Paint Out Norfolk 2020 saw some 50 artists take part in a Covid-distancing coast and countryside plein air art event. 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.
First Prize
Artist Susan Isaac, Against the Waves, Winterton-on-Sea, Oil, 50x65cm, FOR SALE
The well-deserved first prize was awarded to artist Susan Isaac for her ‘Against the Waves’ painted at Winterton-on-Sea on day two of the art competition. It’s a large 50x65cm oil painting juxtaposing and leading the eye between two big concrete blocks and the dunes, sea and sky at the east Norfolk beach.
“I struggled for most of the day with the various elements to the composition, trying to balance scale and contrast with colours and tones, in order to give some sense of the intense blues and mauves of the hot summers day without being too literal. I eventually felt that I had done all I could to explain what lay in front of me and what I wanted to extrapolate from it.”
Second Prize
Artist Mary Blue Brady, Cultivating the Edge, Wiveton Down, Acrylic, 8x32in
American artist, currently living on and loving the North Norfolk Coast, Mary Blue Brady, for her “Cultivating the Edge”, Wiveton Down, Acrylic, 8x32in. Mary weaves wet paint and words together in poetic landscapes.
Third Prize
Artist Amanda Barrett, Berney Arms Windmill and Breydon Water, Burgh Castle, Oil
Newmarket-based artist Amanda Barrett, studied at the British Institute, Florence (Renaissance Art), Brighton Art College (Fine Art Painting) and Chelsea School of Art (Graphic Design) and her “Berney Arms Windmill and Breydon Water”, Burgh Castle, Oil, 23x45cm is full of fluid strokes and layers.
Susan Isaac trained in fine art at Cardiff and Newport Art Colleges. Design history at Brighton followed and then industrial archaeology at Birmingham University. She initially worked as an illustrator and surveyor of historic buildings and landscapes before turning to painting and sculpture full-time at the turn of the millennium.
“A central theme in my paintings is a search for those particular characteristics that define British towns and countryside. I seek to convey this in a distinctive loose figurative style, drawing on my early fine art training whilst continuing to reflect influences from my time studying industrial landscapes and the built environment.”
Susan’s practice is a mixture of studio work and en plein air work and she first tried her hand at Paint Out at Wells-next-the-Sea 2017 before entering the Norwich event.
“I instantly fell in love with the whole thing and have taken part each year since. This juried, leading exponent of plein air practice is also a tremendous collective event with similarly motivated and yet singular artists each focussed on their own way of working.”
In 2018, she won the Nocturne First Prize for her 2-hour oil painting, “Up The Steps”, painted from the rear of St Peter Mancroft with its eerie gothic feel late at night lit by a single street lamp. In 2019 with “Below Bishop’s Bridge” and 2020 with “Against the Waves”, she walked away with first prizes in Oils and then the overall competition prize. In 2022, she also repeated her first prize winning streak with “In Memoriam” at Wolterton Hall.
“I was pleased with the theatrical effect of this composition and the slight sense of foreboding and mystery. It also made me think of an emptied auditorium, its proscenium lights inverted and cast upon the emptied raked seating, following the days performance. “ – Susan Isaac [more on the creation of her Nocturne winner here]
Her works are definitely distinctive, often described as dark, reminiscent of John Piper and his love of brooding landscapes and iconic churches. There is always a strength to Susan’s works in her choices of subject, composition, and contrast.
“Painting in the public gaze can be a daunting prospect and is often best done in the company of others. Paint Out Norfolk with its various iterations had been my introduction to a supportive community of plein air painters, from regional to international, many of whom return each year, becoming perennial friends. It’s a wonderful way to challenge yourself as well as the genre of plein air and winning the odd prize is always a bonus.”
Buxton Spa Prize Open Art Competition – International Festival Choice (2017)
Leicester and East Midlands Art Exhibition – Open26 winner of Wilson Brown Prize (2015)
Oxford Art Prize plein air competition – winner of 1851 prize (2015)
Artist & Leisure Painter Open Art Competition – winner of Winsor & Newton Award (2015)
Thoresby Gallery Open Exhibition – exhibition prize & Tony Wilkinson Prize (2011, 2012, 2015)
Sample Gallery & Works for Sale
Artist Susan Isaac, In Memoriam, Wolterton Hall, Norfolk, Mixed Media, 45x45cm, SOLD. Paint Out Norfolk 2022 First Prize
Artist Susan Isaac, Six Pillars - Cathedral Infirmary, The Infirmary, Norfolk, Oil, 60x75cm, FOR SALE, £700
Paint Out Norfolk 2021
Artist Susan Isaac, Measuring the Tide (Wells-next-the-Sea), Wells-next-the-Sea, Acrylic, 35x55cm, FOR SALE, £350
Artist Susan Isaac, Measuring the Tide (Wells-next-the-Sea), Wells-next-the-Sea, Acrylic, 35x55cm, £350. Paint Out Norfolk 2020
Artist Susan Isaac, Datum Line in the Grass (Burgh Castle), Burgh Castle, Acrylic, 30x60cm, FOR SALE, £350
Artist Susan Isaac, Datum Line in the Grass (Burgh Castle), Burgh Castle, Acrylic, 30x60cm, £350. Paint Out Norfolk 2020
Artist Susan Isaac, A Georgian Front (Cathedral Close, Norwich), Norwich, Oil, 55x40cm, FOR SALE, £480
Artist Susan Isaac, A Georgian Front (Cathedral Close, Norwich), Norwich, Oil, 55x40cm, FOR SALE, £480
