Paintin’ on the back of the bay

Jeff Benson

All week long, Jim Wodark set his easel in a prime painting spot

along the Upper Newport Bay. He captured everything -- the morning

mist, the glistening of the waves and the ways the coastal sage

colors fuse together.

But he wasn’t alone. In fact, some of the bay scenes that Wodark

chose to disregard in his artwork were the dozens of other artists

around him who were doing the same. Wodark, 45, put the finishing

touches on one of his pieces that displays the Back Bay’s ecological

serenity from the viewpoint of one of its canals on Monday.

Sixty artists in the Southern California Plein Air Painters Assn.

will submit their individual Back Bay paintings to the Muth

Interpretive Center in Upper Newport Bay for a “Southern California

Plein Air Painters Assn. Paints the Back Bay” art show and sale, held

from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 2 and 3. Thirty percent of the

proceeds will benefit Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends.

Fellow artists gave Wodark the “Artists’ Choice Award” last year

for his 12-by-16-inch “Best of the Bay” oil painting depicting

sunlight reflecting off the meandering water and marshy vegetation

and a rocky bluff on opposite sides of the bay.

“When you’re outside, it’s just so beautiful,” Wodark said. “The

bay gets this misty atmosphere early in the morning. It’s a

challenging place to paint, because you try to come up with a unique

view of things and still make it look like the Back Bay.”

Last year, artists received awards for first-, second- and

third-place finishes and the Artists’ Choice Award, but senior park

ranger Joanette Willert said the center will focus on displaying and

selling the artwork this year.

“We’ve had a couple people around in the past few days who have

painted on the [Muth Interpretive Center’s] roof and in various

places,” Willert said. “And on some days, when groups come out, there

are 15 to 20 artists in a group. Jim’s been out quite a bit lately.”

Some of the 60 Southern California Plein Air Painters Assn.

artists fetched between $100 and $1,000 during last year’s sale,

Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends volunteer coordinator Rita McCoy

said. Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends will hold a nature festival

for children during the two-day event, when kids can learn about the

history of the bay, make objects out of clay and create animal

crafts, she said.

“Last year, we didn’t have anything for the children,” McCoy said.

“But they always really love to do the hands-on things.”