Plein air painter Peng Kong paints the garden at tour stop 14 on the 26th annual Back Alley Garden Tour & Tea. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Over the weekend, 15 plein air painters from Goldfinch Studio could be found working in many of the gardens on the Back Alley Garden Tour & Tea. They created a number of paintings during that time, which were displayed at the end of the tour for an hour, in the Entler Hotel.

Tonight from 6-8 p.m., an opening reception for an art show featuring those works will be held in The Bridge Gallery, which is located at 8566 Shepherdstown Pike in Shepherdstown.

“The work from our fantastic painting weekend, painting the gardens of Shepherdstown, will be for sale at The Bridge Gallery, beginning on Friday,” Bartman said. “It will be up through the month of June.”

Bartman, who is the Goldfinch Studio director, expressed his delight at being able to participate in the 26th annual Back Alley Garden Tour & Tea.

“This is a great time of the year to paint nature — everything’s in great color at this point,” Bartman, who lives in Middletown, Md., said. “I’m very familiar with this area. I love this area. And the people here are really great.”

Plein air painters Alex Bartman, left, and Walt Bartman paint different perspectives of the garden at tour stop 13 on the 26th annual Back Alley Garden Tour & Tea. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

This year was the second in-a-row that Bartman and his fellow plein air painters shared their talents with the public, who came to view the 16 gardens on the tour.

“They’re excellent painters,” Bartman said, mentioning the Goldfinch Studio members practice plein air painting together throughout the year. “They create beautiful work.”

He noted that some of the paintings from the 25th annual Back Alley Garden Tour & Tea will also be on display in The Bridge Gallery, for those wanting a glimpse back into the first year of Goldfinch Studio’s artistic collaboration with the major fundraiser for the Shepherdstown Community Club (SCC).

“The addition of plein air painters in 2024 proved to be popular with tour goers,” said SCC member Patty Parrish. “Through a collaboration with Kathryn Burns of The Bridge Gallery, regional artists were once again invited to paint ‘plein air’ in several of the gardens, during the tour. The works of art created during the weekend will be on display and available for purchase, allowing visitors to take home a one-of-a-kind memory of the tour.”

One of the people planning on purchasing one of these memories, will be tour organizer James “Pug” Puglisi, whose garden served as tour stop 13 this year. He plans on looking into, specifically, purchasing one of the paintings that was created in his garden.

“The plein air artists have been an incredible addition to the tour. People really enjoy seeing artists at work,” Puglisi said. “There is first right given to the home owner, to purchase the paintings that were made on their property. I will be selecting one of those paintings, for sure.”