Plein Air Magazine April/May 2020

WOMEN IN PLEIN AIR

A CANDID LOOK AT THE REWARDS AND CHALLENGES OF BEING FEMALE IN THE FIELD

THOMAS W. SCHALLER, TARA WILL TOM HUGHES, RICHARD MCDANIEL LYN BOYER, MARK FEHLMAN

M A G A Z I N E

MAY 2020

OFFICIAL CONVENTION ISSUE

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Plein Air Heritage

Untitled (San Luis Valley, CO) Helen Henderson Chain 1885, oil on linen, 20 x 39 3/4 in.

Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Denver

C

olorado’s first female resident artist, Helen Henderson Chain (1849–1892), was born in Indianapolis and studied with Hudson River School painter George Innes before moving to Denver with her husband, James. There, they helped establish the Chain & Hardy Bookstore, which would eventually become the city’s first art gallery and publishing house.

Converting a back room of the store to a studio, she taught art classes and sold supplies. Rather than paint the ladylike florals and still life paintings expected from women artists of her day, she preferred to tackle the rugged Colorado landscape en plein

air. Dressed in corsets and long skirts, she scrambled up the area’s most notable peaks, art supplies in tow, becoming the first non-native woman to summit the 14,000-foot Mount of the Holy Cross.

A true pioneer, she also headed south to paint the pueblos of New Mexico decades before the Taos School painters would discover them. In 1882, she became the first woman to exhibit paintings at the National Academy of Design in New York, showing two of her New Mexico pueblo scenes. Tragically, Chain and her husband died 10 years later when their ship wrecked in a typhoon while traveling in Asia.

In “In the Field: A Female Perspective,” seven top artists talk candidly about what it’s like to follow in Chain’s footsteps. www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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PUBLISHER B. Eric Rhoads • bericrhoads@gmail.com Twitter: @ericrhoads • Facebook: /ericrhoads EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kelly Kane • kkane@streamlinepublishing.com MANAGING EDITOR Brida Connolly • bconnolly@streamlinepublishing.com 702.665.5283 Zufar Bikbov

John Porter Lasater

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Alfonso Jones • alfonso.streamline@gmail.com • 561.655.8778 ART DIRECTOR Kenneth Whitney • kenneth.whitney@gmail.com EDITOR EMERITUS M. Stephen Doherty VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES Bob Hogan • bhogan@streamlinepublishing.com 206.321.8990

Carl Bretzke

Brienne Brown

VENDOR AND CONVENTION MARKETING Sarah Webb • swebb@streamlinepublishing.com 630.445.9182 MARKETING AND DIGITAL AD MANAGER Yvonne Van Wechel • yvanwechel@streamlinepublishing.com 602.810.3518 SENIOR MARKETING SPECIALISTS Krystal Allen • kallen@streamlinepublishing.com 541.447.4787

DK Palecek

DOOR

COUNTY

Bruce Bingham • bbingham@streamlinepublishing.com 512.669.8081 Anne W. Brown • abrown@streamlinepublishing.com 435.772.0504

Tara Will

PLEIN AIR

Richard Dorbin • rdorbin@streamlinepublishing.com 410.924.0217 Mary Green • mgreen@streamlinepublishing.com 508.230.9928 Helen Merry • hmerry@streamlinepublishing.com 360.540.7622

PRESENTED BY PENINSULA SCHOOL OF ART

Events July 19-25 Exhibition and Sale through Aug. 8

The Midwest's Premier Outdoor Painting Event 39 INVITED PLEIN AIR MASTERS COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS ONLINE PeninsulaSchoolofArt.org/2020DCPAF

PENINSULA SCHOOL OF ART Door County, WI | 920.868.3455

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April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Joan Revell Ryan • jryan@streamlinepublishing.com 442.282-9505 Gina Ward • gward@streamlinepublishing.com 920.743.2405 Plein Air Today Cherie Haas, Editor chaas@streamlinepublishing.com Subscriptions: 561.655.8778 or www.pleinairmagazine.com WEBSITES PleinAirMagazine.com • OutdoorPainter.com for artists PleinAirCollector.com for collectors Attention, retailers: If you would like to carry PleinAir magazine in your store, please contact Tom Elmo at 561.655.8778.

One-year, 6-issue subscription within the United States: $39.97 (two years, 12 issues, $59.97) One-year, 6-issue subscription, Canada and Europe: $76.97 (two years, 12 issues, $106.97) Copyright ©2020 Streamline Publishing, Inc. PleinAir Magazine is a trademark of Streamline Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

PleinAir Magazine (ISSN 2160-0694) is published 6 times annually by Streamline Publishing, Inc., 331 SE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton, FL 33432, for $39.97 per year in U.S.A. (two years $59.97); Canadian and European subscriptions $76.97 for one year ($106.97 for two years). Periodicals postage paid at Boca Raton, FL (and additional mailing offices). POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: PleinAir Magazine, 331 SE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton, FL 33432. Any reproduction of this publication, whole or in part, is prohibited without the express written consent of the publisher. Contact Streamline Publishing, Inc., at address below. All subscriptions, renewals, and changes of address should include address label from the most recent issue and be sent to the Circulation Department, PleinAir Magazine, 331 SE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton, FL 33432. Copying done for other than personal or internal reference without the express permission of PleinAir Magazine is prohibited. Address requests for special permission to the Managing Editor. Reprints and back issues available upon request. Printed in the United States. Canada returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON, N6C 6B2.

“I prefer to paint with Cobra solvent free, water mixable oils because of their versatility and environmentally friendly attributes. They are beautiful paints which are made with linseed oil and professional grade pigments... Whether in the studio or in the field, Cobra paints are always on my palette.”

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ADVISORY BOARD

Museum & Organization Officers Peter Adams, President, California Art Club (www.americanlegacyfinearts.com/artists/peter-adams/) Sandy Askey Adams, En Plein Air Group, Facebook (www.sandyaskeyadams.com) Antony Bridge, Pochade.Co.UK (www.antonybridge.co.uk) Christopher Forbes, Vice Chairman, Forbes Inc. (www.forbes.com) Matt Smith, President, Plein Air Painters of America (www.mattsmithstudio.com) Lori McNee, www.FineArtTips.com

Artists:

Clyde Aspevig (www.clydeaspevig.com) Scott L. Christensen (www.christensenstudio.com) Donald Demers (www.donalddemers.com) Michael Godfrey (www.michaelgodfrey.com) Jeremy Lipking (www.lipking.com) Kevin Macpherson (www.kevinmacpherson.com) Joseph McGurl (www.josephmcgurl.com) Camille Przewodek (www.przewodek.com) Ed Terpening (www.edterpening.com) Keith Wicks (www.keithwicks.com) Randy Higbee (www.randyhigbeegallery.com)

331 SE Mizner Blvd.

Boca Raton, FL 33432 Phone: 561.655.8778 • Fax: 561.655.6164 Chairman/Publisher/CEO B. Eric Rhoads bericrhoads@gmail.com Facebook: /ericrhoads • Twitter: @ericrhoads EVP/Chief Operating Officer Tom Elmo thomaselmo@gmail.com Production Director Nicolynn Kuper nkuper@streamlinepublishing.com Director of Finance Laura Iserman laura@streamlinepublishing.com Controller Jaime Osetek jaime@streamlinepublishing.com Circulation Coordinator Sue Henry shenry@streamlinepublishing.com Customer Service Coordinator Jessica Smith jsmith@streamlinepublishing.com Creative Director, Advertising Stephen Parker sparker@streamlinepublishing.com Assistant to the Chairman Ali Cruickshank acruickshank@streamlinepublishing.com

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CONTENTS 3 10 12 110 120 121 162

Plein Air Heritage Publisher’s Letter: Sharing Plein Air Editor’s Note: For the Love of Nature Plein Air Collections Plein Air Events PleinAir Salon Postcards From the Road

Following Page 18: The Artist’s Guide to Plein Air Painting in Colorado

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PLEIN AIR PORTFOLIO

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SPECIAL FEATURE

COVER IMAGE: Rose’s Sunflowers Suzie Baker 2019, oil, 18 x 24 in.

Available from artist Plein air

Mountain Majesty

In the Field: A Female Perspective: What does it mean to be a woman in plein air? Seven top artists share their experiences.

By Kelly Kane

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Clarity of Focus: Thomas W. Schaller balances the technical skills he acquired as an architect with the expressive nature of watercolor to make a personal statement about his subjects.

TARA WILL

Turning Up the Volume: With her confident use of color and bold mark-making, this Maryland pastelist dances on the line between abstraction and reality.

By Bob Bahr

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TOM HUGHES

A Student of Painting: Tom Hughes’ success can be put down to hard work and his recognition that there’s always more to learn.

By Bob Bahr

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RICHARD MCDANIEL

River Views: Over the course of three years, Richard McDaniel explored California’s Russian River, documenting its path from Mendocino County to the Pacific Ocean.

By Michael Chesley Johnson

104 SPECIAL FEATURE

Putting Art Within Reach: Kevin Macpherson and his ambassadors have made it their mission to introduce art to children and communities in areas of the world where it’s hard to find, and needed most.

THOMAS W. SCHALLER

By John A. Parks

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By Stefanie Laufersweiler

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THE ELEMENTS

Painting Buildings in the Landscape

By Lyn Boyer

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publisher’s letter

SHARING PLEIN AIR

L

ast year at the Plein Air Convention & Expo, I highlighted the history of plein air painting, presenting my research showing that paint and brush (not just drawing) were used on location, outdoors, as far back as the late 1500s, even before Rembrandt’s time. And, though the Impressionists are given credit for popularizing plein air, the biggest credit goes to the Russians.

On my recent trip to Russia, I filmed a documentary, interviewing top Russian art experts — artists, museum directors, art historians, directors of the two great art academies, and others. And in the course of our conversations, each of them said something we would rarely, if ever, hear from professionals in the United States: plein air painting is an important part of Russian art history and the curriculum for training artists.

One director told me something to the effect that a painter cannot become a painter until he or she has mastered painting in nature. Artists, he said, will lack complete understanding of the human form as well as the landscape if they do not paint outdoors. He also maintained that painting outdoors is not enough, and that the great landscape painters also mastered the art of drawing and painting the human figure.

You and I are living in an interesting time and participating in a special movement — a time when plein air painting is at a peak of exposure and success, a time when there are more plein air shows, exhibits, galleries exhibiting plein air works, and of course people painting “en plein air” than ever before. I often quote Jean Stern, art historian and executive director of the Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine, who said that this is the largest movement in the history of art.

I’ve also mentioned previously that when I started painting outdoors, there were only a couple of hundred people doing so in America, and probably only two or three shows. There has been an explosion in the past decade and a half.

For most of us, plein air painting is a lifestyle or a hobby; for others, it’s a profession. No matter our level or purpose, however, each of us is an ambassador for the plein air movement. When we’re set up on a roadside or in a park, we represent the movement. We are the voice of plein air to those who approach us or watch in silent curiosity.

I, for one, appreciate being a part of this movement, and I hope you and I both feel a desire and responsibility to help others understand what we’re about, why we paint or collect, and to suggest that perhaps they too would like to get involved. We’re already seeing scores of people who bought their first painting at a plein air show a decade ago and are now deciding to try painting for themselves. They have become part of the growing population of painter-collector hybrids.

All of us who value plein air have a bigger purpose — not just painting or collecting, but sharing the gift it brings our hearts, the challenge it brings our brains, and the enthusiasm it brings to life itself. Seek ways to expose others in your community, young and old alike, to this experience. You could be responsible for changing a life. After all, yours was changed.

Plein air … pass it on.

B. ERIC RHOADS CHAIRMAN/PUBLISHER E-mail: bericrhoads@gmail.com Phone: 512.607.6423 Facebook: /ericrhoads Twitter: @ericrhoads

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April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

SENNELIER The Paint of the Impressionists

Manganese Violet The Color that changed Monet’s Palette

For more information on Modern Masters and to follow Pierre’s Artventures, follow us on Facebook and Instagram @artsavoirfaire

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editor’s note

FOR THE LOVE OF NATURE

I

n the time before cell phones and social media, painters introduced broad audiences to the unique and impressive features of the American landscape, playing an integral role in fanning the flames of the early environmental movement. In the 19th century, the artists of the Hudson River School became famous for their paintings of glorious trees, tranquil lakes, and towering mountains. Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran painted many of the West’s scenic highlights, including the Rocky and Sierra Nevada mountains, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon. Around the same time, Frederick Law Olmsted, who was active in the early conservation movement, emerged as the father of landscape architecture, designing many iconic parks, including Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and Central Park in New York.

Through their work, these pioneers helped popularize a love of nature, leading people to recognize the importance of protecting beautiful spaces, even those they may never get to see in person. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took part in the first Earth Day activities.

Designed as a day for the nation to focus on the environment, Earth Day celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. For Richard McDaniel, who participated in the first Earth Day and is featured in the article “River Views,” the commemoration takes on added significance as he unveils a series of paintings documenting California’s Russian River, the culmination of a three-year-long project.

