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During plein air group sessions, artist spread out all over the property, each choosing different scenes or perspectives to paint. “It’s amazing how we can all go to the same place and come out with very different paintings,” said Kim at UNC-Chapel Hill, but didn’t accumulate enough credits to graduate in a major, he said. “So, I enrolled in East Carolina’s art program and majored in painting and graphic design.” He spent most of his career in advertising and commercial art, while also working as a fine artist.

“I’m not what you’d call a plein air painter,” he shared. “I’m mostly a studio painter, where you have control over everything. You’re not dealing with weather, you’re not dealing with people. Outdoors, the light is constantly changing and you only have a couple hours to capture the scene.” Still, when Davis invited him to join the High Country group, he found he enjoyed painting outdoors with other artists.

Smith, whose works include mostly oil paintings and watercolors of people, landscapes and places, decided to paint a scene with the historic building at The Blowing Rock on that foggy day. “The red door is eyecatching,” he said.

Just down the path, Jennifer Garonzik was visualizing what the autumn color might look like were it not completely obscured by the fog. Her pallate bore bright fall colors with reds, oranges and yellows. “The sun will come out eventually,” she mused.

Garonzik, the education center director at BRAHM (Blowing Rock Art and History Museum), teaches art classes at the museum and runs the annual Plein Air Festival, held each August. She has taught students age 2 to 92, she said,