Artists draw inspiration from beautiful St. Andrews, N.B., in pop-up plein air painting festival

ST. ANDREWS, N.B. -

A new pop-up plein-air painting festival in the seaside town of St. Andrews, N.B., aims to connect creativity with nature, as artists take inspiration from the scenic community.

The festival is called Ecology Interrupts Me and is being hosted by the Sunbury Shores Arts & Nature Centre on Water Street. It runs two weeks and will see local artists head outside to paint and create.

"It's basically to help promote our local artists," says operations and gallery assistant for Sunbury Shores Florence Smalls," and also begin the conversation of plein air, what's the relationship between artists and nature … it's all about that connection."

On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, local artist Simone Ritter had set up her easel in the shade along the busy Water Street stretch as part of the festival – capturing a picturesque scene on her canvas with the weather on her side, but that's not always the case.

"Whatever comes, comes," says Ritter, "sometimes you have to tip the canvas forward because the rain is going on it … or mosquitos are biting so I've got my mosquito repellent. With me – it's all good – it's all part of the experience."

It's a process that artist Theresa MacKnight, also of St. Andrews, describes as a "very rich experience" and one that's much different than creating inside of a controlled environment like a studio.

"For me – it's not about what I'm seeing, it's about the whole space and the experience of the space – the sound, the wind, the weather, the light – the changing light," says MacKnight.

"The challenge of trying to capture all of that in a painting language on two dimensions."

The painting festival runs until Aug. 28 and they are still accepting artists who want to take part.

For more information visit the Sunbury Shores Arts & Nature Centre website.

You can also see who will be painting on a particular day and where by visiting the gallery or on their Facebook page.