Of course, all plein air painters share a love of nature and have a stake in its protection. In this issue, we celebrate the many ways artists respond to the landscape, presenting us with new ways of seeing and appreciating the world. In his work, Tom Hughes invites us to take a fresh look at scenes that might

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April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

otherwise have gone unnoticed. Tara Will pushes that invitation to the extreme with her colorful pastel interpretations. And the work of Thomas W. Schaller and Lyn Boyer allows us to consider the juxtaposition of the natural world and manmade structures — some grand and some past their prime, but all with stories to tell.

With Rose’s Sunflowers, this issue’s cover painting, Suzie Baker takes a different approach, shining a spotlight on nature’s bounty in a plein air still life that delights our senses. In the special feature “In the Field: A Female Perspective,” she and six other top artists tackle another of today’s hot topics. With female artists still grossly underrepresented in galleries and museums, they offer a candid look at where women stand in the world of plein air and share some of the unique challenges and rewards they face.

With preparations for the 9th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo in Westminster, Colorado, in full swing, I’m looking forward to the unique expression of camaraderie and incredible creative boost that events like this afford. I look forward, too, to exploring a new landscape, so different from the rolling hills of the Bluegrass State I call home. With artists from around the country, and increasingly from around the world, in attendance, we can count on many new interpretations of the Colorado landscape coming soon. facebook.com/pleinairmagazine twitter.com/pleinairmag instagram.com/pleinairmag KELLY KANE Editor-in-Chief kelly@pleinairmagazine.com outdoorpainter.com

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October 18 - 25, 2020 San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts

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September 12, 2020 - January 18, 2021

2020 EVENT SCHEDULE September 12 – 18 Plein Air at Grand Canyon.

September 19 Plein Air artists Quick Draw event and auction.

September 19 Collectors’ Preview and Sale Reception, ticketed event.

September 20 Public Opening Reception

For more information or how to become a sponsor, go to www.grandcanyon.org/coa or please contact Anne Dowling adowling@grandcanyon.org or (928) 863-3883

Exhibition and Sale through January 18, 2021 at Kolb Studio, South Rim.

Art by: Robert Goldman, View to the East – Grand Canyon, Oil, 24 x 24 inches (detail)

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SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO PLEINAIR MAGAZINE

THE ARTIST’S GUIDE TO PLEIN AIR PAINTING IN COLORADO

Photo by Michael Levine-Clark

“Never let a plein aire painting sense your fear�

Molly Davis Learn the fundamentals like drawing, composition, perspective, and light effects from master painters. Our new gallery and workshop space teaches artists how to love the outdoors and paint in true plein aire tradition.

Our founder Molly Davis has painted every trail in the open space system in Boulder for over five years hosting a show featuring 400 paintings of the Boulder Open Space system which resulted in a book of the history.

We host workshops for some of the best plein aire teachers in the U.S. on our beautiful Boulder vistas, so artists can face the unknown frontier of a blank canvas.

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Italy plein aire studies by Molly Davis

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Preserving the vision

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The best of plein aire painting in the Rockies Sept. 21-25, 2020 7464 Arapahoe Ave. Ste A5, Boulder CO 80301 info@preservingthevision.com www.preservingthevision.com

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CHAIRMAN/PUBLISHER/CEO B. Eric Rhoads • bericrhoads@gmail.com Twitter: @ericrhoads • Facebook: /ericrhoads EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Tom Elmo • telmo@streamlinepublishing.com EDITORINCHIEF Kelly Kane • kkane@streamlinepublishing.com MANAGING EDITOR Brida Connolly • brida.connolly@gmail.com • 702.665.5283 CREATIVE DIRECTOR Alfonso Jones • alfonso.streamline@gmail.com ART DIRECTOR Kenneth Whitney • kenneth.whitney@gmail.com PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Nicolynn Kuper • nkuper@streamlinepublishing.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR, ADVERTISING Stephen Parker • sparker@streamlinepublishing.com VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES Bob Hogan • bhogan@streamlinepublishing.com • 206.321.8990 VENDOR AND CONVENTION MARKETING Sarah Webb • swebb@streamlinepublishing.com • 630.445.9182 MARKETING AND DIGITAL AD MANAGER Yvonne Van Wechel • yvanwechel@streamlinepublishing.com • 602.810.3518 DIRECTOR OF FINANCE Laura Iserman • laura@streamlinepublishing.com CONTROLLER Jaime Osetek • jaime@streamlinepublishing.com CIRCULATION COORDINATOR Sue Henry • shenry@streamlinepublishing.com CUSTOMER SERVICE COORDINATOR Jessica Smith • jsmith@streamlinepublishing.com ASSISTANT TO THE CHAIRMAN Ali Cruickshank • acruickshanks@streamlinepublishing.com SENIOR M A R K ETING SPECI A LISTS Krystal Allen • kallen@streamlinepublishing.com • 541.447.4787 Bruce Bingham • bbingham@streamlinepublishing.com • 512.669.8081 Anne W. Brown • abrown@streamlinepublishing.com • 435.772.0504 Richard Dorbin • rdorbin@streamlinepublishing.com • 410.924.0217 Mary Green • mgreen@streamlinepublishing.com • 508.230.9928 Helen Merry • hmerry@streamlinepublishing.com • 360.540.7622 Joan Revell Ryan • jryan@streamlinepublishing.com • 442.282.2270 Gina Ward • gward@streamlinepublishing.com • 920.743.2405 Plein Air Today Cherie Haas, Editor chaas@streamlinepublishing.com Subscriptions: 561.655.8778 or www.pleinairmagazine.com WEBSITES PleinAirMagazine.com • OutdoorPainter.com for artists PleinAirCollector.com for collectors Copyright ©2020 Streamline Publishing, Inc. PleinAir Magazine is a trademark of Streamline Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

COLORADO’S ARTISTIC HERITAGE

D

rawn to its stunning natural beauty and invigorating climate, painters have flocked to Colorado for more than two centuries, adding to the rich artistic heritage already established by Native Americans in the area. Prior to the Civil War, artists mainly visited the vast uncharted territory as part of government expeditions. In the summer of 1820, artists Samuel Seymour and Titian Ramsay Peale arrived with the expedition of Major Stephen H. Long, the namesake of Longs Peak near Estes Park. Their views of the Rocky Mountains can be found in museum collections across the country.

Nearly 40 years later, the discovery of gold along Cherry Creek in presentday Denver and the ensuing Pikes Peak Gold Rush sparked the development of the Mile High City and the mining towns in the nearby Rocky Mountains, igniting artists’ interest in the region as well. In 1861, German native Emanuel Mountain of the Holy Cross Leutze visited the Colorado Rockies to Thomas Moran gather material for his mural Westword 1890, watercolor and gouache over graphite on the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, now in paper, 17 13/16 × 12 3/8 in.

National Gallery of Art the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Avalon Fund, Florian Carr Fund, Barbara and Jack Kay Two years later, his Dusseldorf Academy Fund, Gift of Max and Heidi Berry and Veverka Family colleague, Albert Bierstadt, made the Foundation Fund first of two trips to Colorado. His grand vision of the Rocky Mountain scenery shaped the way many Americans and Europeans of the time viewed the western wilderness.

Following the Civil War, several Hudson River painters, including Worthington Whittredge, John Kensett, John Casilear, and Samuel Colman, traveled to Colorado to paint.

In 1872, Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham visited the Colorado Springs area and created View of Pikes Peak, now in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas.

To feed their readership’s growing appetite for information about the region, national publications commissioned artists to produce accurate illustrations of the spectacular local scenery. Tasked with providing 13 illustrations for Picturesque America, Thomas Moran, known as “The Turner of the West,” made his first trip to Colorado. Taken by the landscape, he made a number of subsequent visits, resulting in a sizable body of work that rivaled Bierstadt’s, including the striking depiction of Mount of the Holy Cross above.

Today, artists continue to flock to Colorado to experience the richly diverse landscape, making Westminster the perfect home base for the 9th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo. If you weren’t able to join us this year, I hope you’ll have the opportunity to visit this magnificent part of the country someday and make your own contribution to the state’s celebrated arts heritage.

Kelly Kane Editor-in-Chief April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

AG3

INSIDER TIPS FROM LOCAL ARTISTS

Enchanted Evening Lamya Deeb, oil, 8 x 8 in.

Saturday Sunshine Carol Jenkins, oil, 9 x 12 in.

If you’re from lower altitudes, start hydrating the week before arriving and add some electrolytes to your water while you’re here. If you’re sensitive to the altitude, purchase a couple of small canisters of oxygen, and don’t be embarrassed to take a puff when you need it.

— Lyn Boyer

don’t leave food, snacks, or even old candy wrappers in your car.

— Lyn Boyer Drink lots and lots of water! People don’t realize how easy it is to get altitude sickness and how much water it takes to stay hydrated.

— Ginger Bowen

your umbrella to your palette tripod, and make sure you have a sturdy bag for your used paper towels — leave no trace.

— Lyn Boyer

Keep an eye on the weather. There are a lot of pop-up rain showers, which usually move through quickly. But if you see storms in the forecast, make sure you are packed and off the When painting in areas around Denver and the mountains before they arrive.

Rocky Mountains, always pull off the road com- When painting in the mountains, wear sturdy pletely, leaving space around your vehicle, so as shoes and warm clothing — including a hat and — Ginger Bowen gloves — even in the summer. In the springnot to obstruct traffic.

Pack strong sunscreen (SPF 30+) and a sun hat. time, when it’s chilly in the mountains, I head — Buffalo Kaplinski I also wear sunglasses to relieve my eyes from for the lower foothills and paint the farmlands. the UV blast, at least while I’m scouting out a — Carol Jenkins Locals say that if you don’t like the weather, wait subject. five minutes or move five miles down the road.

— Chula Beauregard Of course, once you’re set up to paint, it’s not that Colorado is full of outdoor enthusiasts, so you easy to move five miles — and who wants to wait are not often alone when out of doors. Be aware Don’t bust the crust! Stay on the trails. The around when you could be painting! Wear lots of and respectful of others — in large part we’re ecosystem is fragile. You will see a black knobfriendly, so say hi! Also, don’t forget lotion and layers, including a rain jacket or windbreaker. by crust in certain desert areas called cryptochapstick; it’s very dry here.

— Chula Beauregard biotic soil. It’s made up of living organisms, — Jennifer Riefenberg and even a footstep can damage the crust for Always paint with a buddy, and enjoy the wilddecades. life, but let them have their space. In the parks, Much of the ground is rocky, and the wind — Lyn Boyer can be gusty and unpredictable. Never attach wilderness areas, or anyplace bears are active, AG4

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

PERFECT PLACES TO PAINT EN PLEIN AIR

I can’t get enough of the spectacular mountain vistas of Sangre de Cristos as seen from the Westcliffe area or from the south side near the Great Sand Dunes.

— Jennifer Riefenberg Highway 83 from Franktown to Colorado Springs offers spectacular views of Pikes Peak. Castlewood Canyon near Franktown is a pristine state park, offering more subjects than you can paint in a few days. And Red Rocks Park in Morrison is also a must.

— Buffalo Kaplinski My favorite areas to paint in Colorado are in and around the small historic mining town of Ward, where I live. Located at 9,000 feet, it’s full of unique buildings and great perspectives.

— Carol Jenkins

(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) The Kissin’ Camels — Garden of Gods, Colorado Springs, Buffalo Kaplinski, watercolor, 10 x 14 in. • Noon on Broadway, Susiehyer, oil, 16 x 12 in. • Colorado Barn #6, Ginger Bowen, oil, 9 x 12 in.

I love driving up Buffalo Pass road to visit the aspen groves in any season. If I have a little more time, I’ll drive up to North Routt County, near Steamboat Lake State Park. With the Elk River, Mount Zirkel, and a lush valley lined with cottonwoods, it never disappoints.

— Chula Beauregard April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

AG5

MAIN ATTRACTIONS

RED ROCKS

With its views of the Rocky Mountains, miles of hiking trails, and cinnamon-hued sandstone cliffs, Red Rocks Park provides spectacular scenery about 16 miles west of downtown Denver.

ELDORADO CANYON

Situated about 20 minutes south of Boulder, Eldorado Canyon State Park features cascading canyon walls, lush pine forests, and winding trails.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

Spanning the Continental Divide in northern Colorado, the park encompasses protected mountains, forests, rivers, and alpine tundra.

GARDEN OF THE GODS

This Colorado Springs’ park boasts dramatic views of towering sandstone rock formations against a backdrop of snow-capped Pikes Peak.

CHAUTAUQUA

Boulder’s historic, 120-year-old park serves as the gateway to the Flatirons and offers miles of Open Space trails.

AG6

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

From Rocky Mountain National Park with its high mountains and lakes to the Colorado National Monument and its stunning red rock formations, it’s hard to play favorites.

— Dan Young

Ponds, a peaceful spot where I’ve painted hundreds of times. With the changing seasons, there’s always something new to inspire, and familiar aspects that feel like coming home.

