Saturday Plein Air Paint Out along the Loop Trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, Saturday July 13^th was quite the day for art in the valley.  My art day began as soon as the Tour De France ended. Combining my love of cycling and art I packed the bike in the back of the truck and headed out to Two Rivers Gallery.  There with perfect timing I arrived just as the well known and nationally recognized local artist Lynn Brown was just arriving to sign in for the Loop Trail Plein-air Paint Out.

 

Then after snapping a few pictures of Lynn, Harold Jones, Jan Theriault and Russ Hepler and few of the other artists who were still dropping in to register before heading out to their chosen spot along the trail to paint their hearts out with inspiration provided by the wonderful surroundings that our valley provides and that little extra incentive that a prize for the winner would add.

 

My plan was to ride the loop all the while taking pictures of the various artists as they worked on

their master pieces with the intent of documenting the event and hopefully make another bike and art themed video to put up on Youtube and our own local GOWidea video sharing site. So; with that in mind I briefly handed my camera over to the trustworthy hands of TRG President Jan Theriault so he could get a few shots and some video of me riding up the bike bridge right next to the Gallery. That done; I retrieved my camera and began my loop ride heading north along the trail.

 

I didn’t have long to wait till I found the first artists painting away near the fifth street area and extending to the boat house in the Linden Tree area along the river. It’s such a beautiful area and there were so many good spots from which to paint. Some artists were clearly focusing more on the trail itself and others appearing to be more attracted to the river and the wonderful views that water, sky and the hill to the east provide.

 

Continuing on I found longer stretches between artists and took to shooting more and more live action of the ride itself documenting my own joyful experience on the loop trail. The views going over the Wenatchee River while riding the loop trail bridge there are always gorgeous and forever changing with the ever changing flows of the river as it meet the mighty Columbia just next to Confluence State Park.

 

I’m hoping the action sequences of my speeding along the trail at what appear to be break neck speeds (I wasn’t really going that fast but on camera it looks faster than it is… kind of like your car mirror that says “objects may appear closer than they are…”) will make for good viewing when seen in the final cuts of the video. As I sped through the area north of the State Park heading toward the Odebasion Bridge I couldn’t help but recalling the last time I shot video there last spring when the river had flooded the area… that made for a fun bike riding video which is titled Bike Surfing the Swamp

 

Crossing the North End bridge to east side of the river was fun and dramatic as always and then just as I was almost across I spied a pair of intrepid artists down below on the new loop underpass addition to the trail. So; as soon as I got to the cut off to that part of the trial I sped up to where I had seen art happening or as it turned preparing to happen. Stopping to visit a bit with these TRG

members while getting photos and video, I learned that they were organizing their material and were just about to head off trail a bit to find their perfect spot to paint… right on and congratulations to the Knox’s on being the most outgoing of our participating artists.

 

Further on near the 21^st street entrance to the loop where there is good elevation and views of the Wenatchee side of the river and the Cascade Mountains to the west I passed by Lynn Brown as she concentrated on her piece. I can’t wait to see hers and all the other works our local artist submitted for this paint out.

 

Continuing on, I felt the joys of passing by numerous beautiful areas being enjoyed  by bikers, walkers, joggers, people with pets, people alone and in groups all having a wonderful time on the magnificent local attraction that is our Wenatchee Capital Loop Trail. The scenery is so varied all along the trail especially on the east side of the river where it changes from lightly wooded at the north end to dry shrub desert conditions even with sand dunes to lush forest conditions that flood with the rising river waters where the trail is shaded by trees that could be hundreds of years old.

 

As I rode across the Pipeline Bridge I couldn’t help but stop to take a few pics of the Osprey nest that sits atop the high girders of the hundred plus year old structure. What a great piece of engineering that bridge is having been built by locals to be the first then drivable bridge across the Columbia River that now carries millions of gallons of irrigation water through the pipeline that takes the whole north side of the concrete surface while leaving plenty of room still for all us riders, walkers and joggers to enjoy throughout the year.

 

As I rode through the PUD Boat Launch area just east of the new Pybus Market I found local artist and sign painter Terry Johnson having a great time painting not far from the new boat dock which as it turns out sports a custom sign above its entrance which was painted by none other than Mr. Johnson himself. Later I came back to take another swing through the area looking for more artists and found Marla Bailley comfortably seated on the lush grass just south of the boat launch as she worked on her landscape painting for the paint out.

 

What a day it was for me and all the artists from Two Rivers Gallery who chose to put themselves out there to paint live in this phenomenally beautiful valley that we call home. And of course I did drop off my own digital painting titled " 'B' Team Trikes" at Two Rivers Gallery where I had the luck to stop in just as the Judge for this show Jerry Kinney was there. As it turns out he and his friend are friends with Dr. Ed Farrah the main subject of my piece. How cool was that.

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