"Wexford Town" Ireland plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"Wexford Town"  14x11 oil on panel  $800

 

Before getting too far down the blog post road with the Whidbey Island Plein Air competition I would like to post my paintings and our adventures in Ireland during Art in the Open 2025.

Good friend and artist Ned Mueller and his wife Karen Scannell Mueller began telling us about Art in the Open years ago and after trying a few times to schedule a trip to Ireland we finally made it in 2025. Sadly due to health reasons we were not able to meet up with Ned and Karen but they were with us in spirit.

Art in the Open is a cool plein air painting competition which is open to anyone who wants to register and emphasizes making friends and building relationships over competition for awards. It attracts artists from around the world and over 200 attended this years event.

Ann booked a round trip ticket from Seattle to Dublin which was a 9 hour flight with no layovers or transfers. We arrived in Wexford by train with me dragging along a large roller suitcase I purchased on Amazon and another big duffle bag with my painting gear. This is the first event I have attended out of the country where I had to fly in with all the stuff needed to paint, frame and hang finished paintings. If I did Wexford again I would use the local art store, Spectrum for framing and solvent or any other last minuet needs. They are great!

More on Art in the Open in future posts!  =]

View of Wexford from our amazing Air BnB