2022 QuickDraw event. Jo Ridge Kelley, left. Photos by John Highsmith
QuickDraw, a local nonprofit focused on supporting art education in schools, presents its annual fundraiser event and art auction on Saturday, June 10, at Laurel Ridge Country Club. Expert painters will complete a plein air artwork in an hour while attendees watch and enjoy snacks and drinks. The completed works, as well as additional works from each artist, will be available for sale. Each artist donates part of the sale to art education, helping to fund classroom art supplies and provide college scholarships. There will also be artists demonstrating in other media like clay, metal, textiles, jewelry, wood and glass.
Painter Gretchen Clasby founded QuickDraw in Waynesville in 2001. “For someone who can’t typically do a painting in an hour, it’s pretty terrifying,” says Clasby. “You anticipate nerves, but once you get started, a painter knows how to paint. It’s not as scary.”
2022 QuickDraw. Photos by John Highsmith
Clasby remembers her first QuickDraw: she surprised herself by blocking out her entire painting in just over 30 minutes, leaving her 25 minutes for adding detail. “It’s fun to have that pressure for focus,” she says. “Artists don’t realize it, but the viewer sees the progression of the work as they walk around and circle back. Many make a circuit on their own. It’s important to them to see how the paintings come together by the time you’ve come around again, and to see what everyone has come up with.”
Laurel Ridge Country Club is located at 49 Cupp Lane in Waynesville. For information or to purchase tickets to the event, visit QuickDrawofWNC.com or call 828.734.5747. QuickDraw welcomes art supply and equipment donations year-round.