— Lamya Deeb

We are fortunate to have many preserved, natural open space areas in Boulder County. My go-to place is Sawhill

A favorite spot to paint is Baker’s Bridge, 25 minutes north of Durango on the Animas River — the site of the

GREAT PLACES TO SEE GREAT ART STEAMBOAT ART MUSEUM

(Steamboat Springs) This rural “boutique” museum hosts two annual exhibitions by living master artists or by the country’s top arts organizations, and an annual plein air event.

KIRKLAND MUSEUM OF FINE & DECORATIVE ART

(OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP) Mid-Valley Morning, Chula Beauregard, oil, 9 x 12 in. • (OPPOSITE PAGE, BOTTOM) April Horses, Dan Young, oil, 11 x 14 in. • (ABOVE) Baker’s Bridge, Lyn Boyer, oil, 8 x 10 in.

• (LEFT) Aspen Impressions — Autumn Fire, Jennifer Riefenberg, oil, 16 x 16 in.

(Denver) Housing one of the most extensive public displays of international decorative art in North America, the museum also boasts a collection of Colorado and regional fine art.

DENVER ART MUSEUM

famous river jump in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Historic Durango itself is full of painting opportunities, including old buildings and the celebrated Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway, with its restored steam trains still doing the DurangoSilverton run. If you can spare an extra day, don’t miss riding the train, which offers the only way to see the Animas River gorge.

— Lyn Boyer From prairies, big skies, mountains, mesas, deserts, and waterfalls to smalltown and big-city scenes, Colorado has many diverse and spectacular landscapes.

Picking a favorite is difficult, but I do have a preference for painting in the winter, as there is nothing like fresh snow under blue skies. A few favorite spots include Westcliffe, Breckenridge, Waterton Canyon, Cherry Creek (or other nearby rivers), Lair o’ the Bear Open Space, Grand Lake, Durango, and Grand Mesa.

— Jennifer Riefenberg The Denver Botanic Gardens offers interesting views almost any time of year.

In May, the bulbs, flowering trees, and shrubs will be blooming like crazy. Don’t miss the lilacs!

— Susiehyer

(Denver) One of the largest art museums between the West Coast and Chicago, it maintains renowned collections of European and American paintings.

FINE ARTS CENTER AT COLORADO COLLEGE

(Colorado Springs) For more than 100 years, the Fine Arts Center has offered a chance to see worldclass art in the Pikes Peak region.

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

AG7

Plein Air Artists Colorado 24th Annual National Exhibition Plein AirJuried Artists Colorado

BRUCE BINGHAM Austin, Texas

24th Annual National Juried Fine Art Exhibition and Sale

Early Snowfall, 12 x 12 in., oil brucebingham@gmail.com | www.brucebingham.com Represented by Beach Gallery, Virginia Beach, VA; The Little Gallery, Roanoke, VA.

Fences, 2019 Best of Show Winner, Jennifer Riefenberg

October 2020 Wilder Nightingale Fine Art

CECY TURNER Dallas, Texas

Taos, NM

CALL FOR ENTRY Deadline May 1, 2020

Enter your best plein air paintings!

Plein Air Artists Colorado (PAAC) was started in the early 90’s and creates opportunities for artists to paint outdoors together on a regular basis. Our annual juried exhibit offers examples of excellence in painting that can be achieved ‘en plein air — and we have been showing strong for nearly 25 years!

PAAC is proud of its more than 300 members representing at least 27 states.

Join us and enter this year’s annual show!

Find out more at:

PLEINAIRARTISTSCOLORADO.COM

Green with Envy, 12 x 12 in., plein air oil Available at Wild Horse Gallery, Steamboat Springs, CO cecy@cecyturner.com | 214.734.9315 www.cecyturner.com Represented by Wild Horse Gallery, Steamboat Springs, CO; Mary Williams Fine Arts, Boulder, CO; Weiler House Fine Art, Ft. Worth, TX.

KATHRYN RIEDINGER

JENNIFERÂ RIEFENBERG

Stables at Dawn, 12 x 18 in., plein air oil kmriedinger@gmail.com 303.809.9425 | www.kathrynriedinger.com Represented by Mary Williams Fine Art, Boulder, CO.

Aspen Impressions - Snowfall, 14 x 18 in., oil Available through Mary Williams Fine Arts | 303.938.1588 jennifer@artofsunshine.com | 303.250.2015 www.artofsunshine.com Represented by Mary Williams Fine Arts, Boulder, CO.

Ketchum, Idaho

KATHLEEN LANZONI Boulder, Colorado

Hancock Mill, 11 x 8 in., watercolor Available through the artist kathleenlanzoni@gmail.com | 303.898.3734 www.kathleenlanzoni.com Represented by Mary Williams Fine Art, Boulder, CO; Creative Framing & Art Gallery, Louisville, CO.

Cedaredge, Colorado

LEE MCVEY

PAPNM-M, IAPS-MC, PAAC

Albuquerque, New Mexico

South Valley Acequia #2, 12 x 9 in., plein air pastel Available through the artist lee@leemcvey.com | 505.417.3516 | www.leemcvey.com

CAROLYN LINDSEY

Solitude 14 x 11 oil on panel

ANN PISTO F I N E A RT

apistofineart@comcast.net • annpistofineart.com

AG10 April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Cottonwood 8x10 in. Plein air

CAROLYNLINDSEY.COM LINDSEYCJ@PLATEAUTEL.NET

A. R. MITCHELL MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART

www.armitchellmuseum.com

150 E Main St. | Trinidad, CO | 719-846-4224 armitchellmuseum@gmail.com

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com AG11

NEW SOLO SHOW ROOTS - A Year at Perry-Mansfield by CHULA BEAUREGARD “There is nothing more powerful to connect me to people and places as the act of painting.” ~ Chula Beauregard

June 5, 2020 Art Opening in Stmbt Spgs, CO June 13 & 14 Plein Air Painting Workshop

“Dancers in the Pavilion” 20”x 24” oil on linen

12 monthly Plein Air paintings, several significant studio pieces, historic photos of the 106-year-old camp & more

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for more information please visit www.ChulaBeauregard.com

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AG12 April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Mary Williams Fine Arts Boulder, Colorado Osmosis Art Gallery Niwot, Colorado ELEVATING THE MUNDANE RICHARD MCKINLEY SHARES HIS SECRETS

Lamya Deeb

HSIN-YAO TSENG, LORI PUTNAM PEGGY IMMEL, MITCH BAIRD Ever Watchful TIM OLIVER, OLENA BABAK

lamyadeebfineart.com NON-BLEED

24 x 12” oil

$15K SALON WINNER TOM HUGHES

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JULY 2019

Fog at Back Cove Tom Hughes, acrylic, 45 x 60 in. private collection, studio from plein air painting

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com AG13 JULY 20 19

Jay Moore -represented by the Shaun Horne Gallery in Crested Butte, Colorado

“Whetstone Mountain”, 30x40” oil painting of the Crested Butte area

Crested Butte is among the best mountain landscape painting locations in the United States The Shaun Horne Gallery Also Represents Ray Roberts / Don Sahli / Carolyn Lord / Gay Faulkenberry / Dawn Cohen / Shaun Horne

shaunhornegallery.com • shaunhornepainter@gmail.com • 970.209.2550

LONNY GRANSTON

Burr Trail 24 x 18 inches, soft pastel

Represented by

Osmosis Art and Architecture • Niwot, Colorado

lagvisualarts.com AG14 April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Susan McCullough

Gallery: Wilder Nightingale, Taos, NM mcsue12@gmail.com • www.susanmccullough.com “Golden Afternoon” 12x16 Oil on panel

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KIM LORDIER

Where Otters Play, Point Lobos 9x12 Pastel

Translucent water and filtered sun.

Otter’s play while kelp beds sway.

Whaler’s Cove on a glorious day.

www.kimfancherlordier.com

PleinAir Festival wayne art center 2020

Exhibition: May 17–June 27, 2020

14th Annual

Juror: Kathryn Stats Award-Winning Utah-Based Plein Air Painter

Festival Dates: May 11-16 Collectors’ Soirée & Sale: May 16 Artists’ Workshop: May 18-20

Crossroads at Bubbling Springs, Joe Paquet

Visit waynepleinair.org

for calendar of events and additional details.

Participating Artists:

David Lussier, Dappled Light Patrick Lee, Manayunk Remnant

Qiang Huang, Washington’s Headquarters

Neal Hughes, SS United States

Marc Anderson, WI Beth Bathe, PA Barbara Berry, PA Lon Brauer, IL

Georganna Lenssen, PA David Lussier, NH Diane May, TN Mick McAndrews, PA

Thomas Buchs, WI Henry Coe, MD Eileen Eder, CT

Alison Menke, MD Charles Newman, NJ Anton Pavlenko, OR

Randall Graham, PA Palden Hamilton, MD Qiang Huang, TX

Edmond Praybe, MD Antwan Rama, FL J. Stacy Rogers, DE

Neal Hughes, NJ Charlie Hunter, VT Ken Karlic, MD Allen Kriegshauser, MO Patrick Lee, PA Christopher Leeper, OH

Cynthia Rosen, VT John Slivjak, PA Troy Tatlock, WI Stewart White, MD Tara Will, MD Samuel Wyatt, VT

Charlie Hunter, Victorian

413 Maplewood Ave, Wayne, PA 19087 n 610-688-3553 n waynepleinair.org

wayne art center

25 Artists, 2 Days, One Great Event!

Featuring The Brinton Artists in Residence AND New England Artists Paint in Big Horn exhibits!

Friday, September 11: Artists’ Reception Saturday, September 12: Live Entertainment, Quickdraw, Dinner and Art Auction

Visit TheBrintonMuseum.org • Big Horn, Wyoming

Signature Artists in the Exhibition include: Peter Adams Sunny Apinchapong Yang Kenn Backhaus Béla Bácsi Brian Blood John Budicin Cathey Cadieux Warren Chang Lorenzo Chavez John Cosby Gil Dellinger Karl Dempwolf Kathleen Dunphy Lynn Gertenbach Adrian Gottlieb Jeff Horn Rick Humphrey Michelle Jung Laurie Kersey Chuck Kovacic Paul Kratter Peggi Kroll Roberts Ruo Li Calvin Liang Simon Lok Carolyn Lord Kim Lordier Adam Matano Jim McVicker Eric Merrell Jennifer Moses Charles Muench Ralph Oberg Michael Obermeyer Jesse Powell Scott W. Prior Gerald Rahm R.S. Riddick Victor D. Riesau Ray Roberts Junn Roca Gayle Garner Roski Dan Schultz Frank Serrano Mian Situ Michael Situ W. Jason Situ Christopher Slatoff Matt Smith Alexey Steele William Stout Ruth Weisberg

Presenting Sponsor

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109th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition May 16 – June 13, 2020 Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University 167 North Atchison Street Orange, California 92866 Artists’ Gala

Saturday, May 30, 2020; 6 – 9 p.m.

Tickets are available ($100 each) through the website All works are available for acquisition.

Anna Rose Bain

Matt Smith

Adam Matano

Warren Chang

Dan Schultz

Calvin Liang

californiaartclub.org | 626.583.9009

3/1/20 7:04 PM

The Hockaday’s Annual Plein Air Glacier Paint Out and Fundraiser Renowned artists painting en plein air in Glacier National Park

Paint out dates: June 19-26, 2020 Fundraiser Party and Art Sale: June 27, 2020 5-8 PM

MAYNARD DIXON LEGACY MUSEUM Robert Goldman Solo Show May 23rd, 2020

“Sunrise at Vermilion Cliffs” 24x36 Oil on Canvas

“Into Coal Mine Canyon” 48x48 Oil on Canvas

“The Emerald Pool” 30x30 Oil on Canvas

220 South State St., Mt. Carmel, Utah 84755 | 435.648.2653 | www.ThunderbirdFoundation.com www.RobertGoldmanFineArt.com

JONATHAN MCPHILLIPS Fine Ar t

Creek Life 12” x 16” oil on linen

www.jonathanmcphillips.com jon@jonathanmcphillips.com

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Lean in, 12x12�, oil on linen panel, $1600 - Available at the California Art Club, Gold Medal Exhibition, May 16-June 13

Upcoming Events

Available in DVD and Digital Download

Olmsted Plein Air Atlanta, Georgia April 18 - 26

Telluride Plein Air Telluride, Colorado June 29 - July 5

Yellowstone Plein Air Yellowstone Park, Wyoming September 22 - 27

Laguna Plein Air Laguna Beach, California October 3 - 11

WORKSHOP Chamonix, French Alps Sepetmber 8-15 Two Spots Left!

W W W. S U Z I E B A K E R . C O M

Rep

FA R LE Y LE W I S PASW competition artist Springfield, Missouri Church on the Hill, 12 x 16 in., acrylic farleylewis@gmail.com | 417.773.1175 | www.farleylewis.com Represented by Fresh Gallery, Springfield, MO; Hawthorn Galleries, Springfield, MO.

J E A N N E RE AV I S PASW competition artist Houston, Texas Bee Balm Boogie, 14 x 11 in., oil on linen panel Available through the artist jearea@att.net | www.jeannereavis.com

T I N A BO H L M A N PASW competition artist Waxahachie, Texas Waitin’ on the Crew, 18 x 18 in., watercolor Available through the artist tina@tinabohlman.com 972.741.6154 www.tinabohlman.com Represented by Dutch Art Gallery, Dallas, TX; ART on the Square, Waxahachie, TX; Rivers Edge Gallery, Kerrville, TX.

