THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508250063
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: TERESA ANNAS
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
FROM THE START, the two Joes - try as they might - could not keep up with one mild-mannered librarian.
Two local media stars - WVEC-TV's Joe Flanagan and WCMS deejay Joe Hoppel - got behind the easel at last weekend's Chesapeake Bay Art Association's 33rd Annual Outdoor Art Show, held at Ocean View Park. They more than found their match in Peggy Earle, a librarian and book reviewer for The Virginian-Pilot, who also volunteered to paint en plein air while people watched.
It was a good enough cause: Funds earned from the auction of these works went to the John Tenney Memorial Scholarship Fund, to assist local high school seniors who plan to major in art in college.
The trio arrived at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, as requested. By 11, Hoppel and Flanagan were fiddling with their palettes and brushes. Which end goes in the paint?
The two Joes had come with ideas.
Earle came with instincts. She glanced around a minute, her eyes lighting on the artists' tents in front of her. She took out a pencil and began to sketch the scene.
Meanwhile, Hoppel went straight to paint. He dipped a brush in a glob of red acrylic and made a thick arc across the canvas. Then he dipped in the yellow. Then he advanced to secondary colors: He made a scintillating orange arc by mixing red and yellow paints.
The audience gasped: Look, a rainbow. In 10 minutes flat, Hoppel had his core image. Then came the tricky part - neatly painting in his upbeat radio sign-off ``Have a Nice Day.''
Hoppel wore a big, white, floppy chef's hat. ``I don't have a beret,'' he explained. ``This was the closest I could come.''
Each artist was given acrylic paints, which dry superfast. Just in case, Hoppel brought his own oils - automotive oil, that is.
Too late for that. His picture was done. He made a snapshot of it, then wandered over to check out Flanagan's progress.
Flanagan was attempting to immortalize one of his favorite eateries - Doug's Hot Dogs, a block away on Granby Street. Unfortunately, Doug's place was not within sight. So Flanagan had to rely on his memory.
Apparently, Flanagan's visual memory came to him in flat shades of brown, black and yellow, and in straight lines. In an attempt to loosen himself up, he turned his Joe's Job cap backward.
``My dad could paint,'' he said, wistfully.
As flexible as Flanagan has to be - taking on different jobs so often, and in front of thousands on television - you might imagine a picture by him would reflect his spontaneous nature. Not at all. You could see the horror rush into his bloodstream as he tried to be loose and free. Clearly, Flanagan's true nature is the straight and narrow.
While the two Joes rebuffed the teasing and heckled one another, Earle was quietly working.
Eventually, the Joes came over to check out Earle. ``Wow, you can really paint,'' said Hoppel, a look of open disgust on his face.
``Gee, that's really good,'' Flanagan said, eyeing her suspiciously. He added, accusingly, ``You're an artist then.''
``Well, I did major in art at City College,'' Earle admitted, sheepishy. ``But that's been a few years.''
The small audience moved from the Joes' easels over to Earle, who continued to paint with galling confidence.
Within an hour, she had gone from sketch to brushed-in underpainting to completed work. The artists who occupied the tents she was painting came over to take a look.
She backed off a moment, and saw that it was good. Without a word, she dropped her brushes in the cup with an authoritative splash. Done.
The Joes' eyebrows raised.
Enter Scott Cash, WVEC's sports guy, who knows absolutely nothing about art. But he can auction it. Surrounded by a crowd of at least a dozen art lovers, Cash whipped up a hefty $111 from the three sales. Flanagan's sold to Doug Derring of Doug's Hot Dogs for $31. Hoppel's masterpiece so excited one passerby that she won it with a single bid of $25.
But the Joes could hardly be happy. At $55, Earle's painting landed the day's highest bid. And she was the one wearing the Museum of Bad Art T-shirt, they groused.
Meanwhile, there was a real art show going on, with Virginia Beach painter Jean Peacock making her debut as a juror. When it comes to judging, she's in the intuitive, feeling category, she confessed earlier in the day.
A total of $2,500 in prize money was awarded. The $750 best in show went to Norfolk painter Helen Singleton. The $300 first place in two-dimensional art went to Paul Trice (``Red Rooster'') of Virginia Beach; second place ($200), Williamsburg painter Ricardo Alma.
First place in three-dimensional art ($300) went to Portsmouth raku sculptor Wayne Potrafka; second ($200), Robert Miller of Petersburg.
Merit awards ($50 each) went to John Bell of Chesapeake; Robyn Vasile of Virginia Beach; Jane McCauley of Stuarts Draft, Va.; Edgar Reims of Westover, Md.; and Sheila LaPointe of Sarasota, Fla. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
TERESA ANNAS
WCMS deejay Joe Hoppel snaps a picture of the masterpiece he
painted. The painting was auctioned for $25 to benefit the John
Tenney Memorial Scholarship fund.
by CNB