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GORDON DANIELS

On Pleasant Street in Easthampton, Pat Gosselin of Northampton works on a painting of the cupola at One Ferry Street during a brief shower Monday. She is participating in Easthampton’s Paint Out, in which artists have a week to complete a painting that will be on display this weekend.

EASTHAMPTON - Despite the rain this week, artists set out paint outdoor scenes around the city for the fourth annual Easthampton Paint Out. Over 40 painters took out their easels, paintbrushes and in some cases, their umbrellas, as they created works for the weeklong contest organized by the Nashawannuck Gallery on Cottage Street.

"Surprisingly, I've even been registering people during thunderstorms this week," said gallery owner Marlies Stoddard. "I think the painters this year have been very optimistic that some rays of sun will come out for the Paint Out."

Artists have one week to complete a painting "en plein air," meaning in the open air, somewhere within city limits. The finished paintings are due back at Nashawannuck Gallery at noon Saturday, where they will be hung and judged.

Stoddard said that even though the paintings must be finished by Saturday, five more painters are planning to register to compete today.

The paintings will be judged by a jury consisting of Burns Maxey, the Easthampton City Arts Plus coordinator, Frank Cressotti, chairman of the Holyoke Community College Visual Arts Department and John Polak, an Easthampton photographer.

They will be unveiled at 5 p.m. and the winners of "best oil/acrylic" and "best watercolor" will be announced at 7:30 p.m., during the artists' reception. Easthampton Savings Bank, which sponsors the event, will purchase the two winners' paintings directly from them for $300 each.

In addition to the two "best in show" awards, Stoddard said local businesses have donated several hundred dollars worth of gift certificates that will be awarded for other categories, including "best industrial Easthampton painting," "best automotive or transportation-inspired painting," or "best vanishing landscape."

In past years, city residents have delighted in watching the highly visible artists work around the city for the Paint Out, Stoddard said.

This year, however, painters have been "more elusive" and Stoddard said she is excited to see what subjects they chose. "In the past you used to see a lot of them in clusters downtown, but I think many have competed for a few years now. They've already done Nashawannuck Pond and now they're looking for a different vantage point," she said.

The paintings will remain on exhibit at the gallery through Sept. 24 and will be available for purchase.

Rebecca Everett can be reached at reverett@gazettenet.com.