RICHIE VIOS PASW competition artist Victoria, Texas he ho t o erlin ua, 12 x 24 in., plein air watercolor Available in Art of Llano Estacado Exhibit 2020, Lubbock, TX vioswatercolor72@gmail.com 361.935.7884 www.vioswatercolor.com

S T UA R T RO PE R ,

AIS

PASW competition artist Palo Pinto, Texas The Forgotten Coast, 6 x 8 in., acrylic on panel stuart@stuartroper.com | 828.772.4747 www.stuartroper.com

J I N G Z H AO PASW competition artist Frisco, Texas In the Shadows, 18 x 14 in., oil Available through the artist jingzhao54@gmail.com 214.686.6267 www.jingzhaoart.com Seeking gallery representation

A N N I E M C C OY Big Sky, Montana Fall on Rock Creek, 12 x 12 in., oil Available through the artist animldoc@comcast.net | 410.463.0645 www.anniemccoy.com

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NANCY TANKERSLEY Easton, Maryland

Apex, 24 x 24 in., oil Available through the artist info@nancytankersley.com | 410.253.3641 | nancytankersley.com Represented by LePrince Fine Art, Charleston, SC; Chasen Gallery, Richmond, VA and Sarasota, FL; William Ris Gallery, Jamesport, NY; Anderson Fine Art Gallery, St. Simon’s Island, GA. Check website for available workshops.

MARK FEHLMAN San Diego, California

Wind Games, 16 x 12 in., oil Available through Huse Skelly Gallery, Newport Beach, CA markfehlman@gmail.com | markfehlman.com Represented by Huse Skelly Gallery, Newport Beach, CA; Mission Gallery, St. George, UT; The Lodge at Torrey Pines, La Jolla, CA.

JANET ANDERSON Denver, Colorado

The Shape of Water, 16 x 20 in., oil Available through the artist jbanderson5@comcast.net 303.829.5267 janetandersonfineart.com Represented by Mary Williams Fine Arts, Boulder, CO. Check website for available workshops.

CHUCK MARSHALL Winchester, Ohio

LIZ HAYWOOD-SULLIVAN

Slide Lake, 11 x 14 in., oil on canvas panel Available through the artist

Marshfield Hills, Massachusetts

marshallstudio@aol.com | 513.404.3161 | chuckmarshallfineart.com

Montana Gold, 16 x 16 in., pastel

Represented by Eisele Gallery, Cincinnati, OH; Hayley Gallery, New Albany, OH; Castle Gallery, Fort Wayne, IN.

liz@haywood-sullivan.com | 617.821.7468 | lizhaywoodsullivan.com Represented by Vose Galleries, Boston, MA. Check website for available workshops.

Check website for available workshops.

CYNTHIA ROSEN Dorset, Vermont

For Love of the Mountain Stream, 16 x 20 in., oil on panel Available through the artist cynthiarosenart@gmail.com cynthiarosen.com Represented by Gallery 46, Lake Placid, NY; Helmholz Fine Arts, Manchester, VT; Robert Paul Galleries, Stowe, VT. Check website for available workshops.

STEFAN BAUMANN Mount Shasta, California

Giant Geyser, 18 x 12 in., oil on panel Available through the artist stefanbaumannartist@gmail.com 415.606.9074 | stefanbaumann.com Represented by The Gallery in Mt. Shasta, Mt. Shasta, CA. Check website for available workshops.

JOHANNE MANGI North Haven, Connecticut

White Lightning, 20 x 16 in., oil on linen panel Available through the artist mangifineart@johannemangi.com | 203.215.5255 | johannemangi.com Represented by West Wind Fine Art, Keene, NH. Check website for available workshops.

CARRIE CURRAN

Scottsdale, Arizona

Blue Door, 12 x 10 in., oil Available through Carrie Curran Art Studios info@carriecurranart.com | 480.478.8121 | carriecurran.com Represented by Hermosa Inn, Paradise Valley, AZ; Carrie Curran Art Studios, Scottsdale, AZ. Check website for available workshops.

STEPHANIE BIRDSALL Redding, Connecticut

NANCIE KING MERTZ Chicago, Illinois

Twilight, 20 x 16 in., oil Available through the artist

Near the Spanish Steps, 12 x 16 in., pastel Available through ArtDeTriumph, Chicago, IL

sbirdartist@gmail.com | 239.571.8895 | stephaniebirdsall.com

nancie@nanciekingmertz.com | 773.458.3205 | nanciekingmertz.com

Represented by Saks Galleries, Denver, CO; Illume Gallery, St. George, UT; Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT.

Represented by ArtDeTriumph, Chicago, IL. Check website for available workshops.

Check website for available workshops.

JOHN MACDONALD Williamstown, Massachusetts

Fading Out, 12 x 18 in., oil on board Available through the artist john@jmacdonald.com 413.884.2074 jmacdonald.com Represented by The Lily Pad Galleries, Watch Hill, RI and Milwaukee, WI; Warm Springs Gallery, Warm Springs, VA; Christopher-Clark Fine Art, San Francisco, CA. Check website for available workshops.

KATHY ANDERSON OPAM

Redding, Connecticut

Rose Petals and Chickadee, 8 x 12 in., oil on panel Available at Gallery 1261 in Denver, CO kathy@kathyandersonstudio.com kathyandersonstudio.com Represented by Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ; Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT; Horton Hayes Fine Art, Charleston, SC; Tree’s Place, Cape Cod, MA; West Wind Fine Art, Keene, NH. Check website for available workshops.

OBER-RAE STARR LIVINGSTONE, NOAPS Windsor, Ontario, Canada

ISAP

Feeling Your Touch, 24 x 48 in., oil on canvas kolorama@newageart.com | 226.246.7607 | ober-rae.com Represented by Castle Gallery of Fine Art, Ft. Wayne, IN; Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH; Liz-Beth & Company, Knoxville, TN. Check website for available workshops.

JILL BASHAM Trappe, Maryland

Beauty Overhead, 6 x 6 in., oil on linen jillbasham2014@gmail.com | 410.200.3597 | jillbasham.com Represented by Principle Gallery, Alexandria, VA; Reinert Fine Art, Charleston, SC; Trippe Gallery, Easton, MD.

DAVIS PERKINS OPA

San Rafael, California

Doc’s Pond, 24 x 30 in., oil on canvas Available through the artist. davis@davisperkins.com 415.519.3125 davisperkins.com Represented by Holton Studio Gallery, Berkeley, CA.

JOE ANNA ARNETT OPA, AIS

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Iris, Champagne Elegance, 9 x 12 in., oil on linen panel Available through the artist joeannaarnett@earthlink.net 505.699.3426 joeannaarnett.com Represented by Zaplin Lampert Gallery, Santa Fe, NM. Check website for available paintings and workshops.

MOUNTAIN MAJESTY

plein air portfolio

60

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Storm Over Pu’u Kukui Kathleen B. Hudson 2019, oil, 15 x 21 in.

Available from artist Plein air

W

hen faced with the austere grandeur or rolling silhouettes of these natural wonders, what landscape painter could not find kinship with the naturalist John Muir, who once proclaimed, “the mountains are calling, and I must go”? Lured by the same call of the wild, the 15 artists featured here drew inspiration from a range of spectacular views — from snowy peaks and craggy sierras to verdant slopes and vibrant mesas.

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

61

plein air portfolio

(TOP) Mount Cowan Cirque, Aaron Schuerr, 2019, oil, 18 x 40 in., private collection, studio from plein air study • (ABOVE LEFT) Light in a Western Town, Christine Lashley, 2019, oil, 20 x 20 in., private collection, plein air • (ABOVE RIGHT) Along String Lake, David Marty, 2018, oil, 8 x 10 in., available from West Lives On Gallery in Jackson, WY, plein air

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April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Moonrise over Sundial Peak, Utah, Ken Salaz, 2019, oil, 9 x 12 in., private collection, plein air

Picacho Peak, Nancie King Mertz, 2016, pastel, 12 1/2 x 15 1/2 in., available from Art de Triumph Gallery, plein air

Boquilla Canyon ll, Richard Sneary, 2018, watercolor, 14 x 20 in., available from artist, plein air

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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plein air portfolio

Overlooking Morning, Natasha Isenhour, 2019, pastel, 12 x 24 in., available from Ventana Fine Art, plein air

Last Snow on the Peaks, Francesco Fontana, 2019, watercolor, 14 1/2 x 10 1/2 in., private collection, plein air

Depth of Winter, Josh Elliott, 2014, oil, 12 x 12 in., private collection, plein air 64

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Aspen Glow, Lori McNee, 2019, oil, 24 x 24 in., available from Kneeland Gallery in Ketchem, ID, studio from plein air painting

(RIGHT) If You Wanted a Roof, That's Extra, Bill Meuser, 2019, oil, 8 x 16 in., available from artist, plein air • (BELOW LEFT) A Walk in the Wind, John Poon, 2019, oil, 30 x 40 in., available from Mountain Trails Gallery, plein air and studio • (BOTTOM LEFT) Morning Glow, Bill Cone, 2016, pastel, 12 x 9 in., private collection, plein air

Reaching the Minarets, Kim Lordier, 2010, pastel, 16 x 12 in., private collection, plein air

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Expanded Digital Edition Content

Birdland, Michele de Braganรงa, 2018, oil, 11 x 14 in., collection the artist, plein air Sierra Calm, Charles Muench, 2018, oil, 12 x 12 in., available from K. Nathan Gallery, La Jolla, CA, plein air

Dutchman Flat Randall Tillery 2018, oil, 9 x 12 in.

Available from Rimrock Gallery in Prineville, OR Plein air April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Expanded Digital Edition Content

Burning Off the Morning Susan Lynn 2017, watercolor, 16 x 20 in.

Collection the artist Plein air “The town of Telluride, Colorado, sits at the end of a box canyon with an iconic waterfall that feeds the river on the valley floor,” says Susan Lynn. “In the early morning, the rising mist from the river burns off very slowly as the sun rises beyond the mountains. I found it a wonderful challenge to stand on the valley floor and try to capture the suffusion of morning light along with the gradual revealing of the mountains.”

The Snowy Owl’s Haunt TJ Cunningham 2019, oil, 27 x 44 in.

Private collection Studio from plein air study

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

Expanded Digital Edition Content

Diamond Fork John Hughes 2020, oil, 9 x 12 in.

Available from artist Plein air

Distant Peak Jacob Aguiar 2019, pastel, 18 x 24 in.

Available from Turner Fine Art, Jackson, WY Studio from plein air study April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Expanded Digital Edition Content

Mountain Time Jill Banks 2015, oil, 24 x 18 in.

Private collection Plein air and studio “I painted Mountain Time over two long afternoons in Telluride,” says Jill Banks. “In 2015, the town was still new to me, and the size and complexity of capturing all the moving parts on this large canvas was a bit too much for me to handle and completely finish on location. After spending the week there, I really started to absorb the rhythms and feel of the place. Everyone has a dog … probably more than one. Bikes are everywhere. At some point, the streets quiet and morph as people change gears and head to dinner or home after the day of activity. I understood that it was as important to include the pile of bikes, the man (Ira) walking his dogs, and the overall mood as it was to depict the mountain in order to really capture the feel of the place.”

Morning Glory Larry DeGraff 2016, oil, 9 x 12 in.

Available from artist Plein air www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

SPECIAL FEATURE

In the Field:

A FEMALE PERSPECTIVE What does it mean to be a woman in plein air? Seven top artists share their experiences.  BY KELLY KANE 

R

oughly half of today’s visual artists are female, but women remain grossly underrepresented in museums, galleries, teaching positions, and at award ceremony podiums.

To highlight this issue, the National Museum of Women in the Arts revived its #5WomenArtists social media campaign, challenging users to name five female artists off the top of their heads, as part of its annual celebration of Women’s History Month in March. Most found it impossible.

Why? Artist and professor Joan Semmel has an idea.

“If there are no great celebrated women artists, that’s because the powers that be have not been celebrating them, not because they are not there.” I was fortunate recently to talk to seven prominent artists — Suzie Baker, Jane Hunt, Shelby Keefe, Brienne Brown, Brenda Boylan, Lyn Boyer, and Kim VanDerHoek. They spoke freely about the unique rewards and challenges of being a woman in plein air, and offered their best advice for all who want to see greater equality in the arts.

Kelly Kane: A question often asked of working women in any field, but rarely of men, relates to the balance of work 66

and home life — and the guilt that often accompanies that juggling act. But because you all identified it as your number one concern, let’s start there.

Suzie Baker: The best art supply you can have is a sup-

portive spouse or partner, and I have an amazing one.

Andy and I have been married for 25 years. Our kids are 22 and 20, and both in college. They are in the needyou-don’t-need-you stage of life. I started leaning into my painting about 10 years ago, and my career started to build momentum right about the time the kids were gaining more trustworthy autonomy. I tell them that you

Shelby Keefe, Suzie Baker, and Lyn Boyer catch up at the Plein Air Convention & Expo.

