The popular live painting competition returned to The MUSEUM on January 28th, 2017. This was my third time attending. You can read about last year's event here. I noticed that the crowd seemed slightly smaller than last year, but that may have been due to Leadership Waterloo Region's Fire & Ice Gala being held on the same night. There was an art show at the gala featuring local artists, so I imagine that some people may have gone to show their support at that event. Even though there was a competing event the same night, that didn't dampen the spirits of the crowd.
Several of the participating artists from last year were back again for the competition. Like previous years, the crowd reaction was a quick way to gauge which artists had an established fan base. While I was busy wondering how stressful it might be to create a work of art from scratch in 30 minutes in front of a large audience, I overheard some attendees saying how stressful it was for them to decide where to place their votes. I can understand where they were coming from. There was a lot of talent on stage.
For Round 1, the artists were not given a theme and could paint whatever they wished. Round 2 was themed "Celebration" in honour of Canada 150. 2017 is Canada's 150th birthday. Round 3 continued the Canada 150 theme with "Traditions".
Art from round 1 ready for the silent auction
Art from round 1 ready for the silent auction. My friend was the lucky winner of the top left painting.
Celebration
And then there were five.
Traditions
The final five artists were Ralf Wall, Nik Harron, Rachael Rector, Ethel Voronkova, Shelby Legere. First place went to Nik Harron, second place to Ralf Wall, third place to Ethel Voronkova.
The final five. Left to right: Ralf Wall (second place), Nik Harron (first place), Ethel Voronkova, Shelby Legere, Rachael Rector
Did you attend The Brush Off this year? What were some of your favourites?
Photos and story by Glodeane Brown
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