NEW BERN, N.C. — If you walk through downtown New Bern, you'll notice some beautiful scenes: old brick churches, trees dripping with moss and sunlight bouncing off the water. And if you glance down one of the alleys off to the side, you may even see an artist capturing a perfectly framed landscape onto their canvas.
That's what Russell Jewell has been doing all week for New Bern's plein air event.
“You're actually just trying to experience what the light is doing,” Jewell said.
Jewell is a watercolor artist and retired high school art teacher from South Carolina. He travels around the country, painting and participating in competitions.
“I would bet that I've probably painted more of other people's hometowns than I have my own hometown because of how much I travel around,” Jewell said as he brushed some bold colors across his canvas.
Jewell is here, along with 24 other nationally renowned artists, for Plein Air New Bern, a weeklong outdoor painting competition.
The plein air committee in New Bern decided to host this event to showcase its beauty and history. Although it was originally supposed to take place in 2020, it was rescheduled due to COVID-19.
Jewell says plein air art has been around forever, but it really took off in popularity about 15 years ago. Now, there are plein air art competitions all across the country. He has been to bunch of them and has won multiple awards for his work. He says it's nice to be outside doing what he loves.
“Especially with the pandemic, I mean, my gosh,” Jewell said. “To be able to get out and do something again is incredible. And then to just be able to wind up with a painting from your experiences is really the icing on the cake.”
Plein Air New Bern is hosting a quick paint competition for both artists and the community Saturday morning. The event will wrap up on Sunday. Artwork from this week is being sold online and at the local exhibition gallery and farmers market.