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Lean In Suzie Baker 2019, oil, 12 x 12 in.

Available from artist Plein air www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Brienne Brown captures a scene in watercolor.

never marry thinking you are going to change your partner, but you can love and support them into being the best possible version of themselves. Andy has done that for me and rejoices in my accomplishments. He doesn’t complain about taking a vacation and joining me at Plein Air Maui or Grand Canyon Celebration of the Arts, either.

In relationship to feelings of guilt about ourselves as mothers or caregivers, I recognize that much of that guilt comes from the expectations of others and longestablished societal norms. Historic gender roles have changed and are changing. I bet my dad never changed a diaper, but my husband sure did, and while I did stay home for a time when my children were small, I have male friends who did the same, long before it was at all common. Artists Paul Kratter and Jim Wodark are a few of those Super Dads. They did what worked for their families. There are lots of healthy ways to parent and meet the needs of those around you while also meeting your own needs and professional goals. That’s not to say that some times aren’t more challenging on a career (and our sanity) within the seasons of family life. The small years and the years of our parents’ failing and our own inevitable decline are some of the hardest. Still, I love watching those moms with young children — Brienne Brown,

SAFETY FIRST “Common sense is your best friend. Be aware of your surroundings at all times, and do not listen to music. You need to be able to hear approaching vehicles, animals, or people.”

— Shelby Keefe “I always carry a big can of bear spray, as well as large orange traffic cones, which I set out if I’ve pulled off onto the shoulder of a road to paint. I also have a small batteryoperated perimeter alarm that I can set on the ground behind me that will chime if a person or animal approaches.” — Lyn Boyer “Unfortunately, as in the rest of life, it’s safer for us to travel in groups.” — Jane Hunt “If you do go out alone, tell someone where you are going and about how long you intend to stay. Pack an extra battery charger for your phone, so you can stay in touch.”

— Brienne Brown “Velcro a small mirror to your easel, so you can see what’s going on behind you.”

— Kim VanDerHoek

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The Caddy — The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO Lyn Boyer 2019, oil, 9 x 12 in.

Available from artist Plein air

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Anna Rose Bain, Kathleen Hudson, to name just a few — figuring it all out and kicking butt in the process. Regardless of your season in life, if you are feeling guilty, take some time to address it, with yourself and with those you love.

Jane Hunt: Balancing motherhood and career has definitely been my biggest challenge. We adopted a child from China with severe special needs, and I had to stop painting completely for three years. My career had been on an upswing, and three years later, I had to pretty much start over. My husband is kind and supportive, but there is no doubt that my career took a much bigger hit than his did during that time. Even in the most progressive households, when stuff hits the fan with children, it generally falls on the mother to cope with it. Even after rejoining the art world, I spent years painting under adverse conditions — at hospitals during surgeries or with a postictal child under my easel.

Guilt assuagement? I’ll let you know if that ever happens. Seriously, though, my guilt is somewhat alleviated because I believe I’m modeling independence and gumption for my daughters. I really appreciated Suzie’s thoughts around guilt.

I’ve always just accepted it as part of the package … I’ll definitely be mulling that over.

Brenda Boylan: Every year I write down my

family, personal, and professional goals, and there have been a few times when they were not in sync. I had to make it clear to my spouse that I am not only a mother and wife, but a business owner who has big goals for us. That means that I clear each event or time-consuming project with him first so that schedules align and the kids are not neglected. It has been great for him to take on the role of primary caregiver while I am competing so that he understands the challenges and rewards of being present for the kids.

As for guilt, I view it as a natural emotion for anyone who has an ounce of compassion, so I just keep focused and disciplined.

Brienne Brown: When I decided to pursue an art career, I had no idea

what that really entailed. I just knew I had to keep creating and painting for my own happiness. I learned early on that I’m a better mom and wife when I have filled my bucket. Still, I sometimes feel like I’m going crazy. Fortunately, I’ve picked up several tips along the way that help me stay sane while keeping up with my art career and raising young kids.

1. When I plan my week, I start by penciling in the important “can’t miss” events — school dates, painting events, deadlines. Then I schedule my painting time — while the kids are at school or at night

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when they’re sleeping, during nap time (though that ends pretty quickly), or times when my husband is home. I treat this time as sacred, only changing it for emergencies, such as a sick kid, which seems to happen all too often. I then add in the business goals I have for the week — making an ad, social media posts, newsletters. Am I perfect at this? No. But it helps to start with a plan and then adapt when needed. This way I can focus on my family 100 percent when I am with them.

2. I do not do this alone. I ask for help from family and friends when I need it. I also hire help when I need it. When my older boys were younger and both home, I hired a young lady in my neighborhood to watch them two times a week for four hours. I learned a valuable lesson

I will not lie … it’s exhausting, and I don’t do all this every week. But when I do, I feel great.

The guilt you mention is very real. But there are a couple of things that help me feel better and even empowered about my decision to pursue an art career while also nurturing a young family.

• Meeting other professional artists with young kids has been hugely beneficial. It helps to share experiences, get tips, and learn from one another.

• Pursuing my passion is good for my kids. They are still the most important part of my life and they know this, but they also know what else is important to me. They get to watch me pursue my passion, which teaches them they can do the same.

Lyn Boyer: During the years I was BBB&C — breadwin-

ner, bottle washer, business owner, and creative — I found the only way I got everything done that needed doing was by approaching my creative life with a ferocious discipline and organization. On the surface, that strategy may sound like it would stifle creativity, but I find it helped channel and focus it. There are times when making the “best” painting means giving it your very best in the time available, with the best materials you can afford at the time.

Making time to be fully present for friends, family, and the breadth of life, in fact, gives you the depth of experience that you need to become a mature painter. Three practical things helped.

• Always having my studio either in my home or on my property insured my daughter never came home to an empty house.

• Learning to be able to be interrupted and then quickly regain my focus was an essential skill.

• Committing a specific day of the week to do all things business-related.

How I handled guilt was to first see if it was coming from a legitimate place, and if it was, I moved boundaries to fix the problem. One instance in particular was when I realized (yet again) I had missed a significant event for my daughter. I had let the urgent become master of the important. I immediately made a commitment to never miss another one. In the end, my fears of what that commitment might have meant to my business or creative time never came true.

Good Morning Bailey’s Brienne Brown 2019, watercolor, 14 x 18 in.

Available from artist Plein air

during that time: inspiration comes when you get to work. There were plenty of days I was exhausted and didn’t want to paint, but I knew it was important and this was the only time I had to do it. This experience helped form my work ethic and habits. Painting and improving your skills takes work, so treat it like work.

3. I have a hard time painting while watching my kids, especially as I paint with watercolor and can’t leave a wash in the middle. But there are some things I can do, such as sketching and planning paintings, writing newsletter drafts, posting on social media, or gathering source material. This way, when I have the time to paint, I am as efficient as possible.

Kim VanDerHoek: Balancing work and family life is challenging. Without

the support of my husband and extended family, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. That being said, the road hasn’t always been smooth. In the early stages of my career, it was challenging getting my husband to understand what plein air events were, what expenses were involved, why it was important for me to go, and how they would benefit my career. It was difficult to justify, especially since there was no guarantee that I would recoup my travel expenses or make any profit. www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Under & Over Brenda Boylan 2019, oil, 9 x 12 in.

Available from artist Plein air

Going to one also meant calling in help from my mother-in-law, who lives locally, and my mother, who lives out of state, to help babysit or pick kids up from school while my husband was at work. Now that my kids are older (15 and 10), it’s a bit easier, but they miss me, and it does mean more work for my husband when I’m traveling.

Initially, family and friends viewed my painting as a hobby because that’s how it started. Once I decided to turn it into a profession, those around me still saw it as an optional activity. So I began to change the way I talk about my job. I no longer refer to what I do as “going to go paint” or “teaching a class.” Instead I use the phrase, “I’m going to work.” Since then, everyone has taken my career much more seriously.

As for dealing with the guilt, that’s something I struggle with all the time, especially when it comes to how much I enjoy my job. When it hits, I ask myself, “When was the last time a man has ever felt compelled by guilt to apologize for doing his job or enjoying it?”

Shelby Keefe: When I was married and had young childen in the ’90s, I painted relatively little and made my living as a graphic designer.

There simply wasn’t time (or energy) between job and family responsibilities to get any substantial painting done — unless there was a deadline or show goal to attend to. I lived by two mottos: “You get more done when you have more to do” and “Necessity is the mother of invention.” But mostly I believe you make stuff happen because you must in order to survive and thrive. Kids get older, divorce happens, life changes, and opportunities present themselves all during the process of 72

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living. So you go with the flow, take advantage of opening doors, and do your best to stay positive.

The creative side is served by the business side and the business side is fed by the inspired side. Sitting at my computer is a welcome break from painting and being so focused on producing paintings. I enjoy the independence of running my own business, and I get great satisfaction out of being organized and finding solutions for getting the next

Brenda Boylan draws an audience in Cuba.

being in more galleries. It never felt that I was competing against the guys until the plein air circuit came into my life. I am the sole breadwinner of my “family of one,” which adds much pressure to the need to win prize money and sell, and there are no guarantees of either.

Kane: A recent study in the Journal of Adolescent Research showed that Maybe it’s my age (over 60) and my desire to let go of the emowhile boys are socialized to see competition as fun, girls are conditioned from a young age to work together to reach their goals: “This reluctance tional swings of competitions that has me reevaluating the importance in my life of applying to shows and painting in plein air competitions. I to compete can have an impact on women’s career trajectories and am working on the idea that ego needs to take a back seat to a fulfilleventual earning power.” How have you learned to embrace the coming and peaceful life. I am finding this is a daily practice, much like petitive spirit needed to build a successful art career?

Keefe: I have always been competitive, even as a child (I had artistic sib- meditation. So what next, then, for a woman who has been there, done lings). At times, I’ve thought it was a curse, with the roller coaster ride of that? Finding joy and cultivating friendships that support and nourish as well as taking the time to play with paint and be with other painters emotions — the ups and downs — but it’s been a sure motivator. Still, who feel the same way.

I was raised to not act proud and not toot my own horn. Being humble was of the utmost importance. I think this is true for most girls.

Regardless, I’ve always wanted to be the best artist I could possibly Boylan: While I was young, I thought the word competitive was synonybe — in college, in my graphic design career, and especially in my days mous with sports, and I don’t care for sports. I really didn’t think I was of being a full-time artist participating in art fairs and plein air competi- competitive at all until I submitted a painting to a local art show. It didn’t tions. When I was in my 20s and 30s, I don’t remember concentrating place, but it provided fuel to my growth process; I aimed to find out on whether “better” had anything to do with gender. I also didn’t pay what the juror saw in each piece that did win. I also learned to step away attention to the disparity of men making more money than women or from believing each piece was precious. I allowed the failures to become paycheck. The easel, however, is always calling, no matter what practical tasks are getting the attention.

Sailor’s Delight Shelby Keefe 2019, oil, 16 x 20 in.

Available from artist Plein air

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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examples of what not to do and redirected my sights on bettering my work Boyer: Enter competitions that make sense. Obviously, a photorealistic paint— and that meant mileage with paint and panels. ing would be a poor choice for a show focused on impressionist works. Over time, your success can provide a good measure of your progress as a painter.

Hunt: I don’t know how it was in the States, but at my private all-girls school in England during the ’70s and ’80s, we were absolutely trained Keefe: Always paint a special piece for shows like Oil Painters of America, to demur to men. We were discouraged from speaking unless spoken to, American Impressionist Society, and other national shows. Unless you created and bringing attention to our own strengths was unthinkable. Now I a kick-ass piece some time during the year that hasn’t sold, it’s always best to up find myself in a business where in order to stand out you need to make your game by making your best painting possible to submit to shows. This is your successes known. Social media has only intensified this. I find self- your opportunity to stretch yourself, tackle challenging ideas, and raise the bar. promotion a very uncomfortable, yet necessary, part of the business.

A few years ago, a female artist “friend” told me I was too ambitious Boylan: Entering competitions is a no-brainer! You must get your work because I was entering competitions and putting myself out there online. out there. Having said that, enter only your very best work — and have At first, I felt guilty and ashamed, presumably due to my conditioning, and then I got mad.

That experience prompted a lot of soul-searching and a deep resolve to not play small just because I happen to be female. Since then, I’ve learned a lot about embracing the competitive spirit from my male artist friends, and they’ve been overwhelmingly supportive and encouraging.

Brown: I played team sports growing up, but

I find the competitive nature of the art world harder to deal with. I don’t mean competing with other artists, although there is some of that; mostly I mean competing with myself.

When I get rejected, it’s hard not to take it personally, and I have no teammates to commiserate with; it’s all on me. Having artist friends can definitely help. I have also come to realize that rejection, after the first sting, can inspire me to work harder, whereas constant success could breed complacency. Besides, whining never helps us to improve our work; it just makes us feel worse.

