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About 70 artists paint Snow Hill

(April 21, 2016) Navigating the sidestreets of Snow Hill had been a little more challenging than usual this past week, as dozens of artists braved swirling winds and bracing temperatures to capture what they saw as the essence of the county seat.
To be fair, there was a financial motive — artists were vying for Artists’ Choice award and the $500 prize associated with it, as well as a “wet paint” show Sunday offering pieces for sale — but the artists wouldn’t keep coming and the showcase wouldn’t fill in a brisk 40 minutes if there wasn’t anything worth seeing.
“We always have wonderful shows, but this year 100 percent of the artists hit home runs. Many of the other artists have told me, and I agree, that the quality was just outstanding — perhaps the best ever,” organizer Ann Coates said.
In the end it was Julie Riker, a professional artist from Pennsylvania, who won the Artist’s Choice prize — not for a single painting, like in previous years, but for the body of work produced during the three-day event.
“She’s a young woman perfecting her painting and it was her first year participating. Hands down she was far ahead of the pack. The artists choose the winner themselves and vote as a group,” she explained.
Riker was similarly impressed with the town.
“This was my first year participating in Paint Snow Hill and I loved it.  It’s a beautiful area with lots of great subject matter for painting — lovely Victorian homes, farmlands, old interesting structures, marshes and docks — the opportunities for painting are endless,” Riker said.
But Riker’s works weren’t the only ones in demand, as Coates said about 60 paintings have already been sold, and a few more were selected for display at her gallery, Bishop’s Stock, in downtown Snow Hill. Coates will host a show based upon the art created during Paint Snow Hill in May.
“It’s been a record year — we’ve sold more paintings this year than we ever have before,” she said.
Based on the purchase price, one quarter goes to support Snow Hill’s Arts and Entertainment district, while the artist retains the balance.
Coates said the money is reinvested into the event.
“We used to buy lights and panels for the preview and show,” she said. “We changed some lights to LED and found they really work well and look very professional — they just cost $400 each.”
With 30 panels and dozens of paintings, the costs add up quickly. Luckily, Snow Hill offers a variety of scenes: pastoral, architectural and maritime, which gives artists plenty to work with.
But that doesn’t mean it was always easy.
“We had some strong winds out of the northeast, but the artists are resilient and know how to handle themselves,” she said.
Nor does it mean what catches the artist’s eye can be predicted from one year to the next.
“Downtown has some interesting buildings, both from the front and the back,” Coates said. However, she said it was the back of the buildings that drew more attention than in years past.
But the event isn’t really all that cutthroat, Coates said.
“The most competitive part is making the registration. I’ve been told the artists program the date and time in their phones. This year we were full in 40 minutes,” she said.
Most of the artists stayed in Snow Hill.
“We hosted 34 artists here in town. Some stayed with friends or at the beds and breakfasts, while others brought their campers and stayed at the park,” she said. “They shopped at Food Rite, ate at Harvest Moon or Blue Dog and basically kept to the town. I did a little business too.”