OCEAN CITY — Alison Menke of Silver Spring took top honors in this year’s “Artists Paint OC” plein air event with her painting, “Color Rigging.” Menke also won honorable mention in the Quick Draw competition on the Boardwalk on Sunday.
Fifty artists — popular regional artists as well as painters from around the country — painted from Aug. 8-12 at picturesque spots around the resort of Ocean City. The event culminated with the Wet Paint Party & Sale on Saturday, when the artists brought their freshly-painted work indoors to hang on the walls of the Ocean City Center for the Arts and be judged and sold.
Kirk McBride, acclaimed local plein air artist, judged the work and awarded $2,650 in cash prizes, including several themed awards. Besides Menke, other winners included Thomas Bradshaw of Blackstone, Va., second place; Crystal Moll of Baltimore, third place; and honorable mentions Lisa Burger Lentz of Media, Pa., Andree Tullier of Annapolis, Md., and Carolyn Aberbach of Bethany Beach, Del.
Barbara Kern-Bush of Berlin, won Best Use of Light, sponsored by Royal Plus Electric. Mick McAndrews of Downington, Pa. won Best Maritime, sponsored by TowboatUS. Dennis Young of New Castle, Del. won Best Hospitality, sponsored by the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association. Jill Glassman of Berlin, Md. won Best Nocturne, sponsored by Worcester County Tourism.
Quick Draw winners also included Barbara Kern-Bush of Berlin, first place; Raymond Ewing of Swan Point, Md., second place; and Jim Rehak of Seaford, Del., third place. The Ocean City Development Corporation sponsored the Quick Draw event.
The plein air artwork will be on exhibit at the Ocean City Center for the Arts through the end of August.