Artist Susan Isaac, Against the Waves (Winterton), Winterton-on-Sea, Oil, 50x65cm, FOR SALE, £650
Artist Susan Isaac, Against the Waves (Winterton), Winterton-on-Sea, Oil, 50x65cm, £650. Paint Out Norfolk 2020
Artist Susan Isaac, St Mary’s Church, Surlingham, Mixed Media, 40x50cm, SOLD, £490
Artist Susan Isaac, St Mary’s Church, Surlingham, Mixed Media, 40x50cm, £490. Paint Out Norfolk 2020
Susan Isaac, 'Fence and Defence', Wells-next-the-Sea, Oil, 30x76cm, SOLD, £650
Artist: Susan Isaac, Title: Fence and Defence, Location: Wells-next-the-Sea, Media: Oil, Size: 30x76cm, £650
Artist Susan Isaac, 'Folly at Hunworth Hall', Hunworth Hall, Norfolk, Oil, 30x40cm, £400. Paint Out Gardens 2019
Artist Susan Isaac, 'Folly at Hunworth Hall', Hunworth Hall, Norfolk, Oil, 30x40cm, £400. Paint Out Gardens 2019
Susan Isaac, 'Below Bishop's Bridge', Norwich, Oil, 30x30cm, FOR SALE, £400
Paint Out Norfolk 13-22 July 2023 expects 900+ paintings to be created by 100+ plein air artists at a dozen Norwich and Norfolk locations around coast and countryside with a week-long rolling exhibition at Whitlingham Country Park, Thursday Awards and Private View with prestigious judges, and Weekend Final View
Paint Out Norfolk 2022
Paint Out Norfolk 15-24 July 2022 saw 700+ paintings created by 75+ plein air artists at a dozen Norwich and Norfolk locations around coast and countryside with a week-long rolling exhibition at Whitlingham Country Park, Friday Awards and Private View with prestigious judges, and Weekend Final View. See the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Norfolk 2021
Paint Out Norfolk 16-24 July 2021 saw 600+ paintings created by 70+ plein air artists at a dozen Norwich and Norfolk locations around coast and countryside with a week-long rolling exhibition at Whitlingham Country Park, Friday Awards and Private View with prestigious judges, and Saturday all-day Final View. See the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Norfolk 2020
Paint Out Norfolk 16-23 July 2020 saw 400+ paintings created by 50+ plein air artists at a dozen Norwich and Norfolk locations around coast and countryside with a week long rolling exhibition at Whitlingham Country Park and last day Final View. View the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Gardens Series 2019
Paint Out Gardens in Norfolk ran May-October 2019 and saw 130 paintings created by 36 plein air artists across the seasons and 6 hidden or historic gardens. Prizes were awarded by Norfolk-based Art Historian, Charlotte Crawley – a former curator and past Director of the East Anglia Art Fund, as well as Tom Humphrey and Sophie Barratt of the Fairhurst Gallery, Norwich. View the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Holt 2019
Paint Out Holt 19-20 July 2019 saw 55 paintings created by 22 plein air artists across 3 sessions from Friday to Saturday morning ahead of opening the Holt Festival at Picturecraft Gallery in Holt. Prizes were awarded by Robert Upstone, former Senior Curator of 20th Century Art at Tate and Norfolk-based Art Historian, Charlotte Crawley – a former curator and past Director of the East Anglia Art Fund. View the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Norfolk 2019
Paint Out Norfolk 1-5 July 2019 saw 100 paintings created by 27 plein air artists at 5 Norwich and Norfolk locations from coast to county ending at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art for a last day paint out and Private View. View the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Paint Out Cambridge 2019
Paint Out Cambridge 13-15 May 2019 saw 135 artworks made by 28 plein air artists at this inaugural Cambridgeshire event with Cheffins Fine Art. View the winners and other selected paintings gallery.
Karen Adams, Paul Alcock, John Behm, Mary Blue Brady, Shaun Carey, James Colman (guest artist), Tom Cringle, Sheila Cunningham, Jan Dingle, Jan Gaska, Jack Godfrey, Audrey Hay, Julie Hodgson, Mary Kallagher, Susanna MacInnes, Aggie Matyjaszek, Eloise O’Hare, Georgina Potter, Sam Robbins, Lesley Williams
Paint Out Great Yarmouth 2018
Paint Out Great Yarmouth took place in the historic Norfolk coastal town on 1 September 2018. Yarmouth has featured in historic paintings and its history in art was portrayed during ‘Drawn to the Coast: Turner, Constable, Cotman‘ which explored the identity of Great Yarmouth and its surrounding landscape through the artwork it has inspired. J.M.W Turner and John Constable, Norwich School of painters such as Joseph Stannard, John Sell Cotman and John Crome were all drawn to paint here.
Paint Out Sudbury took place in the historic wool and silk town on 30 June 2018, on the Essex/Suffolk border, home to Thomas Gainsborough who inspired John Constable, with picturesque scenery including the Water Meadows, Valley Trail and River Stour, the old railway line, market town itself, St Peter’s Church, and Gainsborough’s house and garden, among the 247 Heritage Listed buildings. One day, two sessions, en plein air! View the gallery of artworks online.
Paint Out 2017 saw an en plein air invitational event at the Royal Norfolk Show. Fifteen hardy artists painted all the colour and character of the UK’s largest two-day agricultural event amidst torrential downpours and mud to rival Glastonbury! From fairground to farriers, and pigs to poultry, there was plenty to paint. Our artists were positioned around the Norfolk Showground site, returning their wet artworks every few hours to our tent for a live art auction on the first day, and continually refreshed rolling exhibition over both days. View the gallery of artworks online.
