The Brush Off! Winnipeg, MB

This past Friday I participated as 1 of 15 artists in a live painting competition called The Brush Off! It was part of a fundraiser for the Manitoba Children's Museum at the Forks in Winnipeg. Proceeds raised from the event will be going towards enhancing exhibitions at the Children's Museum, the creation of educational programs, and helping fund the Free2Play program which provides free museum visits for under-supported children in the community. The first round of painting was a 30 min warm up round where all 15 artists completed a painting as people were arriving for the event. 

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This was the 18x24" painting that I completed for the warm-up round of the competition. I kept things as simple as I could in terms of color palette and went with a combination of blues and purples. 

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This was the 18"x24" painting I completed for Round 1 of the competition. As with the warm-up round I stuck with a focused palette this time I chose reds, oranges, and yellows. 

Round 1

Shortly after the warm-up round began Round 1 of the competition. I chose my painting station last which proved to be a disadvantage. There were five artists in a square formation in the section of the museum name "Times Square", this is where the majority of people at the event spent most of their time. Although the MC announced throughout the round that there were 15 artists to check out and vote for, I am unsure how many votes or even how much traffic even came my way. Once the round began I was pretty much "in the zone" and vaguely aware of my surroundings. Needless to say I was not 1 of the 5 artists to go on to Round 2 of the competition.   

Round 2

Round 2 was another 30 min round of painting with all of the artists competing in "Times Square". During this round all of the paintings from the warm-up round, and Round 1 were placed in an area where they were set up for a silent auction. There was also catered food and alcohol available throughout the night. 

Paintings from warm-up round and Round 1 being silent auctioned off. 

Round 2 - Megan Krause (Left) and Zephyra Vun (Right).

Round 2 - Times Square. Kritaps Balodis (Left) and Megan Krause (Right). 

Round 2 - Kristaps Balodis (Left) and Megan Krause (Right).

Round 2 - Gregor Awang.

Round 2 - Zephyra Vun (Left) and Gregor Awang (Right).

Round 3

Two artists from Round 2 moved forward to compete head-to-head in the Final Round. 

Final Round - Runner up Gregor Awang.

Final Round - Winner Emilie Lemay. 

After they announced the winning artist of the evening, the two paintings from the Final Round were live auctioned off. Overall it was a very fun event with lots of art, food, wine, and of course lots of money raised for a great cause! I hope to do this event again next year :).