Competition Judges
The art competition judging occurs Thursday, September 24, 11 am – 1 pm.
We are proud and delighted to have “The California Girls” – Terry Chacon, Susan DeArmond and Nita Harper – judging the painting competition this year.
The “Girls” invite you to join them at the Slot Canyons Inn to attend their individual workshops and enjoy a few days and evenings of art in this beautiful setting. You can find out more and register for their workshops here.
A selection of the judges’ artwork will be on display (and for sale) in the Escalante Town Park Exhibit Tent.
The Judges’ Talk will be held on Friday, September 25th at 9 am, outside the exhibition tent.
The California Girls – Terry, Susan and Nita
Terry Chacon started painting in Plein Air early 2000. In early 2005 she and a group of artist from the Riverside Art started the Plein Air Artist of Riverside in Riverside, CA where she held the title of President for four years. She has painted in South Africa, Australia, England, Canada, Mexico and many states throughout the United States of America.
Some of her most favorite places to paint include Escalante, Utah which she has painted many times and is looking forward to coming back in 2026 as both workshop instructor and judge.
You can see more of Terry’s work at www.terrydchacon
Susan De’Armond always had a creative nature looking for an outlet wherever it could be found. She was introduced to watercolor for presentations in the Interior Design program at Kendall College of Art and Design.
Susan turned to painting for arts sake in 2007. Soon after she found her passion in plein air painting! It was as she envisioned it should be. Standing before and immersed in the subject. The light and landscape of the Southwest has been especially inspirational!
Painting is Susan’s JOY but plein air is her PASSION!
She has been recently exploring “pushing” the color in her paintings.
You can see more of her work at www.susandearmond.com
Nita Harper is an award winning artist living in the desert of Southern California. The granddaughter of a professional artist who showed his work with painters like Edgar Payne, Victor Higgins and Walter Ufer, she was inspired at an early age, and has been painting most of her life. Moves from Illinois to Florida, Texas, and eventually California, exposed her to the country’s vast and varied landscape. Nita studied art with an emphasis in painting at Stephens College, the University of Arizona, and the Glassell School of Art, MFA, Houston. She also studied with several noted painters including Albert Handel, Frank Serrano, and the late Ann Templeton. She has been fortunate to travel to paint in Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon and other breathtaking locations.
Nita is particularly drawn to the vast, unspoiled lands of the American Southwest. Living in the desert gives her the opportunity to paint her favorite landscape during the winter months and work larger in the studio during the summer. She is a member of the PAC6, a group of six women artists who have committed themselves to painting adventures that follow in the footsteps of the early painters who travelled the west over a century ago. A painting trip on horseback into the Eastern Sierras was the trip of a lifetime. Nita believes that artists are the luckiest people in the world.
You can see more of her work at: www.nitaharperart.com