In Havre de Grace, art imitates life

Havre de Grace, Md. (Map, News) - Painters captured Havre de Grace on canvas Friday — the riverfront, dock, houses, churches, the lock house, the old railroad bridge.

The 13 professional painters set up their easels in town this week as part of the second annual Havre de Grace Plein Air Painting Competition, in which artists work outdoors instead of in a studio.

Folks strolling the streets in the sweltering heat Friday often stopped to chat with the painters.

“It’s an organized paint-fest is what it is,” said Janice Frederick, a painter from Cecil County.

Marie Walker, an avid painter herself, marveled at how effortless Frederick made it seem to paint Saint Patrick’s Church near Havre de Grace High School.

“You do that so easy, girl,” Walker said. “I’ve been watching you.” For Jan Crooker, of Kurtztown, Pa., the freshness of outdoor painting makes it appealing.

“It’s very challenging,” Crooker said. “You have to be quick, you have to be able to capture that moment, and it gives your work that spontaneity.”

She set up Friday morning near the dock to paint a yellow house where the sunlight shone on the side just so and reflected off the water.

Crooker had started painting the house Thursday but had to get the details of the shadows done at 11:30 Friday, so she could cast it in the proper light.

“This is a great place to paint, because of the light off the water” Crooker said.

A ceremony will showcase all the art from the week, which will be judged and sold.

“I’ve always done plein air,” Frederick said. “I mean this is how you train your eye. If you can make a living doing this, it’s just super, super.”

msilvestri@baltimoreexaminer.com