Baker: I have always been competitive, with an irrational self-esteem. Realistically, though, I often find myself in the company of some crazy-talented artist, so while I go into every event giving it all I have to give, I pre-decide that I will be happy, come what may, and celebrate the accomplishments of others. I would like to encourage all of us women to give each other permission to unapologetically compete while also reveling in each other’s victories.

Kane: What advice would you give a woman, or anyone for that matter, considering a career in art in terms of entering competitions?

VanDerHoek: Be a good sport when you don’t

win or don’t get juried in. Will you win all the time? No. Will winning a competition make or break your career? No. Will it help build your resume? Yes. 74

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Boats at Dusk Jane Hunt 2019, oil, 14 x 11 in.

Private collection Plein air

FAIR’S FAIR “Everyone makes the mistake of pricing their work too low when they first start out. Once you realize you’ve done that, don’t beat yourself up about it. Just raise your prices and move on. You never want to be the lowest-priced artist in the room.” — Kim VanDerHoek “When establishing prices, take a careful look at your competition.

Compare the quality of your work, the style, subject matter, awards received, and other credentials with artists whose work falls in line with yours. You can do this by visiting galleries and exhibitions, as well as looking online. Be honest with yourself and what you have to offer a collector.” — Brenda Boylan “I would not pay attention to gender when pricing your work. The considerations Brenda outlined are more important.” — Brienne Brown “Growing your price range is a slow process, but when you create one of your very best paintings to date, put a higher price on it.” — Shelby Keefe “A current exhibit at the MFA in Boston, ‘Women Take the Floor,’ points out that women artists earn 76 cents for every dollar made by male artists. Let me be emphatic here; we owe it to ourselves, the industry, and fellow painters — male and female — to charge what is in line with our skill and the market. Get good at your craft, get out there, and pay yourself what you are worth!” — Suzie Baker

Jane Hunt paints on location in Jackson, Wyoming.

it photographed by a professional who knows how to work with artwork.

Follow the rules and application directions to a T. If you don’t have any idea what to do, ask for help. Or then again, you might not be ready to compete.

Boylan: I recommend selecting events that have a good collector base, subject matter that you are comfortable painting, housing provided for extended and long-distance events, and are well organized.

Baker: Competitions, national shows, and conventions can be an essential driver of your artistic ability and career advancement. Start local and work your way up. Competitions allow you to rate yourself against your peers and see where the bar is for your type of work.

Whether you get in or not, go to the show, study the work that got in, network, get to know other painters, the board members of the sponsoring organization, and the vendors at the conventions. You might see that you need to work more on your craft, just need to keep applying, or are in the wrong arena for your style. You might make connections with people who will guide you, discover you, collect your work, or invite you to a future event. You won’t know if you don’t show up.

Baker: Paint plein air regularly. Once you can consistently paint a few frameable paintings a day, look for an event and apply.

Kane: You’ve all agreed there’s an imbalance in the number of women invited to participate in most plein air events — averaging about 20 to 35 percent — but were split on whether you’ve seen progress in the time you’ve been competing. What should a woman expect from participating in plein air events?

Boyer: Plein air events are absolutely the best boot camp you can enlist

in — not just to learn to paint, but to learn to be a painter. If you have trouble with discipline, you learn it. If you’ve felt isolated, you find a band of brothers and sisters who provide camaraderie and support.

VanDerHoek: Try one or two local ones first because it will keep your

expenses low. If you like them, great. If they aren’t for you, don’t sweat it; there are plenty of ways to build an art career.

Kane: Nearly half of visual artists in the United States are female, but women make up only a small portion of those represented by commercial galleries. What can be done to find more women gallery representation?

Boyer: I actually think this would be a better question for gallerists. I do

know as women painters there is only one part of the equation we are fully in control of, and that is our commitment to becoming better painters, using whatever time our particular circumstances afford us.

VanDerHoek: This discrepancy is not only true for commercial galleries. Did you know that work by women artists makes up only 3 to 5 percent of the permanent collections in museums across the U.S.? As a woman, that number is monumentally discouraging. As the mother of a young girl interested in being an artist one day, it sickens me.

One way to combat this is that as women artists, we must value the artwork of other female artists just as highly as we value men’s.

By that I mean, when we cite our personal lists of major artistic influences, there should be at least one (if not more) female artist in our top 10. I am constantly amazed that when giving examples of their influences, many artists, both male and female, don’t list any women. Ladies, how can we expect our artwork to be valued equally to our male counterparts when we ourselves don’t place a high value on it?

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Sonoma Patchwork Kim VanDerHoek 2019, oil, 9 x 12 in.

Available from artist Plein air

Keefe: Dedicated to the inspiration, celebration, and encouragement of women in the visual fine arts, American Women Artists is addressing this very issue. In 2017, AWA launched 25 in 25, a bold initiative to secure 25 museum exhibitions for our women artist members over the next 25 years — in direct response to the disturbing statistic Kim shared. They now have museum shows booked through 2024. Along with these exhibitions, AWA is working to facilitate a Purchase Award for the museums’ permanent collections or for a corporate collection. I am grateful to be a Signature Member of this fine organization, and I encourage women of all ages, skill levels, and disciplines to look into it for opportunities to support one another.

other women. To turn Madeleine Albright’s quote on its ear, “There is a special place in heaven for women who support other women.”

Baker: One of the best ways to get on the radar of a coveted gallery, show, or event is to have someone recommend you. Whether the recommendation comes from a male or female peer, once we gain entry, we have the potential platform to recommend others. From my experience, event directors are looking for women artists. Let’s put to rest this notion that women see their primary competition as other women and recognize that successful women support

female artists’ work. By publishing articles like this. By raising awareness of the inequities.

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Hunt: I think it’s helpful for people to let gal-

leries know that this issue matters to them.

When I’m in a new town and checking out galleries, I will often ask the staff what percentage of their artists are women. I collect as well as paint, and tend not to favor galleries that don’t fairly represent women.

Kane: Is there anything that can be done to educate collectors about the value of work created by female artists, so that work of equal quality is equally compensated?

VanDerHoek: By speaking highly of other

Boyer: Again, this is partially the purview of the

gallerists. However, we should plan and maintain a consistent and robust advertising presence so collectors and galleries will become aware of our work. Just as we are asking for their commitment to us, in this way we show our commitment to them and the promotion of our work.

Hunt: I believe statistics speak volumes. Competi-

tions are a good way to gauge quality of work, especially when you see the same artists winning across multiple platforms. I appreciate agencies like @ARTDATAintel (on Instagram), which track and conduct statistical analysis on artists’ performance across numerous art competitions.

They also offer analysis of the gender discrepancy.

I’m proud to hold the record for the most annual Oil Painters of America awards (Lyn is right there at the top also). Women in particular are taught not to brag, and while I believe humility is important, we still need to make collectors aware of our accomplishments. Organizations like this can make statistics available to collectors without us having to overtly announce them.

Boylan: Create or direct the discussion and make it known that there are many talented women artists. Name names. Create the buzz.

Brown: I think the answer lies in continuing to compete and upping our game. I don’t think separating ourselves with different awards or events is the answer (though these can be fun).

If we want to prove our work is equal, we just have to keep pushing.

Kane: Now that you’ve achieved a level of success, what are you doing to pay it forward and use the platforms you have to lend support to other artists?

Boyer: One of my greatest joys is teaching and

fourth woman filling that role in our 29-year history. I have served as a co-chair of the Show Planning Committee with fellow board member Susan Abma for five years. It has been a particular focus of mine, indeed that of OPA, to see more talented women artists given a platform to demonstrate their exceptional abilities.

I am always watching for those women whose work and professional credentials have earned them a spot at the table.

mentoring. Seeing the progress of my students and feeling that I have made a difference in their lives is deeply gratifying. I am committed to passing the torch to future generations. I keep no secrets. I hold nothing back when I teach.

We stand on the shoulders of the painters that came before us, and it will be an honor if we Hunt: I pay it forward to artists and other become the shoulders upon which future genera- women in several ways: I volunteer and tions stand. fundraise for many children’s charities, with a particular focus on sex trafficking and sexual abuse. In many cases, art supplies and art VanDerHoek: I donate to fundraisers that keep therapy are part of the healing process. I also arts programs in our public schools. I also speak serve on the board of Oil Painters of America highly of the artwork of other women, sharing and volunteer my time to several other art orexamples with my students and via Instagram.

When it comes to my female students, I generally ganizations. Plus, I host an annual Galentine’s Day (my favorite fake holiday) paint-out and see a lack of confidence compared to the male students, and I work to build up their confidence. celebration for local female artists.

Brown: While teaching workshops, I get to meet

so many great artists of all skill levels. I love providing advice, tips, and encouragement as they identify their goals and plan for how best to pursue them. Local demonstrations and art shows have also been a great way to meet local artists and lend support in my community. In addition, I have started an online mentor program, which has been rewarding for me and my students.

Keefe: In this critical time of mental and

Boylan: I am currently mentoring a woman artist who has expressed her artistic goals with me. We share our time in my office as she assists me with organization and data entry while I share real-life solutions, advice, critiques, and business processes.

Kane: What is the best advice you’ve ever received for making it in this field?

Boyer: You’ve got to show up!

Hunt: The best advice I’ve ever heard, period, is

“to feel the fear and do it anyway.” I try to live by that maxim because I feel an awful lot of fear. If I’d waited for it to pass, I wouldn’t have a career.

VanDerHoek: Believe in the value you create.

Baker: The best advice I ever received was from a mentor of mine, Rich Nelson, who got it from his mentor Bart Lindstrom. “Making it in this business is a two-step process: Step one, get good; step two, get out there. The better you are at step one, the better step two will go.”

Keefe: Attitude is everything, and having an attitude of gratitude only brings more goodness to you.

Boylan: Don’t reveal every thought, and be selective with what you say (a very difficult thing for me to do).

Brown: Years ago, when I first decided to try selling my work, I asked the advice of a friend who had a successful art career. I had my pad of paper and pen ready to jot down the list of steps to take. But all he said was, “Just paint and the rest will come.” I was so disappointed; I wanted a list that I could check off. Since then, I’ve realized just how right he was.

KELLY KANE is editor-in-chief of PleinAir.

emotional upheaval, I’ve come to believe that every person can use a little creativity to boost their mood and inspire their daily living. To that end, I’ve developed a series of “playshops,” where artists and non-artists alike can gather in my studio and paint to music I’ve specially selected. Using tempera paint, pastels, crayons, scrapers, and rollers, they can express themselves in a nonjudgmental and critique-free environment. Having a full-immersion experience with painting has a way of demystifying the process of finding their own voice. Bringing music to the art-making and gentle guidance from me as the facilitator has helped inspire brushwork, mark-making, color harmony, and composition without the pressure of coming up with a frameable finished product. I plan on organizing a “pay what you can” playshop for those who have less means for an official painting workshop.

Baker: This year, I am the incoming president

Brenda Boylan and Kim VanDerHoek take a break from competing.

of Oil Painters of America (OPA). I’ll be the

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Expanded Digital Edition Content

WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN CONSIDERING GALLERY REPRESENTATION Kim VanDerHoek: So often I see new artists take whatever representation they can get. It’s as important for the artist to interview a gallery as it is for the gallery to interview the artist. If you’re uncomfortable with the gallery or aren’t 100 percent sure they have a market for your work, then don’t consign your work to that gallery. There are plenty of galleries to choose from; the secret is finding one that’s a good fit all around.

Lyn Boyer: I would encourage you to put 95

percent of your effort into doing the work and developing into a good painter with something to say and something unique to offer. The other 5 percent you can put into researching or visiting galleries to find ones that might be a good match or that you might aspire to in the future.

Have a web presence that reflects who you are; enter shows that are appropriate for your style and level. The gallerists will be watching and likely reach out to you when they find you have become a good match for their collectors.

Brienne Brown: My first advice is to paint.

Improving your skills and getting your work noticed can bring galleries to you. However, if you want to approach specific galleries, research them first. See which galleries are selling work similar to yours; in other words, don’t try to sell your plein air landscapes in a gallery that specializes in abstract art.

Brenda Boylan: Look at the quality of the gallery by making a “mystery shopper” visit. Check out

(ABOVE) Classical Gas — Embudo, NM, Lyn Boyer, 2018, oil, 8 x 10 in., private collection, plein air • (RIGHT) Midnight Gossamer, Kim VanDerHoek, 2019, oil, 20 x 24 in., private collection, plein air

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

how the sales team approaches you and informs you about the work that is currently in the gallery, then get to work checking out that work.

Compare it to the quality and style of what you have to offer and then ask yourself how your work can improve the lineup of artwork already offered.

I also recommend looking at the retail location of a gallery; you will need an attractive area with foot traffic, collectors, and tourism. As for the business side, you will have to negotiate on commission.

The standard ranges between 60/40 and 50/50.

Take a look at what kind of marketing strategies they use to attract collectors. Are you able to provide inventory in a timely manner? I also expect the gallery to pay for shipping for any work that is returned, as any supplier shouldn’t provide help for a retail business’ overhead.

Expanded Digital Edition Content

In the Early Hours Brienne Brown 2019, watercolor, 16 x 12 in.

