Juror's Comments:
Best of Show: Fox and Birds by Judith Pekala Hawkins
“ I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought”
Birds will heckle foxes. They’ll fly down and peck at their bodies. They’ll caw and circle overhead to reveal their whereabouts to potential prey. Certainly the fox knows this dynamic well and has missed a meal and maybe some fur in the past. Yet, here we see a different scenario playing out, one where the dynamics of the past or the future are of no consequence. She watches as they go; their wings, up, down. They encompass the mind of the fox presently so, that they are within her, and she is the air - the space - for them, and for all of nature.
The materiality and mark making of the piece build a world of calm and present in its compressed range of values and colors. A tail anchored with marks and tone and a head light and airy suggest the transition from burdened physicality into the space of peaceful awareness and appreciation. A material expression of the natural beauty of existing in a moment of wonder
Juror's Choice: Back Water Elegance by Susan Yoder
“I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds..”
As if spotted on our quest for deeper immersion into the realm of the wild, this scene is like a stand off of gaze. Masterfully observed and technically handled scenery and anatomy say so much about witnessing being witnessed. The wildness is wrapping around the gleaming white like a cage, and you wonder how a bird so large navigates the tributaries they do. Safety and sustenance in the technical challenge of landing where stillness resides, a metaphor for the journey of a spiritual being in a physical experience, and a painter entranced by their subject
Juror's Choice: Wandering In by Susan Weaver
“I come into the presence of still water and I feel above me the day blind stars waiting with their light”
The striking colors of this landscape draw up a sense of numerous possibilities. A scene of two worlds woven into one. Like a flip book from sunrise to sunset; in an instant, transported to something reminiscent of both the dying earth in H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, and the surprisingly rich warmth of incoming dusk. The things we fear today are sometimes the things we see unfold again and again. But the earth persists, mysterious in her ways and gripping in her beauty. All you think you know of her and fear for her, challenged and quelled in a moment of simply being with her
Honorable Mention: Stone Woven Across the Water by Melissa Reilly Wainman
“I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought”
We go out and meet nature in whatever state we are in. We go out and meet nature in whatever state she is in. The composition and scene of this painting remind us how there is usually something unconventional about the beauty we experience out there. Wild intersections and overlappings, immense green, unruly patches of wildflowers. These very things are sometimes what drives innovation in the realm of our human lives. The weightless bending suspension of vines and branches across the scene here mimicked in the bridge say art mimics life mimics art,
and we are making the correlation as we gaze, meeting nature where she is
Honorable Mention: Solace by Cynthia Owens
“For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and I am free”
The composition of this collage feels like the earth enveloped with the softness and beauty of shedding. Holding it together is nothing that won’t take flight any moment or stick when least likely. A familial embrace folded over itself in the palm of a many-fingered hand, and there in the center, an egg of grace incubated by the heat of heartbeat
oment of simply being with her
Apr 18 - May 3
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The 6th Annual River Towns Plein Air festival has officially wrapped up, leaving our river communities vibrant, inspired, and deeply connected. A heartfelt Thank You to the incredible artists who participated this year: thank you. You braved the changing light, the shifting weather, and the public eye to capture the unique soul of Marietta and our surrounding river towns. Your talent turned our everyday streets, historic architecture, and river vistas into extraordinary masterpieces. To Our Community: You Made It Happen. An event like this relies entirely on the people who come out to support it. This year, hundreds of art lovers, neighbors, and visitors turned out to watch the creative process unfold and explore the final exhibition. Even better, a substantial amount of original art found new homes. Thank you to everyone who bought a piece; your support keeps our local arts culture alive and directly impacts the working artists who share their vision with us. Thank you all for making the 6th year our best one yet. See you by the river next year!
Beth Bathe Juror Exhibit
MH Art Gallery
42 W Market St, Marietta PA
Apr 18 - May 3
Sat/Sun 11-3
MH Art Gallery is thrilled to host an exhibit of works by Beth Bathe, this year's River Towns Plein Air Juror of Awards. A Strasburg based painter, Beth primarily paints en plein air. She participates in over ten high profile competitions from Maine to Washington state each year. Her work has won numerous honors. She was recently a featured artist in the 2025 Aug/Sept issue of Plein Air Magazine and in a 2020 issue published an article on water mixable oils. Beth is represented by several galleries up and down the East Coast and in the midwest. She teaches classes and leads workshops all over the country and abroad. She also leads workshops at her Short Dog Studio near Ephrata. She has participated in River Towns Plein Air event since its inception. Memberships include Salmagundi Club, Signature Member American Marine Atists,Sig member Mid Atlantic Plein Air Painters, Oil Painters of America , National Oil and Acrylic Painters. In our Juror's Words: Accepting the juror's role was a natural progression for me. Having participated as an artist for four years, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for the festival's mission and the community it fosters. It’s an honor to contribute to a local event that has been pivotal in my own artistic journey. As a juror, I can now support fellow artists by recognizing their talents and encouraging their growth. Some memorable plein air experiences as told by Beth: In this busy world we live in, actually slowing down and really looking at a subject for often three or more hours, a plein air artist can often see things that others might never experience. Once while painting along a peaceful river scene a bald eagle swept down right in front of me several times before it caught a fish. Another time I was painting a covered bridge right here in Lancaster County when I turned around to see a whole Amish Family who had come through the field to watch me paint. I was invited to have lemonade with them on the porch of their house. This past September while I was painting a bridge in Inveraray Scotland I met up with two couples from the US who were traveling to hold a memorial moment for their late father on that exact bridge They purchased the painting right off the easel as a remembrance of their journey and as they rode away a rainbow appeared over the bridge. This stuff really happens, sometimes a small moment like a glass of lemonade and sometimes a grand rainbow. https:/www.bethbathe.com
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