Begun in 2014 and founded by James Colman, Paint Out has put on over 20 events in a decade across East Anglia. 2023 sees our biggest event yet with 100 artists expected in July.
Paint Out 2022
2022’s 8-day tour of Norfolk with some 75 of the 90 accepted artists attending, despite the cost of living crisis and hottest weather on record. Check out the painting locations Google map here. View the gallery of some of the finished artworks and Exhibition Catalogue. Well over 600 paintings were created and judged by: art critic and curator Hugh Pilkington, Dr Sally Anne Huxtable (National Trust Chief Curator) and artist Michael Richardson.
Paint Out Norfolk Exhibition Catalogue Paint Out Norfolk 2022 Gallery
27-29 October saw us revisiting Norwich in the autumn with a specific emphasis on a Nocturne painting festival running Thursday evening through to a Saturday PV and exhibition in Cathedral Close, Tombland, during the Hostry Festival. See the Gallery and Sale Catalogue.
Paint Out Norwich Exhibition Catalogue Paint Out Norfolk 2022 Gallery
A Sunday warm-up event also ran 26 June 2022 featuring 16 open gardens and a 14th-century church based in the beautiful Ludham, on the Norfolk Broads. Home to Edward Seago and Kieron Williamson, this event saw classic cars, heritage boats, and the village life of a summer festival celebration in full swing.
Paint Out 2021
2021’s premier Norfolk event saw 70 artists participating and 500 artworks created. The judges were artists Maggi Hambling and Rob Adams, and curator Giorgia Bottinelli. Check out the painting locations Google map here. View the gallery of some of the finished artworks.
Paint Out 2020
2020’s outdoor painting programme included an 8-day tour of Norfolk with over 50 of the 60+ accepted artists still able to attend, despite Covid. It meant a more measured event with socially distancing artists and a masked-up exhibition. Check out the painting locations Google map here. View the gallery of some of the finished artworks. Well over 400 paintings were created and the three judges: Sarah Flynn (Sworders), Amanda Geitner (EAAF) and artist Bruer Tidman, had a tough choice to narrow them down to 3 main prizes and a personal commendation each. James and Katy also awarded two artists with the Paint Out Spirit of Plein Air prizes for their body of work produced during the event, consistency and quality. The prizes, as in 2019, went to a trio of female artists: First Prize – Susan Isaac, Second Prize – Mary Blue Brady, Third Prize – Amanda Barrett, and commendations to Alfie Carpenter, Jack Godfrey, Naomi Clements-Wright, Spirit of Plein Air awards to Paul Alcock, Sam Robbins.
Paint Out Norfolk Exhibition Paint Out Norfolk 2020 Gallery Lockdown plein air Painting Survey
Paint Out 2019
Following 2018’s midwinter free event we returned to Norwich Market, Jarrolds, Haymarket and the surrounding area in mid-December 2019 to paint the seasonal scenes. Some 20 artists participated, painting early for the light as well as late for the Christmas lights.
2019’s outdoor painting programme brought us to Cambridge with Cheffins Fine Art for the first time (13-15 May), The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (1-7 July), a collaboration with the Holt Festival (19 July), and with the Norwich Hostry Festival (14-16 Oct). Our premier Norfolk plein air event offered variety of visual stimuli from beach and pine at Wells next the Sea, inland Broads at How Hill, park, house and Henry Moore sculptures at Houghton Hall, modern and more sculptures at UEA & the Sainsbury Centre culminating in judging, awards, a private view and an exhibition – now online.
Through a series of one-day paint puts we will also have explored Norfolk’s historic and hidden gardens including: Stody Lodge gardens (26 May), Elsing Hall gardens (16 Jun & 15 Sep), Houghton Hall walled garden (14 Sep), Hunworth Hall garden (5 Oct), Norwich Bishop’s Garden (14 Oct), Norwich Plantation garden (15 Oct). Art Exhibition (17-27 Oct).
Read more about our 2019 events launch. Visit galleries of past events.
Paint Out Cambridge Gallery Paint Out Norfolk Gallery Paint Out Holt Gallery Paint Out Gardens Gallery
Plein Air – Art works carried out in the open air – chiefly painting.
The Paint Out competitions and invitationals accept any 2-dimensional media or mixed-media applied to a canvas/board/paper embracing drawing, pastels, oils, watercolour, gouache, acrylic, pen and ink, screen-printing, and even digital in certain categories. Innovation and originality are encouraged alongside traditional art forms. We are increasingly moving towards displaying mostly unframed ‘art in the raw’, showing off plein air art in a fresh way, hot – or rather wet off the easel.
We seek to capture the urban city and country environments in contemporary ways for a new and modern audience as well as established art collectors. We bring art and artists to the people, rather than vice versa, with our artists on the streets and pop-up galleries on the greens. If you want to commission or collaborate with us to bring an event to your location, please get in touch.
We have a number of events in East Anglia before the annual premier event Paint Out Norwich to whet your appetite including several one-day PaintOuts in Norfolk historic and hidden gardens from May-early October including opportunities to paint historical changing rural and urban landscapes in Cambridge, Holt and Norfolk as we seek to use Paint Out events to document our changing environment.
Join Our Mailing List Paint Out Register interest Art Talks Art & Painting Workshops Gallery Public Open Paint Outs Volunteer with us
Past Events
2017 saw Paint Out go to the Royal Norfolk Show, and in 2018 we had events in Sudbury, Suffolk and Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. We aim to grow Paint Out year-on-year in terms of the variety, challenge, location, and quality of events.
Paint Out Norwich 2018
Register Interest PON2018 Map Public Open Paint Out Private View & Awards Art & Painting Workshops Art Talks
Paint Out Great Yarmouth, 1 Sep 2018
A new one-day event – Paint Out Great Yarmouth on 1 September, from Seaside to Quayside, in collaboration with Norfolk Museums Service and particularly the Time and Tide Museum’s event ‘Drawn to the Coast: Turner, Constable, Cotman‘ which explores the identity of Great Yarmouth and its surrounding landscape through the artwork it has inspired.
Paint Out Wells-next-the-Sea, 8 Sep 2018
The Paint Out Wells 2018 competition on the North Norfolk coast offers either a weekend-only pop-up event (2015-2017) or a one-day intensive paint day on the coast (2018) making it more accessible for those with jobs and other commitments. The event runs early September and in 2018 it was 8 September.
Paint Out Sudbury, Suffolk, 30 Jun 2018
One-day warm-up event in Gainsborough’s hometown with options to paint the town, Gainsborough garden, old railway line walk, the Watermeadows, and more. Great views and amazing local countryside on the Suffolk/Essex border. [Gallery here…]
Paint Out at the RNS 28-29 June 2017
Paint Out 2017 featured a select group of invited artists painting the UK’s largest two-day agricultural fair – the Royal Norfolk Show. With up to 100,000 visitors it is the premier event of its kind. Our artists and team were to be found around the Show and at the Leathes Prior sponsored Paint Out tent. There was an auction of the still-wet fresh art on the Wednesday 28th by Arnolds Keys fine art auctioneers and a rolling gallery exhibition and sale of paintings from shortly after 8am 28 June to 6pm 29 June. Archant sponsored and presented £500 of prizes for First and Second places “Best in Show” paintings to Robert Nelmes and Tom Cringle. Norwich Art Supplies provided the art materials voucher prizes, presented to Haidee-Jo Summers and Mo Teeuw, for the jointly-shared Spirit of Plein Air award. View the Gallery of art painted and those still for sale.