Show Preview | Paint the Town - Southwest Art Magazine

Marble Falls, TX

Various locations, April 29-May 5

Chuck Mauldin, Lakeside Bluebonnets, oil, 9 x 12.

This story was featured in the April 2018 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art April 2018 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

Imagine coming across Claude Monet as he worked along the waterside in France. He’s not famous yet—merely a plein-air painter honing his craft. The excitement of such a meeting between collector and emerging artist is what this month’s Paint the Town event is all about.

: Alison Menke, Fin’s The New Spot in Town, oil, 11 x 14.

: Richard Szkutnik, Wirtz Dam, oil, 17 x 17.

: Chuck Mauldin, Burnet Barn, oil, 9 x 12.

The event began in 2006 through a partnership with a local entrepreneur who was hosting a music festival. Wanting to expand, he approached Bill and Janey Rives to help incorporate fine art into the event. But over the years Paint the Town parted ways with the music festival and broke out on its own. The event is now hosted by Highland Lakes Creative Arts, a nonprofit organization started by Janey Rives, and includes more than 40 nationally recognized artists. Various locations around the town of Marble Falls, TX, provide painters with endless subject matter. “As I became more involved, I realized a lot of artists that we had hosted three years ago are now the artists recognized all over the country,” says Bill Rives. “This is a great place for talented artists to hone their skills and for collectors to find those diamonds in the rough.” Participating artists include Chuck Mauldin, Richard Szkutnik, Kim Timmons, Nancy Wood, Randall Cogburn, and Peggy Kingsbury.

: Chuck Mauldin, Lakeside Blues, oil, 9 x 12.

: Chuck Mauldin, Third Street, oil, 12 x 9.

: Alison Menke, The Back Entrance, oil, 16 x 20.

While artists may enter only one piece in the event’s competition, they have the entire week to create artwork. Painting in watercolors, pastels, oils, and acrylics, artists participate in free paint days, touring around the city at different times of day with opportunities to paint at sunrise and at night while the public watches. One highlight of the event is the Young Artists Day on Thursday, May 3. Art students from local middle and high schools join the artists to learn and hone their skills. “Highland Lakes Creative Arts always wanted this event to have an educational component,” Rives says. “I’m always impressed with the palette and the skill some of these teenage artists already have.”

The event comes to an end on Saturday, May 5, with the Paint the Town Celebration beginning at 10 a.m. Interested collectors can view and purchase the works even earlier at the Collector’s Reception and Award Celebration on Friday, May 4, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. —Mackenzie McCreary

contact information
www.hlcarts.com