Private collection Plein air

Cats in the Midst Brenda Boylan 2019, oil, 12 x 12 in.

Available from artist Plein air and studio

Watch a time-lapse video of the cover painting by Suzie Baker in process.

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

THOMAS W. SCHALLER

CLARITY OF FOCUS Thomas W. Schaller balances the technical skills he acquired as an architect with the expressive nature of watercolor to make a personal statement about his subjects.

T

 BY JOHN A. PARKS 

homas W. Schaller imbues his urban scenes with a sense of enormous clarity reinforced with resplendent light and thoughtfully constructed compositions. Remarkably, in spite of their classical organization, the paintings breathe with life brought about by the energetic and open use of watercolor. Brushstrokes drag along the pebbled surface of the paper, creating texture and action, while paint floods, drips, and spatters to leave us with a strong sense of the artist’s hand in motion. Creating paintings that balance a sense of classical repose with strongly expressive handling is no mean feat, but the artist points out that his work is packed with contrasts. “The theme of most all my work is duality, the conflict and resolution of opposite forces on the surface of the paper,” he says. “So I am drawn to the contrast, for example, between light and dark, vertical and horizontal elements, the manmade and the natural worlds, the real and the imaginary, and warm and cool tones.”

Schaller achieves the sense of light in his work not only by using powerful contrasts, but also through delicately opposing warm and cool colors. In shadow areas, for instance, he will invariably establish a gradient from a warm to a cool hue. “It’s my thought that by working almost always in complementary tones, every color lends electricity (power) to every other,” he says. “While I like color, I suppose I would consider myself less a colorist than I am a value painter. So I am less interested in any specific color than I am in its inherent value (light or dark) or temperature (warm or cool).”

THOMAS W. SCHALLER (shown here

painting in Lucca, Italy, with Otis) makes his home in Los Angeles, California. thomasschaller.com

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Ponte Vittorio Emanuelle II — Rome 2019, watercolor, 15 x 22 in.

Available from Manatee Art Center, Bradenton, FL Studio from plein air sketch

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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(ABOVE) Little Footbridge — Fengjing, China, 2018, watercolor, 22 x 15 in., private collection, plein air • (RIGHT) Via dei Baullari — Rome, 2019, watercolor, 15 x 15 in., available from artist, plein air • (BELOW RIGHT) Piazza della Rotunda — Rome, 2019, watercolor, 15 x 15 in., available from artist, plein air and studio

TAKING THE PLUNGE Given the accurate perspectives and sure feel for space and structure in his paintings, it’s no surprise that Schaller began his working life as an architect. “I graduated with a degree in architecture, but I also trained and studied as a fine artist at both undergraduate and graduate levels,” he says. In his career, he found himself gravitating toward architectural concept design and illustration. “After a few years, I opened my own business in New York City, completing design work, drawings, and watercolor images of proposed buildings and urban design projects for other architects, designers, developers, and city agencies. I also did work for a time with theater and film companies,” he says. “I developed a set of skills in drawing and painting that have served me well over the years. I learned much about drawing and watercolor technique, of course. But more importantly, I learned that while I loved architecture, what I most loved was the emotive and narrative power of images.”

While he continued his career in architecture, Schaller held on to an ambition of becoming a full-time artist and eventually took the plunge, leaving New York for California. “It was a massive career change, a personal and professional choice that was not impulsive,” he says. “Still, I jumped into the deep end of a new pool and I didn’t know if I could do it.” Schaller credits 80

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

(TOP LEFT) Across the Lagoon — Venice, 2019, watercolor, 14 x 20 in., private collection, plein air • (ABOVE) Staple Street Bridge — NYC, 2020, watercolor, 20 x 14 in., available from Manatee Art Center, Bradenton, FL, studio from plein air sketch • (LEFT) Old Boat — Canada, 2019, watercolor, 12 x 14 in., private collection, plein air

ARTIST’S MATERIALS Brushes: Escoda Aquario, Versatil, and Perla Series; others by Raphael, DaVinci, Tintoretto, and Black Mice Paints: Daniel Smith and a few by Holbein Palette: German Silver Box by House of Hoffman

by Steve Fanelli Paper: Primarily 140-lb. rough Fabriano, Saunders Waterford, and D’Arches Sketchbooks: Stillman & Birn Beta Series Pencils: Blackwing Palomino Sketch Pencil and Faber-Castell E-Motion Mechanical Sketch Pencil Eraser: Mono by Tombow

the mentoring of the Australian artist Joseph Zbukvic with giving him the courage to go forward. “He listened to me complaining about how hard it was and he said, ‘You just have to go ahead and paint, and everything else will work itself out.’ In other words, if there is something you really want to do, then you will find a way to do it. It turned out to be true.”

FINDING HIS VOICE Schaller acknowledges that he brought a considerable array of well-honed skills to his new

career from his years rendering architecture and design. “I talk a lot now about designing a painting and design in general, even in life,” he says. “What do you leave in and what do you leave out? In fine art, one of the building blocks that I needed was something that I lacked — an understanding of myself. Did I have a voice? Did I have anything to say? Was I just trying to paint pretty pictures? Unless I was willing to look deeper and be more personal, then I was never going to be much of an artist.”

In his search for personal expression, Schaller found that he would have to adapt the approach he had developed in his architectural work. “The tradition in architecture is a sort of beaux arts painting tradition, which denies the hand of the artist,” he says. “The thought was that there was an objective ideal of beauty and perfection.” Schaller began to experiment with more expressive handling and open brushwork.

“For a little while, I tried to turn my back on all my earlier training,” he says. “In recent www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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SECRETS TO ESTABLISHING PERSPECTIVE AND DEPTH “I’ve been enthralled by drawing in perspective since I was about 6 years old, so I guess it’s second nature to me,” says Schaller. “But I don’t think that absolutely accurately drawn perspective in a work is either necessary or even desirable. In fact, works that are too precise can look forced, stiff, and mechanical.

“Perspective is just a tool that the painter can use if it helps tell the story at hand. All you really need to remember is that since you are drawing on a flat sheet of two-dimensional paper, perspective is just an illusion of the third dimension — depth. From there, it’s common sense. If you consider two things of equal size, the one farther away will tend to look smaller than the one more near. And things that are at a distance tend to look less distinct than those that are closer to us.

It can all become far more complex, of course, but it really doesn’t need to.

“In my classes I teach that there are two primary ways of establishing perspective in a painting — the mathematical way of setting lines and vanishing points, and the more expressive and communicative way of layering three basic values. If areas of light, dark, and mid-tone are composed effectively, the illusion of depth and dimensionality appears almost as if by magic.”

tell me what matters in what I’m looking at and what doesn’t,” he says. “The sketch is a bridge between observation and expression. By reminding me what initially inspired me and what’s important about the scene, it allows me to begin editing and lets me make more spontaneous deyears, I realized I could take from it what cisions in the final painting.” The artist feels that was useful and build on it. I like my work to this idea of a sketch that narrows and hones the have a nice tension between the academic, focus of the final painting is important. “I think the technical, and the expressive, somewhere one reason people are put off plein air painting between the intuitive and the emotional.” is that they are intimidated by the amount of stimulus,” he says. “The information is overDISTILLING A SCENE whelming. The sketch is a way of bringing it When he is out painting en plein air, Schaller generally begins with a value sketch — “a quick down to bite-size pieces. On site, it’s all distracwash painting; it’s an organizational tool I use to tion and movement; the sketch is concrete.”

Street Corner — Havana, Cuba 2019, watercolor, 12 x 8 in.

Available from artist Plein air

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Value sketch and finished painting, Cathedral of San Martino — Lucca, Italy, watercolor, 20 x 14 in., private collection, plein air

Having established a basic plan for the painting, the artist begins work with a light line sketch in pencil. “It’s important to point out here that while I like to have a general idea, a plan, for how I want my painting to proceed, the nature of watercolor is such that even the best plan is subject to change along the way,” he says. “And in fact, some of my best paintings are at least in part a product of a plan that went awry. With experience, we get more comfortable with this and with making quick adjustments as we go. Watercolor can

Side Street — Cefalu, Sicily 2019, watercolor, 14 x 14 in.

Available from artist Plein air

Morning — Venice Beach Pier 2018, watercolor, 14 x 14 in.

Private collection Plein air

never — and should never — be completely controlled; that is a large part of its appeal.”

Schaller tends to think of the initial layout of his painting in terms of tonal value.

“In general, I design my work in three basic values — light, dark, and mid-tone,” he says.

“Usually I work my paintings up from light to dark, remembering always that the white of the untouched paper is the lightest value I have. It’s critical to realize that in watercolor the areas of the paper that are not painted have at least as much power as those that are.

For this reason, an initial plan can be useful in helping to save sufficient light in the work.

Once the light is gone, it is all but impossible to regain it.”

One thing Schaller establishes early in the painting is the focal point of the composition.

“A focal point is, in many ways, everything in a painting,” he says. “It is how the artist can best orchestrate a work and provide the viewer with an entry point to the painting. A focal point need not be one single spot within a painting; it can be an area — usually where the lightest light meets the darkest dark — that engages the imagination and pulls the eye of the viewer into, around, and through the work.”

Schaller will build his painting with a broad array of watercolor techniques, blocking large areas with paint that floods and blends to create gradients, and working wet-into-wet to enrich various areas. He is fearless in establishing

Central Park — NYC 2020, watercolor, 14 x 20 in.

Available from artist Plein air

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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(ABOVE) Library — Tuscany, 2019, pencil and sepia watercolor, 10 x 14 in., available from artist, plein air • (LEFT) Taxi Stand — Milan, 2019, watercolor, 15 x 15 in., available from artist, plein air

smaller elements in bold strokes and decisive gestures. Always mindful of maintaining freshness in his work, he soon faces the perennial challenge of all artists — knowing when to stop.

“Usually when I am asked about this I say, ‘It’s generally about a half an hour after I should have stopped,’” he jests. “But a more serious answer would be that I probably know instinctually. A voice begins to creep into my head that tells me ‘enough!’ It’s always best to listen to that voice.”

MAKING CONNECTIONS Just how all this works out in practice can be seen in Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, a view of a famous bridge in Rome seen from the bank of the river below. Here the focal point is obviously the bridge itself, and the artist has chosen to leave much of it white so that it glows against the darker values surrounding it. Note how the entire background of buildings, trees, and sky has been pushed back into middle-tone values. The artist has increased the contrast in the foreground by applying very dark values to the nearest figures and the tree. In most of the shadow areas there is little local color but many warm-tocool gradients. The shadows under the arches, for instance, 84

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Morning Paper — Campo dei Fiori 2019, liquid graphite, 12 x 8 in.

Available from artist Plein air

(ABOVE) Piazza Navona, 2018, watercolor, 22 x 15 in., available from artist, plein air and studio • (BELOW) Figure Sketch, 2019, graphite pencil and sepia watercolor, 12 x 9 in., private collection, plein air

move from a cool blue violet to a warm brown orange. The background alternates between a warm gray violet and a cool turquoise.

The artist has activated the deeper darks of the figures and tree by dropping some saturated colors into those areas while the paint was still wet, creating soft blooms of warm hues. It’s a strategy that prevents the darks from becoming too dead and monotonous. The clarity and repose of the piece is achieved with fine perspective drawing and an instinctive sense of accuracy and readability.

At the same time, adventurous handling in the bleeding of edges in the foreground, and the bravura application of brushwork in the

tree and some of the bridge detail, endows the work with a sense of life and air. We have a painting that is at once a fine account of a famous view and also a highly personal response to a particular situation.

Asked how he would like a viewer to respond to his work, the artist is thoughtful. “I hope that my work will have some kind of impact and life beyond me and my own little world,” he says. “It’s amazing when I hear from someone, on the other side of the globe perhaps, that something I have painted has given them hope, or joy, or curiosity, or some other reminder that we are all — no matter how different — connected in ways we may never know.”

Indeed, connection is perhaps the strongest message Schaller brings to the world of plein air painting. Traveling the globe in the company of his remarkably patient chihuahua, Otis, he is much in demand for his workshops that inspire as well as instruct, sharing his enthusiasm and passion for the act of creation as well as his deep technical knowledge of painting and design.

“What I hope my work does at its best,” he says, “is to inspire and allow others — people I may never meet — to tell their own stories.”

JOHN A. PARKS (johnaparks.com) is a painter, writer, and art instructor. www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Expanded Digital Edition Content

(CLOCKWISE) Selfie — New Orleans, 2019, watercolor, 20 x 14 in., available from Manatee Art Center, Bradenton, FL, studio from plein air sketch • Shadow Study — Via Giulia, 2018, watercolor, 22 x 15 in., available from artist, plein air and studio • Morning Light — San Miguel, Mexico, 2018, pencil and watercolor, 20 x 14 in., private collection, plein air

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Expanded Digital Edition Content

Fog on Tiber — Rome 2019, watercolor, 22 x 15 in.

Available from Manatee Art Center, Bradenton, FL Studio from plein air sketch

Milano Centrale 2010, watercolor, 22 x 15 in.

Available from artist Plein air

Go Behind the Scenes and See Thomas W. Schaller Create a Masterpiece!

