Please help us congratulate Barbara Ortiz for winning Overall First Place in the September 2025 PleinAir Salon, judged by Abigail McBride, Director of McBride Gallery.
“This piece gave me an immediate and visceral sense of place,” Abigail said. “It pulled me to specific memories of being on a beach with cold water swirling around my ankles, looking out at the view. It has a beautiful outdoor light effect. But what sealed it for me is how the composition leads you back to the distance in an entertaining ride of swirls until you reach the ladder of lines: wave and land. Then a little red rocket of a light house launches you up into the sky and drops you right back down on the shore.”
About the Artist:
Capturing a moment of joyful observation and sharing that moment on canvas through the use of light and shadow, textures and edges in her representational oil paintings and pastel paintings is the reason Barbara Ortiz paints.
She enjoys the challenge of working in plein air. Due to the ever-changing light, holding onto that original visual image and incorporating a sense of weather and time of day takes immense focus. Barbara says “This is my happy place.”
Barbara took life drawing classes in the North Jersey Art Center while in high school. She studied fine art at Monmouth College and Fairleigh Dickenson University.
In 1984, Barbara moved to Cancun, Mexico where she resided until 1994. During that time, she owned and operated an interior decorating business. Upon returning to the United States, Barbara, along with her husband and two children, settled in Florida.
Barbara resumed studying oil painting and pastel. She began painting plein air in 2011. Plein air painting beautifully joined her love of painting with her love of the outdoors.
Barbara has participated in a number of invitational shows and paint outs. She has been recognized with awards for her work in both pastel and oil.
About the PleinAir Salon:
In the spirit of the French Salon created by the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, this annual online art competition, with 11 monthly cycles, leading to the annual Salon Grand Prize winners, is designed to stimulate artistic growth through competition. The PleinAir® Salon rewards artists with $50,000 in cash prizes and exposure of their work, with the winning painting featured on the cover of PleinAir® Magazine.
Winners in each monthly competition may receive recognition and exposure through PleinAir Magazine’s print magazine, e-newsletters, websites, and social media. Winners of each competition will also be entered into the annual competition. The Annual Awards will be presented live at the next Plein Air Convention & Expo.
The next round of the PleinAir Salon has begun so hurry, as this competition ends on the last day of the month. Enter your best art in the PleinAir Salon here.
View more artist and collector profiles here at FineArtConnoisseur.com.
