Tuesday 9 June 2015

Pinehurst Concours d’Élégance 2015

In early May, I was commissioned to be the roving artist at the 3rd annual Pinehurst Concours d’Élégance, a stunning event held at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.






The quality of the event was second to none, and organizer Jay Howard and his competent team made it shine! The Concours and car show are vast and very well organized.

My job was to sketch the cars of participants, each of who paid the organization $750 USD for me to sketch their cars, with the money going in support of the USO, the official charity.

I also donated an original artwork for auction, and it raised $1250 USD towards the USO.



Actor Denise Haysbert was invited to be the Grand Marshall of the event, which he did with much poise and class. I luckily got to meet and chat with him … very nice and approachable guy!







The first car that I sketch was a lovely 1959 Porsche 356 Carrera Coupe. Once I finished, the owner took me for a little spin in it … it had impressive performance!







That sketch was followed by an Austin Healey 3000, a 2005 Ferrari 575 SuperAmerica, and a 1965 Jaguar XKE Coupe. I literarily ran out of time, so that I did the final sketches of a McLaren P1 and a Ferrari NART/California Spyders grouping at home.



Over the weekend, I was very fortunate to meet in person for the first time some old friends. Automotive PR guru Deb Pollack was responsible for me being at the event, and she was there representing Singer Vehicle Design, who were unveiling their new customer-owned 911 from Virginia and restored by Singer. Deb’s an absolute gem!!!



I also had a wonderful visit from Jennifer Revson, and I loved every second that we spent together!



Keith Koldsbaek of Hendrick Motorsports also came by to meet me, which was a huge honour for me.



The event was capped off with an outdoor concert by 3 Dog Night, and they really had the crowd hopping!



All together, my participation in the event raised a total of $5750 USD for the USO, which I’m very proud of. I hope that I can return to build on what was started.