Street Study by Anne Blaire Brown

Update: This article now features photos of actual paintings made during the Amelia Island Plen-Air excursion. I would like to give a special thanks to my friend, Anne, for taking the time to take and send me the beautiful pictures. Though, I have a feeling they in no way compare to the actual pieces of art!

Original Post Date: Feb 10, 2011

Yesterday, in Downtown Fernandina Beach, something very interesting was happening that got very little local attention.

Since last week’s fun happenings, I’ve been on the look out for new and interesting things happening around the island. Well, as I drove to the Prudential Chaplin Williams office in Downtown Fernandina Beach, I couldn’t help but notice a slew of artists, painters it looked like, under the shady oak trees, scattered across the back streets of Ash and 8th, aiming their canvasses at unsuspecting, Victorian-style homes in the historic district.

I hadn’t read or heard about this event in any local papers or news establishments. (I was sure The Bicentennial was the next exciting thing going on around here!).  So, naturally, I stopped by for a bit to satisfy my curiosity.  The ladies I happened across were so friendly and even agreed to answer the few questions I had about their event!

As it turns out, this event was not an event. Make no mistake. I was informed by a very friendly Sandra Harris, the first lucky artist I interviewed. She explained that their ‘gathering’ consisted of about twelve artists, all women (by coincidence), and each of whom identifies herself as an artist, a “Plein-Air Painter” to be exact. Sandra added, the two-word phrase “translates to ‘fresh air’ in French.” Without skipping a beat with her brush and palette, she went on to explain that Plein-Air Painter is also a “title an artist gives him or herself if they paint on location, from real life.”

House Study by Anne Blaire Brown

The gathering of these dozen or so artists, painting the streets of Historical Downtown Fernandina Beach, was the result of a workshop entitled Painting Coastal Light, a collaboration effort of professional artists Anne Blair Brown and Diane May with Rachel Brown as workshop coordinator.  Sandra went on to say, (surprisingly, with ease rather than excitement) that the group of ladies were indeed not local, but rather they were all from out-of-state, from several different states even. “Some from Tennessee, Wisconsin…” Sandra briefly stopped painting for the first time during our Q&A, “…and West Virginia.”

I couldn’t believe it. All these gifted artists traveled from other states to come to Amelia Island to paint our “real life” scenery? Why – I mean, besides our rich history, sunny beaches and wholesome community? What connection did this group have to the area? How did they find out about us? What drew them here? I had to know.

After asking Sandra a few questions, it was obvious I was barking up the wrong tree. She gladly pointed me in the direction of Anne Blair Brown, the said instructor. As I began to walk toward the instructor, Sandra continued her painting of an old downtown home, stroking ever so carefully and purposefully with different shades of brown, gray and white. She obviously knew what she was doing, and I was impressed to say the least!

Anne (“that’s Anne with an ‘e’” she instructed me) is a life-long artist, having been a professional painter for over twelve years.

Boat Study by Anne Blaire Brown

She has this great website that showcases recent paintings and workshops. I asked her why her class was in Fernandina Beach, and why she chose this place over all other places in the world. She quickly informed me that an artist friend of hers, Brenda, who happened to be among this workshop’s students, had a condo on the island that the class could use for the trip, to cut costs, I’m assuming.

Anne went on, “And the weather where we all came from is terrible. It’s cold and snowy.” (As a side note, I’d like to point out that our weather in the past few weeks hasn’t exactly been ideal, but everyone I spoke with did say it was better than back home.) “Also,” Anne continued, “I’m very familiar with this area. I come here with my friend Diane May several times a year. I love the history of Fernandina Beach and the scenery.”

She wanted me to emphasize, her travel buddy, Diane C. May, is also a professional artist and actually the president of Pap-Se.com – the Southeastern ‘Plenair Painters group’ through which she was instructing this week’s workshop – an interesting story in and of itself. If you’d like to read more about that fascet of this story, visit Diane’s website here.

So, Anne Blair Brown, from Nashville led her class to Amelia Island, FL. The group’s venture is to be about five days and set in different locations around the area. They arrived on Tuesday; their workshop that day took place at Tiger’s Pointe, to work on painting nautical scenes, namely boats. Then yesterday, Wednesday, when I saw and met the group, they were downtown for a ‘lesson’ on historical homes and street views. Today, they were scheduled to paint at one of the Talbot State Parks to practice marsh scenes, weather permitting (I’d like to hear back from Anne about how that went). Tomorrow, they are supposed to be back at Tiger Point to paint boating scenes, and Saturday they will be back on the streets of Downtown.

Marshing Along by Anne Blaire Brown

According to Anne, each student has a level of mastery ranging between intermediate and advanced. “No beginners at this workshop,” she made clear.

As I ran out of questions, I asked Anne if there was anything else she’d like to add. She did, but asked that I not write it down. Later, I asked if I could paraphrase her kind words, and she gladly gave me permission to do so.

Here’s what Anne Blair Brown (the instructor) had to say: Before executing this fantastic workshop, she made certain to get approval from the city. The city acknowledged her level of respect (for our Historic District) and gave her permission to set up painting stations in and around the downtown area. Once on the streets and all set up, she noted how friendly the actual residents downtown were. Yesterday, for instance, a lady from one of the homes in front of which they were painting offered the artists her restroom. Anne really felt the friendliness of our community shines through our residents.

I just want to remind our readers, local or not, that that is what really makes Amelia Island special. We are a small town with a big heart. We have history. We have culture.  We welcome visitors with open arms – especially our out-of-state Plenair Painters! – and hope to make our home a regular destination. Who knows, maybe this beautiful island can become your next permanent destination.

For more information about our community and to inquire about homes for sale in our area (Fernandina Beach/ Amelia Island, FL), please contact Lila Keim here or write her an mail at LilaKeim@bellsouth.net. We look forward to hearing from you!