Art Battle came to Ormond Beach on Friday, September 19, 2026, and the room was full well before the first brush moved. Twelve artists, twenty minutes on the clock, and a crowd that decides the whole thing by vote. Art Battle posted the results and the full lineup on its page for the September 19 event.
My wife, Jasmine Wisz, was on one of the easels. It was her first Art Battle, and her painting sold at auction that night.
A warehouse room that worked
Ormond Brewing hosted it at 301 Division Avenue, out in the railroad district on the industrial side of town, and the setting did as much for the night as the format did. Music going. Natural light early, then down lights on the canvases as the evening came in. Warm air. Nothing about the room was precious, and that is exactly why it felt like a true art battle instead of a gallery opening.
The thing that stood out most was how many people showed up. It was a packed house. And because it was packed, viewers were right up on the easels while the work was being made, handing out compliments and, now and then, critiques. Skill decides a lot of an Art Battle. The room decides the rest.
I circled the floor a couple of times and caught a handful of the artists mid round. Some of them have done this many times. Some, like Jasmine, had never done one before.
Hosted locally by Novel Tea Book Shop
Art Battle is its own company, and the competition runs through them everywhere it happens. The local host for this one was the crew at Novel Tea Book Shop, the independent bookstore and loose leaf tea shop on Tomoka Avenue in the Ormond Mainstreet and Arts District. Local bookshop, local brewery, twelve local artists. That combination is the reason it drew the crowd it did.
This year's champion: Michelle A Delisle
Congratulations to Michelle A Delisle, who took the night. She won the room over with a nature and bird themed piece and was completely locked in while the clock ran. In the photos she is the one with headphones on and a brush held in her teeth.
Michelle is a Florida based contemporary artist who grew up in Toronto, and the music driven culture of the analog era runs through everything she makes. She studied illustration at Sheridan College and came to her painting practice by way of fine art, fashion, design and gallery management. New wave and the underground club scene are the reference points she keeps returning to. You can follow her work at @mad_art2020.
Art Battle is a global competition, so a win in Ormond Beach is not where it stops. Champions carry forward into further rounds and championship events in the wider Art Battle series.
Everyone who painted
- Dayva!
- Eleisha Tabares
- JaimieDorie
- Jasmine Wisz
- Jess Shippee
- Michelle A Delisle
- Mimi Nealy
- Natasha Callahan
- Rachel Caldwell
- Ryan Houman
- SandyVibes
- Scott Burdick
Jasmine's first Art Battle
Jasmine paints coastal contemporary work in watercolor and acrylic, and a lot of it starts with sea glass collected off the shore. Twenty minutes at an easel in a loud room is about as far from that process as you can get, and she went and did it anyway. Her canvas sold at auction at the end of the night.
To see more of her work, visit jasminewisz.com, browse the available works, or find her in the galleries carrying her work. She is also open to a limited number of commissions.
How an Art Battle night runs
- Doors at 5:00 PM, painting starts at 6:00 PM.
- Twenty minutes per round, on a 16 by 24 inch canvas supplied at the easel.
- Twelve artists: two preliminary rounds of six, then a final of four. The top two from each preliminary round advance.
- Artists bring their own mediums and tools. Acrylic, ink, oil, charcoal, pen, pencil and watercolor are all fair game, with a limited set of acrylics provided by the local hosts.
- Printed reference images are allowed. Collage and pre made stencils are not.
- The audience votes every round, and each finished painting goes to auction where it stands.
Sixteen paintings came off the easels that night, and ten of them sold at auction, Jasmine's among them.
Shot on the Nikon ZR
Fun fact for the camera people: every frame in this story came off the Nikon ZR, a cinema body I have been running as a stills camera in dim, crowded rooms exactly like this one. Most of the close work was on the new NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S, which had just landed in the bag that week. If you are weighing the ZR up, my full review is on Amazon.
The next one
Ormond Beach is back on the calendar for December 19, 2026 at Ormond Brewing, doors at 5:00 PM, with another date already set for February 13. Details and tickets for the December 19 night are here, and everything happening locally sits on the Ormond Beach city page. If you paint, you can apply for an easel.
I shoot event, brand and hospitality photography on location across Northeast Florida. Get in touch to talk about a project.
Photography by Blake Wisz at Art Battle Ormond Beach, Ormond Brewing, 19 September 2026. See more people photography.