trio of female artists: First Prize – Susan Isaac, Second Prize – Mary Blue Brady, Third Prize – Amanda Barrett, and commendations to Alfie Carpenter, Jack Godfrey, Naomi Clements-Wright, Spirit of Plein Air awards to Paul Alcock, Sam Robbins.
First Prize
Artist Susan Isaac, Against the Waves, Winterton-on-Sea, Oil, 50x65cm, FOR SALE
The well-deserved first prize was awarded to artist Susan Isaac for her ‘Against the Waves’ painted at Winterton-on-Sea on day two of the art competition. It’s a large 50x65cm oil painting juxtaposing and leading the eye between two big concrete blocks and the dunes, sea and sky at the east Norfolk beach.
“I struggled for most of the day with the various elements to the composition, trying to balance scale and contrast with colours and tones, in order to give some sense of the intense blues and mauves of the hot summers day without being too literal. I eventually felt that I had done all I could to explain what lay in front of me and what I wanted to extrapolate from it.”
Second Prize
Artist Mary Blue Brady, Cultivating the Edge, Wiveton Down, Acrylic, 8x32in
American artist, currently living on and loving the North Norfolk Coast, Mary Blue Brady, for her “Cultivating the Edge”, Wiveton Down, Acrylic, 8x32in. Mary weaves wet paint and words together in poetic landscapes.
Third Prize
Artist Amanda Barrett, Berney Arms Windmill and Breydon Water, Burgh Castle, Oil
Newmarket-based artist Amanda Barrett, studied at the British Institute, Florence (Renaissance Art), Brighton Art College (Fine Art Painting) and Chelsea School of Art (Graphic Design)Â and her “Berney Arms Windmill and Breydon Water”, Burgh Castle, Oil, 23x45cm is full of fluid strokes and layers.
Mary Blue is an American artist, currently living on the North Norfolk Coast, in the UK. She is a lover of the coast and large open landscape countryside views typically painting wide boards to show the flow of hills, trees, rivers, coastline, sand or sea. In 2019, she also focused on a series of small square individual flower forms. Her art is represented not only in the paint she applies to board but also the poetry she often inscribes within a painting.
“My painterly work weaves in written words with layers of jewel-toned colours and reflects upon the impermanence of life and the powerful forces of nature. I paint the cultural imprint history leaves on the landscape, echoing the sound of ancient footsteps from centuries ago, of fishermen collecting cockles in the creeks, of farmers bringing in the harvest.”
Paint Out Norfolk – Second Prize (2020)
Paint Out Norfolk – Participated (2019)
Paint Out Gardens – Participated (2019)
Paint Out Holt – Third Prize (2019)
Paint Out Wells-next-the-Sea – Participated (2018)
Paint Out Great Yarmouth – Participated (2018)
Paint Out Sudbury – Participated (2018)
Paint Out Norwich – Participated (2017)
Paint Out Wells-next-the-Sea – Participated (2017)
Sample Gallery & Works for Sale
Artist Mary Blue, Invisible Stars, Holkham Gap, Norfolk, Acrylic, 8x24in, £450.
Paint Out Norfolk 2022
Artist Mary Blue, Roots Reach Down twice the Depth notice the Current Underground, River Yare Whitlingham Norfolk, Acrylic, 8x24in, £450.
Paint Out Norfolk 2022
Artist Mary Blue, The Bittersweet taste of Salt on your Lips, Wells Beach, Norfolk, Acrylic, 8x24in, £450.
