The Teche Plein Air Painting Competition will host its 11th annual Awards Reception and Fine Art Sale on Friday, March 14, at 6:30 p.m. at the Sliman Theater (129 E. Main Street, New Iberia).
Judge Beth Bathe, an artist residing in Lancaster, PA., will announce this year’s winners and award over $10,000 in cash and prizes. All work painted throughout the week by the 25 artists from around the country will be exhibited and available for purchase. Take home an original, one-of-a-kind work of art and support art education.
Light refreshments will be provided. The reception and sale are free to attend. Paintings will also be on display and available for purchase throughout competition week at the Sliman Theater.
The Teche Plein Air Painting Competition will take place March 8-15, 2025. Visitors are invited to travel around the seven-parish area and watch artists paint en plein air.
2025 Artists:
There were 26 artists selected from the talented pool of applicants. In alphabetical order, the artists are Natalia Andreeva, Laura Martinez Bianco, Karen Cooper, Justin Donaldson, John Eiseman, Alex Eisenzopf, Lisa Engle, Sara Beth Fair, Xenia Fedorchenko, Fred Jackson, Kirk Larsen, Andrew Liles, Lisette McClung, Mary Monk, Karen Philpott, Craig Reynolds, Susan Ritter, Kari Ruiz, Phil Sandusky, Mary O. Smith, David Smith, Richard Sneary, Garland Swinney, Durre Waseem, Jeff Williams, and Cory Wright.
All 26 artists will be traveling to New Iberia on March 8 to have their blank canvases marked with the official Teche Plein Air dated stamp before heading out into town and the surrounding six parishes to paint. Artists can paint as many paintings as they wish from Sat., March 8, to Thurs., March 13. The artists’ works will be judged by Pennsylvania based plein air artist Beth Bathe.
Schedule:
Other festivities planned during competition week can be found below. Additional details about these events can be found on the City of New Iberia’s website.
- March 8: Quick Draw at 4 p.m. in downtown New Iberia
- March 9: Paint Delcambre 8 a.m.
- March 10: Free paint day (artists will paint wherever they prefer)
- March 11: Painting Demo at 1 p.m. at UL Alumni House (600 East St. Mary Blvd, Lafayette)
- March 12: Free paint day (artists will paint wherever they prefer)
- March 13: Painting Demo at 2 p.m. near the downtown area
- March 14: Paint Out from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. in downtown New Iberia; Awards Ceremony & Fine Art Sale at 6:30 p.m. at Sliman Theater (129 E. Main Street)
- March 15: Paintings up for view at the Sliman Theater until 1 p.m.
About 2025 Judge Beth Bathe:
Beth Bathe is an artist residing in Lancaster, PA. After a long career as a graphic designer, Beth now pursues painting full time. Primarily painting in oil en plein air since 2013 she participates in high profile competitions from Maine to Washington State, including Plein Air Easton, Door County WI, Cape Ann MA, Lighthouse Art Center FL, Paint Annapolis, MD and others, for a total of 12 competitions in 2022 alone.
Her paintings have won numerous awards and honors and she is a featured artist in the 2018 February/March issue of PleinAir Magazine and is in an article regarding Water Soluble Oils in the December/January 2020/21 issue.
Beth’s painting style is unique, looking somewhat like a watercolor, or an oil painting. She uses Cobra Water Mixable Oil Colors in thin washes with a limited tonalist palette, using unconventional tools such as squeegees and q-tips along with her brushes. Her representational paintings have been described by critics as evoking nostalgia, like that of an old sepia toned photograph, often with just touches of color.
She is highly influenced by painter Andrew Wyeth, and her subject matter is often what she refers to as the “vanishing landscape,” including finding beauty in buildings, barns and old towns of a time gone by and often beyond their prime. Old barns, a Victorian farmhouse, a back alley, a fire escape, an old mill, or an old split rail fence down a country road are common subjects. Beth paints primarily on location to catch her subject at a specific time, especially how the light and shadows play on the surface to create drama and emotion.
About Teche Plein Air:
Annual week-long juried Plein Air competition featuring artists from around the country who are able to paint in several parishes within Acadiana. Previously hosted by the Shadows-on-the-Teche, which debuted in 2015, the City of New Iberia will now transition into hosting this great event for New Iberia. En Plein Air, or the tradition of “painting outside,” is one explored by William Weeks Hall, the last private owner of the Shadows, who advertised for and taught painting classes in the gardens in the 1940s.
In the 11-year history of the competition, over 180 artists from 28 states, Canada, and the Philippines have applied to participate. Over 100 of these artists have traveled to New Iberia for the opportunity to spend a week painting Acadiana, helping to preserve unique landscape and historic, urban, and rural viewscapes.
To stay up to date on the City of New Iberia Teche Plein Air Competition, like the event’s Facebook page. Any funds raised from this event will be used for all future Teche Plein Air events.
