Loose Leaf Notes

-The following first appeared at Floyd Times on February 22, 2026

The Floyd Center for the Arts’ 5th Plein Air Biennial hosted 30 curated artists from around the country to create paintings inspired by Floyd’s natural beauty and culture. The September 14 -19 event included free-to-the public artist demonstrations, meet-the-artists wet paint sales, a Quick Draw Contest, a Festive Soiree and buffet dinner, and a Gala Art Sale and Festival Awards Presentation.

“It’s about experiencing a place in the moment, and Floyd offers an incredible variety of landscapes, light, and character for artists to explore,” Joli Ayn Wood, Chair of Floyd’s Plein (in the open air) Air Biennial said. Throughout the schedule of events, a total of 67 unique artworks were sold, generating a total of  $35,303. All event proceeds benefit the FCA and its mission to provide art education to all in the community while artwork sales support both the FCA and the artist.

At the Thursday night Soiree, held at the EcoVillage Event Center, Wood thanked the artists and patrons for coming and outlined the upcoming program events. She gave acknowledgment to this year’s Plein Air Judge Deliece Blanchard who was in attendance. Blanchard is an award-winning artist from Winston-Salem, NC, who was recently honored with the 2026 Outstanding Achievement in Landscape Award at the American Women Artists National Juried Exhibition.

FCA Executive Director Keela Dooley Marshall thanked lead event sponsor Clark Gas & Oil Company and local businesses that included the Floyd EcoVillage, OmniBuild General Contractors, Finn Graphics, Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, Montgomery Museum of Art and more. “Blue Ridge Florist donated flowers and a flower centerpiece that raised $160 for the Center,” Marshall noted, adding that Floyd Xpress provided coupons for artists to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. She explained that purchased passes allowed collectors and patrons to enjoy exclusive early access before Saturday’s Public Gala and other amenities.

Some Soireee attendees were donned in semi-formal attire, and the dinner, prepared by local chef Michael Gucciardo was an elegant affair. It included Asian pears with gorgonzola, shrimp ceviche, and Italian sliders with pistachio pesto and olive tapenade.  Desserts included small cakes and Rote Grutze, a flavorful German red berry compote made by FCA volunteer Barbara von Claparede. The evening also featured a Small Art Sale with original live paintings donated by the Plein Air artists to benefit FCA and music by Mike Mitchell and Jennifer Brooke.

Wood, who grew up in Roanoke and lived in Floyd for 16 years, currently lives on the north shore of Boston, Massachusetts. She commented on her role in bringing Plein Air to the Floyd Center for the Arts, as an artist and a past FCA board member, saying, “I thought, wouldn’t it be cool to invite artists to Floyd to paint, and would they come, would they come this far. The answer was yes.”

She gave some insight into how the participating artists are selected. “We put out a national call to a site that curates opportunities for artists. The artists fill out an application and submit up to five images,” she said.  She described how the selection committee typically includes someone with an academic art background, someone from the FCA (which this year was director Marshall) and a collector, along with herself. They work via conference call.

“It’s an anonymous jury system,” Wood explained. “We look at all the images. Each of the artists is numbered. We do our own yays, nays and maybes. We look for a variety of styles and voices. Mediums include acrylic, oils, water mediums and pastels,” she said, adding that it’s a juried and an invitational event. “We invite back award winners from previous years.  They either accept or decline. They have to consider their schedule for the year. Some of these artists go from place to place. I would say at least half of the people that are here this week are going somewhere else next week,” Wood said.

Rajendra KC, a watercolor artist from Nepal who is now based in Northern Virginia, was a returning artist who attended the 2024 event. He is an example of an artist who travels the Plein Air circuit. “This year, I signed up for 15 events, and this is my 12th,” he said.  KC took “Best in Show” at the 2024 Floyd Plein Air. 2024 Second place winner William Hendricks and third place winner Leo Stafsnes, who traveled from Oregon, also returned.

KC, who won the 2026 award for Best Watercolor, is pictured above with Matt Sebas, OmniBuild CEO and Plein Air sponsor, and his family after Sebas purchased the painting that KC did off their house.

On Friday artists spread throughout downtown Floyd and its surroundings to live paint outdoors. Painter Alex Eisenzopf from Western North Carolina found a shady spot on the FCA campus to paint the old vacant church – once an African American church and later an electrical supply store – next to the Floyd Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership. It was his second time attending Floyd Plein Air. “When I was here two years ago, every time I drove past that church, I thought I’d like to paint it, and this is my opportunity,” he said.

Painter Tami Louco set up her easel at the lookout at art educator Katherine Pauley’s garden. “I love hills and views,” the artist from Central New York said. She spoke of growing up in Western Pennsylvania where there are hills and views. “These hills are dramatic,” she added.

Friday cumulated in a Quick Draw evening challenge during the Floyd Country Store’s Friday Night Jamboree. Artists had just three hours to create a painting from start to finish. They interacted with the public as people stopped to admire their work and asked questions. Local non-competing artists were invited to join the challenge and add their completed paintings with others exhibited later in the FCA Falcon Gallery.

Christine Raymond from historic Manassas, VA was painting a scene that included a man sitting on a bench in front of Angels in the Attic after they had struck up a friendly banter. She joked it would be titled “The Town Trouble.”

Raymond had just come from the Suffolk Plein Air Festival, stating that she usually does seven to eight Plein Air events a year but had a solo show from April to June in Manassas, “For the Love of Virginia,” in which she showed 80 painting that she painted all over Virgina and sold the majority of them.

Also set up near Raymond, across the street from the Floyd County Store was Deb Sheffer from Staunton, VA who was painting the Floyd County Store. “I need some glow around the lights,” she said as she adjusted to the low light of dusk that was changing her artist’s perspective.  “I went to the Little River and north on 221 to Poor Farm Road and Cannady Gap Road,” she said, reviewing her Plen Air days in the county.  She had been to the Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks twice.

The 5th Floyd Plein Air Biennial was capped off Saturday with a Public Gala Celebration and Art Sale of the week’s paintings in the Hayloft Gallery.  The free event included food, beverages, a cash bar benefiting the Center, and a Festival Awards finale presented by Wood, Blanchard and the Center’s Program Manager Erin Rodgers in the Center’s Community Room.

The audience applauded and cheered enthusiastically as artists made their way to the stage to be congratulated and collect their prize winnings.

The First Place award went to Elbert Shubert from Pilot Mountain, NC for his painting “C.M.  Turner’s Place,” which came with a $1,500 cash prize.

A second Place $1,000 award went to Alex Eisenzopf from Western North Carolina for “Banished,” and the third place $500 award went to Olga Bankston from Tennessee for “Century Old Guard.”

Other cash prizes were awarded for the Quick Draw challenge, Spirit of Floyd and a Maureen Garthright Memorial Award in memory of Wood’s mother.

Gift certificates and merchandise prizes were awarded for honorable mentions, Best of Farm, Best of Mountains, Best of Town, Best of EcoVillge, and for medium categories, which included oil, acrylic and water mediums.

Following the awards, many attendees lingered over the one-night painting exhibition. They admired and purchased art and enjoyed lively and enriching exchanges with the artists.