Local artist Jim Laurino’s award winning painting, titled “Raspberries”, is a perfect example of the plein air style.
But as with most events during this year of COVID, the weeklong competition has traditionally taken place outdoors (“en plein air”) every October on Cape Ann for the last five years will hold to familiar elements while changing the program up, offering a twist. Organizers announced the artists selected for competition, and CAPA will officially kick off on Monday, October 5. There will be the familiar featured plein air demonstrations at locations around Cape Ann that will be announced before Monday. CAPA will also feature online showings and sales of the competing artists’ work, as a way to introduce them to the community.
Those hoping to see the finalists at work, in competition, day-by-day at some of Cape Ann’s most scenic spots, however, will have to wait until next year. The actual CAPA Festival has been postponed until May, 2021.
October has become the expected season for plein air on Cape Ann, but it’s a year-round passion for those who do it. “Plein air” is an increasingly popular style of painting where artists get outside, into the elements and paint what they see, quickly, in their own style. The goal, generally, is to capture the distinct feeling of witnessing plain and striking beauty in our immediate surroundings. Organizers at CAPA hope that participants over the years would soar beyond this goal to set new standards within the style. Last year, competition week was hit with cold, extended rains. As a result, many of the artists switched it up, taking their plein air painting indoors—one finalist depicting the inside of a bar, where he’d holed up for the duration of a storm—to show that circumstances can offer an alternative, equally striking, perspective.
So, who are the painters this year? Many are familiar to those who remember last year’s competitive roster, and there are new ones as well. They include artists from across the US–including Montana, South Carolina, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Tennessee, and, of course, New England. Nine are considered “local,” including Jim Laurino (Cape Ann), David Bareford (Cape Ann), Susan Lynn (Rockport), Paul George (Ipswich), John Caggiano (Rockport), Dan DeLouise (Rockport), Jill Basham (Easton), David Drinon (Andover), and Leonard Mizerek (Boston).
The CAPA judge selecting the line-up was Cindy Baron, a well-known landscape painter who works in watercolors and oils. In Spring 2021, when the artists come to Cape Ann for the weeklong competition, it will be Hiu Lai Chong, an established oil painter, who will judge the competition. Notably, Chong was a competitor in the CAPA 2018 festival, so this spin as judge will bring her back to familiar territory.
