Tana and Me

Today was the ninth annual Bellingham Plein Air Paint Out (PAPO). About 20 artists got invited to come to the downtown core of Bellingham to paint. Each artist could paint one 8 x 10 inch painting between the hours of 9 am and 4:55 pm. By 5 pm every painting had to be delivered to Mindport, a wonderful museum on Holly Street.

My day started at 9:30 at the Chuckanut Brewery, hanging a show of my Georgia Pacific and Downtown Bellingham paintings. Actually the three little ones I put up were from previous PAPOs. And there were also ten larger paintings of the GP site and the downtown area. I had to bring along my own hanging hardware and hammer to do the job. And I posted cards with information on each painting and a bio for the wall. It took about an hour to hang the show.

Then I searched awhile for a parking place near Holly where most of the painters were concentrating. I finally found a spot and began painting around 11 am. I had thought to paint the Pickford Theater area but moved on down the street toward Holly until I saw a wonderful reflection in the doors of Spark Museum, Bellingham's fascinating museum of radio and electricity. This photograph is the reflection as I stood and talked to an old friend from my radio host days. I've known Tana for a long time and it was a pleasure to see him again. He works at the Spark Museum.

It only took about two hours to paint my PAPO painting of the door reflections. You can see the painting at AnnChaikin.com.

All of the paintings will be featured at a show that opens September 19th at the Mindport Gallery. The opening is from 6 to 8 pm and I will be there. I hope anybody from the Bellingham area will drop by to see the work. It is a fun show and I always love seeing what my friends and fellow painters can do in one day outside. And I like seeing what they choose to paint.