Painting The Skies

You would hardly believe it was fall last weekend! Bright skies and comfy temps helped bring in the masses to the streets of the East End's villages and hamlets giving local businesses a needed shot in the arm. The Southampton Chamber of Commerce sponsored the annual sidewalk sale and the Southampton Museum and Research Center held an estate sale at their new property, the John White House on North Main Street.

Alec Baldwin and Laura Grenning at Grenning Gallery. Photos by John Wegorzewski

Everywhere you turned there were great bargains to be had for the canny shopper. Vicomte Arthur, the luxe men's wear company, had a "clean out the closet" sale with their pricey shirts and accessories going for a fraction of their cost. Across the street at Jildor Shoe Emporium, we stocked up on gorgeous hand-knit scarves and shawls with unusual mixes of wool, suede and velvet from Dorie Cohen's, It's a Wrap. On Main Street, Hildreth's was clearing out tons of its primo patio furniture for the smart folks already redecorating for next summer and The Elegant Setting had great art and cookbooks (we snagged several copies of East End food writer Florence Fabricant's"New York Restaurant Cookbook") as well as melamine outdoor dinnerware at deep discounts.

Over in Sag Harbor, Main Street took on the look of a Moroccan souk with colorful displays up and down Main Street, and all the way down to the wharf. In Home, as always, had great deals on housewares and trendy picture frames and Romany Kramoris had oodles of fun artisan creations including toys made from recycled soda cans.

Despite the outrageous cost of fuel, boat owners couldn't resist heading out to sea on such a gorgeous day so there were numerous sleek boats zipping in and out of the harbor offering a particularly scenic vista for shoppers taking a break on the wharf.

However, the big attraction in Sag Harbor that afternoon was the eagerly anticipated opening of Plein Air Peconic III at the Grenning Gallery. Laura Grenning, who has devoted her gallery to classical realism and is devoted to continuing the tradition of Plein Air painting and photography, told us she was thrilled to be hosting the Plein Air artists whom she calls ambassadors for the Peconic Land Trust.

Kathleen Kennedy, Tom Steele, Casey Chalem Anderson and Laura Grenning at Grenning Gallery.

Since 2005 a group of painters and photographers, now numbering 12, has been working closely with the Peconic Land Trust to capture on canvas and film the magical and rare spaces that have been saved by The Trust. The group has mounted a number of shows in the ensuing years with both the quality of their work steadily growing and the awareness of the need to preserve our habitat increasing as well.

On view at Grenning are vibrant images of our local landscape brilliantly rendered by Casey Chalem Anderson, Susan D'Alessio, Terry Elkins, Aubrey Grainger, Gail Kern, Michele Margit, Gordon Matheson, Joanne Rosko, Eileen Dawn Skretch, Tom Steele, Kathryn Szoka, and Ellen Watson.

Particularly compelling is Gordon Matheson's "Plein Air at Sag Dune" which features a sandy path to the dunes that would not have continued to exist without the protection of groups like Peconic Land Trust. (See Matheson's Artists Among Us Profile), Aubrey Grainger's "East End Barn," Tom Steele's photograph, "Strong's Potato Barn III" and Kathryn Szoka's "Tracks in the Snow." As Laura Grenning stated - "Each work reminds us that this local landscape isn't just a pretty place, the East End is also a home to hardworking, connected farmers, who live within, not on, this landscape."

As always, the Plein Air Show attracts as many other artists as it does art lovers, so the crowd - and this one was huge - included Emmy winning actor Alec Baldwin, playwright Joe Pintauro, composer/conductor/musician Lutz Rath, sculptors Scott Partlow and Dorothy Frankel, furniture designer and sculptor Keith Barker, filmmaker and painter Roberto Rizzo, designer Alison Sneed, painters Lynn Matsuoka, Daria Deshuk, Lena Yaramenko, William Falkenberg and Gina Gilmour and photographers Jonathan Morse, Ellen Dooley and Olesya Medvedchikova.

Also on hand were Jeannette Hektoen and Neill Slaughter, Tito and Toinette Saubidet, Bill and Janet Schutt, Donnell Brown, Anita Kusick, Virginia Bilodeau and Peconic Land Trust's Kathleen Kennedy and Maura Doyle.