Paint Out Norfolk 2022
Artist Mary Blue, Purple Haze, Holkham Gap, Norfolk, Acrylic, 18x24in, FOR SALE, £790
Paint Out Norfolk 2021
Artist Mary Blue, Deep Dark River Runs to the Edge of Nowhere, River Yare, Norfolk, Acrylic, 3x12in, SOLD, £150
Paint Out Norfolk 2021
Artist Mary Blue Brady, Willow at the Waters Edge, Surlingham, Mixed Media, 15x40in, FOR SALE, £125
Artist Mary Blue Brady, Willow at the Waters Edge, Surlingham, Mixed Media, 15x40in, £125. Paint Out Norfolk 2020
Artist Mary Blue Brady, Cultivating the Edge, Wiveton Down, Acrylic, 8x32in, FOR SALE, £295
Artist Mary Blue Brady, Cultivating the Edge, Wiveton Down, Acrylic, 8x32in, £295. Paint Out Norfolk 2020
Artist Mary Blue Brady, 'The centre of all things', Hunworth Hall, Norfolk, Acrylic Mixed Media, 15x15cm, £150. Paint Out Gardens 2019
Artist Mary Blue Brady, 'The centre of all things', Hunworth Hall, Norfolk, Acrylic Mixed Media, 15x15cm, £150. Paint Out Gardens 2019
Artist Mary Blue Brady, 'Unyielding sunlight everpresent', Hunworth Hall, Norfolk, Acrylic Mixed Media, 15x15cm, £150. Paint Out Gardens 2019
Artist Mary Blue Brady, 'Unyielding sunlight everpresent', Hunworth Hall, Norfolk, Acrylic Mixed Media, 15x15cm, £150. Paint Out Gardens 2019
Artist Mary Blue Brady, 'Under the blush Dahlia sky', Hunworth Hall, Norfolk, Acrylic Mixed Media, 15x15cm, £150. Paint Out Gardens 2019
Artist Mary Blue Brady, 'Under the blush Dahlia sky', Hunworth Hall, Norfolk, Acrylic Mixed Media, 15x15cm, £150. Paint Out Gardens 2019
Artist Mary Blue Brady, 'Bees are good company', Hunworth Hall, Norfolk, Acrylic Mixed Media, 15x15cm, £150. Paint Out Gardens 2019
Artist Mary Blue Brady, 'Bees are good company', Hunworth Hall, Norfolk, Acrylic Mixed Media, 15x15cm, £150. Paint Out Gardens 2019
Mary Blue Brady, 'In a Field, I am the absence of a Field', Outskirts of Holt off Holt Rd, Mixed Media, 8x24in, FOR SALE, £450
Artist: Mary Blue Brady, Title: In a Field, I am the absence of a Field, Location: Outskirts of Holt off Holt Rd, Media: Mixed Media, Size: 8x24in, £450 Third Prize
Mary Blue Brady, 'Keeping Things Whole', A Field in Sudbury, Acrylic, 12x12in, FOR SALE
Artist Mary Blue Brady, 'Keeping Things Whole', A Field in Sudbury, Acrylic, 12x12in, £200. Paint Out Sudbury 2018
Mary Blue Brady, 'Just Once', A Field in Sudbury, Acrylic, 6x12in, FOR SALE
Artist Mary Blue Brady, 'Just Once', A Field in Sudbury, Acrylic, 6x12in, £150. Paint Out Sudbury 2018
Mary Blue Brady, 'In a Field I am Absence of Field', Mill River, Sudbury, Acrylic, 12x12in, FOR SALE
Artist Mary Blue Brady, 'In a Field I am Absence of Field', Mill River, Sudbury, Acrylic, 12x12in, £250. Paint Out Sudbury 2018
Stop Press: We are back in Suffolk in 2024! Paint Out Suffolk will be in Southwold, 5-7 July Apply here.
Paint Out Sudbury took place on 30 June 2018, on the Essex/Suffolk border, home to Thomas Gainsborough who inspired John Constable, with picturesque scenery including the Water Meadows and River Stour, an old railway line, the market town itself, St Peter’s Church and Gainsborough’s house. One day, two sessions, en plein air!
A baker’s dozen of plein air artists took to the historic wool town of Sudbury, birthplace of Gainsborough with its snaking River Stour, Suffolk countryside and some 247 Heritage Listed buildings in the town itself. It was a veritable treasure trove of idyllic painting locations on one of the hottest days of the year.
Participating artists included: Eleanor Alison, John Behm, Sarah Berbank Green, Mary Blue Brady, James Colman (non-competing), Tom Cringle, Robin Drury, Jack Godfrey, Julie Hodgson, Andrew Horrod, Robert Nelmes, Eloise O’Hare, Sue Willmer.
Join our mailing list to register interest in future Paint Out events and a return to Sudbury and other towns in Suffolk.
