{"id":7355,"date":"2023-05-22T12:03:59","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T19:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/?p=7355"},"modified":"2023-05-22T12:03:59","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T19:03:59","slug":"2023-carmel-art-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/2023-carmel-art-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Carmel Art Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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“The Carmel Art Festival<\/a> in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, is an extraordinary celebration of artistic talent and the beauty of the coastal landscape. Every year, this renowned event brings together artists and art enthusiasts from around the world to showcase and appreciate a diverse range of artistic expressions. With its charming streets and stunning ocean views, Carmel-by-the-Sea serves as the perfect backdrop for this captivating festival. Visitors can immerse themselves in a vibrant atmosphere filled with creativity, as they explore the exceptional artworks on display, engage with the artists, and participate in various interactive events. The Carmel Art Festival <\/a>is a true testament to the profound impact of art, fostering inspiration and forging connections between artists and the local community.”<\/p>\n— ChatGPT<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This year is the 30th anniversary of the Carmel Art Festival, and instead of jurying in participants, they invited past award winners for the show.\u00a0 I have won a number of awards over the years, so I was automatically in, but it was certainly going to be a pretty stiff competition!\u00a0 As it turned out, about 40 past award winners opted in, so they juried another 20 artists for a total of 60.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been participating the the Carmel Art Festival <\/a>about every year since 2006.\u00a0 There have been ups and downs both in sales, and awards, but is always a rewarding experience.\u00a0 \u00a0 This year, since we live near Carmel, I didn\u2019t need to travel, stay in a motel, and had the convenience of my home studio where I could do final touchup and framing, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1 – Wednesday May 17<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

During a competition\/show like this, you have a number of days to create paintings which are then sold or auctioned off. At the start of the event, the painting surfaces, such as canvases or panels, are stamped or marked to verify that all artwork is created within the designated time frame. After checking in Wednesday morning, and having my canvases stamped, I headed down the Big Sur Coast for my first painting.\u00a0 I had spotted a scene last week near Rocky Creek Bridge<\/a> while on a Harley ride, which looked inviting to paint.\u00a0 It was overcast, but clearing, and hoped the coastline would be sunny.\u00a0 Well, it wasn\u2019t, but the fog drifted in and out, sometimes totally blocking the scene, but occasionally the sun did break through which gave me enough to complete the painting. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next stop was Ft Ord Dunes State Park,<\/a> a familiar location, not far from our house, which I walk by 2-3 times a week on our coastal dunes walking.  I did a studio painting of the scene several years ago, but never a plein air on location.  It was still overcast, but the sun peeked out occasionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Last stop for the day, was Del Monte Beach<\/a>, where I started a nocturne of Monterey Bay with the town of Monterey in the background.  Again, I did a studio painting of this several years ago, but never a plein air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was an exhausting day, but I got 3 paintings near completion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 2 – Thursday May 18<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It was foggy and overcast again, so I spent the morning touching up the prior day\u2019s pieces.\u00a0 In the afternoon, I ventured out, and went to Pacific Grove to paint the coastal ice plant\u2026always a favorite among collectors. \u00a0 I only got about half done with the piece, and eventually decided not to put it in the show.\u00a0 I\u2019ll go back at a later date and finish it as I liked the scene, light, and colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Day 3 – Friday May 19<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We had to deliver our just completed paintings to the festival by 2 pm, so I spent the morning framing, photographing, and prepping the three pieces. Here are the three paintings I entered in the show. Click on each one to see a larger, more complete version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Monterey Twilight, 16×20, oil on canvas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ft Ord Dunes, 12×24, oil on canvas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rocky Creek Vista, 12×16, oil on board<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After delivery to the show in downtown Carmel, it was home to get ready for the afternoon and evening activities.\u00a0 Returning to the show, found out I was honored with People\u2019s Choice<\/strong> award for the Ft Ord Dunes painting, and it sold right away!\u00a0 The collectors run a gallery in Texas, and since I spent my formative years in Texas, we immediately made a connection!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That evening, a VIP event was hosted with wine and small plates served. I had invited a few friends\/collectors to celebrate with us, and it was a delightful evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Day 4 & 5 – May 20-21<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The next two days of the show were fairly uneventful as I only stopped by occasionally to see how things were going. All-in-all, it was a great event, and a great, but tiring time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned.  Next show is at the John Steinbeck Museum!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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With its charming streets and stunning ocean views, Carmel-by-the-Sea […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13,9,4,2,11],"tags":[190,240,179,180,481,395,218,45,189,182],"class_list":["post-7355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-competition","category-exhibits","category-landscape","category-plein-air","category-seascape","tag-art","tag-big-sur","tag-carmel","tag-carmel-art-festival","tag-ft-ord-dunes","tag-monterey-bay","tag-oil-painting","tag-painting","tag-plein-air","tag-seascape"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4gXkU-1UD","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7355"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7398,"href":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7355\/revisions\/7398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.donaldneff.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}