Paint Out Norfolk 13-22 July 2023 expects 900+ paintings to be created by 100+ plein air artists at a dozen Norwich and Norfolk locations around coast and countryside with a week-long rolling exhibition at Whitlingham Country Park, Thursday Awards and Private View with prestigious judges, and Weekend Final View
Paint Out Norfolk 2022
Paint Out Norfolk 15-24 July 2022 saw 700+ paintings created by 75+ plein air artists at a dozen Norwich and Norfolk locations around coast and countryside with a week-long rolling exhibition at Whitlingham Country Park, Friday Awards and Private View with prestigious judges, and Weekend Final View. See the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Norfolk 2021
Paint Out Norfolk 16-24 July 2021 saw 600+ paintings created by 70+ plein air artists at a dozen Norwich and Norfolk locations around coast and countryside with a week-long rolling exhibition at Whitlingham Country Park, Friday Awards and Private View with prestigious judges, and Saturday all-day Final View. See the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Norfolk 2020
Paint Out Norfolk 16-23 July 2020 saw 400+ paintings created by 50+ plein air artists at a dozen Norwich and Norfolk locations around coast and countryside with a week long rolling exhibition at Whitlingham Country Park and last day Final View. View the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Gardens Series 2019
Paint Out Gardens in Norfolk ran May-October 2019 and saw 130 paintings created by 36 plein air artists across the seasons and 6 hidden or historic gardens. Prizes were awarded by Norfolk-based Art Historian, Charlotte Crawley – a former curator and past Director of the East Anglia Art Fund, as well as Tom Humphrey and Sophie Barratt of the Fairhurst Gallery, Norwich. View the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Holt 2019
Paint Out Holt 19-20 July 2019 saw 55 paintings created by 22 plein air artists across 3 sessions from Friday to Saturday morning ahead of opening the Holt Festival at Picturecraft Gallery in Holt. Prizes were awarded by Robert Upstone, former Senior Curator of 20th Century Art at Tate and Norfolk-based Art Historian, Charlotte Crawley – a former curator and past Director of the East Anglia Art Fund. View the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Norfolk 2019
Paint Out Norfolk 1-5 July 2019 saw 100 paintings created by 27 plein air artists at 5 Norwich and Norfolk locations from coast to county ending at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art for a last day paint out and Private View. View the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Cambridge 2019
Paint Out Cambridge 13-15 May 2019 saw 135 artworks made by 28 plein air artists at this inaugural Cambridgeshire event with Cheffins Fine Art. View the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Karen Adams, Paul Alcock, John Behm, Mary Blue Brady, Shaun Carey, James Colman (guest artist), Tom Cringle, Sheila Cunningham, Jan Dingle, Jan Gaska, Jack Godfrey, Audrey Hay, Julie Hodgson, Mary Kallagher, Susanna MacInnes, Aggie Matyjaszek, Eloise O’Hare, Georgina Potter, Sam Robbins, Lesley Williams
Paint Out Great Yarmouth 2018
Paint Out Great Yarmouth took place in the historic Norfolk coastal town on 1 September 2018. Yarmouth has featured in historic paintings and its history in art was portrayed during ‘Drawn to the Coast: Turner, Constable, Cotman‘ which explored the identity of Great Yarmouth and its surrounding landscape through the artwork it has inspired. J.M.W Turner and John Constable, Norwich School of painters such as Joseph Stannard, John Sell Cotman and John Crome were all drawn to paint here.
Paint Out Sudbury took place in the historic wool and silk town on 30 June 2018, on the Essex/Suffolk border, home to Thomas Gainsborough who inspired John Constable, with picturesque scenery including the Water Meadows, Valley Trail and River Stour, the old railway line, market town itself, St Peter’s Church, and Gainsborough’s house and garden, among the 247 Heritage Listed buildings. One day, two sessions, en plein air! View the gallery of artworks online.
Paint Out 2017 saw an en plein air invitational event at the Royal Norfolk Show. Fifteen hardy artists painted all the colour and character of the UK’s largest two-day agricultural event amidst torrential downpours and mud to rival Glastonbury! From fairground to farriers, and pigs to poultry, there was plenty to paint. Our artists were positioned around the Norfolk Showground site, returning their wet artworks every few hours to our tent for a live art auction on the first day, and continually refreshed rolling exhibition over both days. View the gallery of artworks online.