Discover Tom’s proven 4-step process for making your paintings come alive!

CCPVideos.com April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

TARA WILL

TURNING UP THE VOLUME With her confident use of color and bold mark-making, this Maryland pastelist dances on the line between abstraction and reality.  BY BOB BAHR 

T

ara Will is bold.

Her paintings are bold; her goals are bold; her outlook is bold. With powerful strokes of her pastel sticks, she suggests form and firmly guides the viewer’s eye where she wants it to go.

On the plein air circuit, the contrast between her work and that of other painters is dramatic. Whether they feature a busy, colorful garden or a simple scene of two figures on a beach, her compositions display a commitment to abstraction even as they point to readily decipherable subjects.

“I sense that by the time I am really old, I will be a wild, abstract, non-objective artist,” says Will. “Right now, my work dances on the line of abstraction and reality. I see myself gaining interest in more abstract work. I admire the patience required by hyperrealistic work, but I want to push further in the other direction. I will probably continue down this path, pursuing the quintessential details that make a scene important. I’ll keep exploring approaches that let me capture the essence of a scene.”

Consider Deepdene Sparkle, a pastel painting with a recognizable subject and mark-making that is uniquely Tara Will. Sunlight pours through the trees, plain as day. But note the spots of sun on the path that mimic guiding lights in a futuristic hallway, steering the viewer in the right direction.

The sunlit stalks of grass not only point to the sun above, seeking its energy and light, but also guide the eye in and around the composition.

“The direction of strokes not only defines shapes, it influences how a painting feels and the emotion it conveys,” TARA WILL started plein air painting about five years ago, moving from quick draws to participating in several national plein air competitions. tarawill.com 86

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Will says. “Horizontal strokes suggest the somber, the calm.

Vertical and diagonal strokes make for a more dynamic feel.

You have to maintain a balance, though; you don’t want the whole composition to be dominated by one direction in the mark-making. Pastels are good for this. For instance, you can turn a pastel stick on its side for the nice, fat equivalent of a big paintbrush stroke.”

Will’s boldness comes through in her use of color as well. It’s hard to imagine many stronger yellows than those in the vegetation in Deepdene Sparkle, but also note the color of the bounce light, present in the path and other spots, revealing the artist’s knowledge of light quality and painting technique.

Deepdene Sparkle 2019, pastel, 24 x 24 in.

Private collection Plein air www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Portrait of a Sunflower 2019, pastel, 24 x 24 in.

Available from The District Gallery & Framery, Knoxville, TN Plein air

“I have great respect and admiration for more subdued color and value relationships in paintings, but I’m drawn to dynamic, high-contrast compositions,” she says. “The drama gives me the freedom to convey some of that excitement — and it’s not just the local color. One can see glimpses of color reflected from roof or sky and its effect on other objects — bounce light that you don’t see if you don’t train your eye. I will push bounce light a little further to create more color contrast. Sometimes that just means putting a more daring color next to a less dramatic one to make it pop. I turn up the volume to make it sing.”

ARTISTIC EVOLUTION How did Will get to this place in her development?

Partly by studying the Bauhaus leader Johannes Itten, a Swiss expressionist painter who explored the various ways colors can create contrast. In 1920, Itten published an influential book now found under the title The Elements of Color. His ideas continue to inspire artists in all media, including filmmaker Christopher Nolan.

“I have always had a love of really saturated colors, but thought of contrast strictly in terms of value,” Will says. “But then I studied Itten, who states there are seven different ways to achieve color contrast. That opened my mind to contrast being color-based. With these other ways of considering color, you can make blue feel more purple, depending on what color you put next to it.”

Will occasionally works in oil, but her primary medium is pastel. She has tried many brands and settled on a few favorites, including Henri Roche, Terry Ludwig, Diane Townsend Terrages, and Unison. “My hand is too heavy for the extra soft pastels,” she says, “but I have found a few keepers, some of which have been around since the 1700s. I like the historical aspect of using a brand that many of the greats used. I’ve gotten to know each of them, and now I can touch them and know which brand they are by feel. I can be a little rough on them, and they won’t break; I’m comfortable with them.”

Her favorite surface is the La Carte sanded paper from Sennelier. “Instead of absorbing the Sonoma Glow 2019, pastel, 8 x 8 in.

Private collection Plein air

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(RIGHT) The Pair, 2018, pastel, 24 x 24 in. , available from artist, plein air • (BELOW) Purple Shadows, 2019, pastel, 18 x 18 in., private collection, plein air

pastel, it has a little bounce and pushes back,” Will says.

Usually, she uses a full sheet of La Carte, but she can also cut it to whatever size she prefers and attach it to an aluminum panel using metal spring clips.

ELEMENTS THAT EXCITE THE SOUL Although Will is all about boldness, the thoughtfulness and painterly touch she exhibits in her paintings reveal a certain subtlety as well. The careful indication of bounce light mentioned above is one example; the soft blending in Light on Fairmount Snow is another. “Lately I’ve become more interested in a scumbling technique for pastel,” she says. “I’ve been using a thin, light touch to lay down some color. I still love those really direct, strong, thick marks, but I’m learning to integrate that into some softer areas.

Sometimes I let a lot of the paper color come through, and that allows a softer touch.”

Pastels are immediate and direct in their application of pigment, and easy to set up for a painting session. The colors are usually mixed within the eye (and mind) as opposed to being mixed physically on a palette, with some mixing done right on the painting surface. The downside of this is that pastelists usually need to carry a wide range of colors with them. If you don’t have a hue reminiscent of Naples yellow among your sticks, it may prove hard to mix with a small Going Up 2019, pastel, 40 x 30 in.

Private collection Plein air

Wood Piles 2019, watercolor, 15 x 22 in.

Available from artist Plein air www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Allium in May 2019, pastel, 19 x 25 in.

Available from artist Plein air

grouping of pastel colors. Will paints outside often, and she likes to have a wide palette. “I want as many colors as can fit in the box,” she says.

Outdoors, the artist prefers the famously stable Gloucester-style easel, and reports that she’s never had the wind knock over and scatter her pastels in the more than three years she’s used it. One can tell that even if such irritating events happened semi-regularly, Will wouldn’t abandon the great outdoors. “I get a little itchy 90

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in the studio,” she says. “The light is always better outside, and you can always turn around and find another scene. You learn so fast when you paint outside. You have to improvise and figure it out. It’s like immersion in a language.” She estimates that she paints en plein air roughly 80 percent of the time, and she favors sunny days for maximum drama and contrast.

Will likes to go big when painting both indoors and out — at least 20 x 30 inches,

although she’s gone as large as 48 x 48 inches outdoors. “I need to have room to move,” she says. “Working large gives me freedom. It improves my mark-making. Everything tightens up when you paint smaller. So, move your arms, and keep them open.”

She adds, “The scale of the painting dictates the amount of information needed; more detail is necessary in a large piece. I can include less information and be more abstract in small paintings.

Light on Fairmont Snow 2018, pastel, 25 x 19 in.

Available from artist Studio

Wayne House 2019, pastel, 12 x 12 in.

Available from artist Plein air

When painting en plein air, I do 99.9 percent of the work in the field, and then don’t touch it again. What I do out there is what the painting is. What I say from my experience in the field is enough; there’s no need to gild the lily. Once in a while I have to leave because of time, weather, or other interruptions, and that can make my decision for me about when the painting is done.”

This question of when she’s said enough is at the heart of Will’s unique style. “I don’t have the

interest or attention span for a lot of details,” she says. “I’m fascinated to see how I can capture the BOB BAHR has been writing and editing essence of a scene. My interest is in elevating it to articles about art instruction for more than also describe how I feel at the moment. I am more 12 years. He lives with his wife and two sons after the gist of the scene, just putting on paper at the northern tip of Manhattan. what it felt like at that moment. The local color of a white house, as in Wayne House, isn’t what is important to me; it’s the pink from the bounce light off the adjacent roofline. I want to capture the essential elements that excite my soul.” www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Expanded Digital Edition Content

(TOP LEFT) Fairmount Blues, 2017, pastel, 24 x 24 in., private collection, plein air • (TOP RIGHT) Abstraction 1, 2018, pastel, 20 x 14 in., private collection, plein air • (LEFT) Light Touch, 2019, pastel, 19 x 25 in., available from artist, studio

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Expanded Digital Edition Content

(TOP LEFT) Evening Palms, pastel, 19 x 25 in., private collection, studio • (TOP RIGHT) Nancy's Garden, pastel, 19 x 25 in., private collection, plein air • (RIGHT) Coastal Morning, pastel, 23 x 31 in., private collection, plein air

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

May Poppies 2019, oil, 9 x 12 in.

Private collection Plein air

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Loire Valley Pasture 2018, oil, 11 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.

Available from Highlands Art Gallery, Lambertville, NJ Plein air

TOM HUGHES

A STUDENT OF PAINTING

Tom Hughes’ success can be put down to hard work and his recognition that there’s always more to learn.  BY BOB BAHR 

P

ainters have a variety of reasons why they love to paint. Some are swept up in the beauty of nature, the human form, or particular objects. Some are in love with design or color; others relish chasing down the smallest detail. And some, including Tom Hughes, appreciate the lifelong challenge painting offers. They recognize that while technique can be perfected, it does not address the head or the heart.

Plus, there is always another enticing technique to try, maybe one that will result in unexpected and phenomenal growth. For this type of artist, painting means being an eternal student.

Hughes acknowledges the big picture but admits that he’s often simply trying to learn how to paint a particular pictorial element or atmosphere a bit better or faster. “I want to learn how to do it all more efficiently,” he says. “Sometimes it’s about tackling something I don’t like to do because it is difficult. That’s not really what I call ‘discipline,’ because I think discipline is doing something that isn’t necessary, for the sake of doing it. You have to do it with a painting. You have to figure it out in order to finish the piece.”

TOM HUGHES, seen here painting at Back Cove in Maine, took home the PleinAir Salon Grand Prize at last year’s Plein Air Convention & Expo. tomhughespaintings.com www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Stone Wall 2005, acrylic, 24 x 32 in.

Available from artist Plein air

FACING CHALLENGES

Marin Landscape, 2012, watercolor, 22 x 30 in., available from artist, plein air

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For this interview, Hughes is calling from Maine, in February. “It’s stick season in New England,” he says. “How do you deal with all these sticks? It doesn’t look good if you paint every one of them. I find it rewarding to face a challenge like this multiple times. Then I’m not afraid, and I can really engage it. In other words, do the things you don’t want to do.

In the end, you will see better. And, if it ever moves you to use the tough thing as subject matter for a painting, you don’t have the hesitation of not having tried it before.”

Hughes continues, “Trying to learn is job one. That’s what’s interesting about painting.

It’s gripping. You will hear something similar from practitioners of other arts or crafts, especially music. The difference between painting and most other arts is that in painting there are no guidelines as to what is good or

(LEFT) Ashuelot River, 2005, watercolor, 22 x 30 in., available from artist, plein air

bad, mediocre or quality. That structure was dismantled 100 years ago. It’s about taste as opposed to some set of standards. We are no longer part of a lineage. When I started in the ’80s, I was unusual in that I liked to go out to paint. Nobody took painting this way seriously; it was considered old-fashioned. But it’s about learning. Michelangelo was 89 when he

• (RIGHT) Ashuelot River, 2010, acrylic, 44 x 60 in., available from artist, studio

sculpted his last pieta, and he said something along the lines of, ‘Only now am I figuring out how to do this.’ Hokusai was a genius as far as I’m concerned, but when he was in his 70s and already a great master, he wrote that he had calculated how long he would have to live to become a great artist. His answer? 125 years old.”

PAINTING AND SKETCHING ON SITE While he paints the bulk of his work in oil or acrylic, Hughes uses watercolor for many of his plein air pieces. And although it may be tempting to think that he does so because of the medium’s suitability for quick setup and easy transportation, the truth is he’s merely toning some painting muscles and working with a medium he appreciates.

Wood Piles 2019, watercolor, 15 x 22 in.

Available from artist Plein air www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Carson Falls 2013, oil, 24 x 32 in.

Available from Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA Plein air and studio

“I don’t paint the watercolors to have source materials,” says Hughes. “I paint them because I like to paint watercolors. I don’t try to figure out why. I just like it. So I do another watercolor. It’s a purely personal and technical interest.”

Hughes finds that a watercolor done on location doesn’t usually translate into a good acrylic or oil painting in the studio anyway. He doesn’t know why, but the mystery intrigues him. “It can be irritating when it’s not an easy transition, but it’s also interesting,” he says.

“Why does it work in watercolor, but not oil?”

Painting in watercolor first can help an artist develop ideas about how to approach the composition or subject, but the painting process for watercolor is generally the opposite of the process for oil or acrylic, so it doesn’t help prepare Hughes in regard to technique.

Watercolor has an artist working from light to dark, while oil (and, less so, acrylic) goes from dark to light, in terms of sequence of painting.

“With opaque media you have to solidify values,” Hughes says.

“Things tend to be darker than in watercolor, with stronger values.

Even though I go full value in watercolor, not washy and watery, it still doesn’t have the dark values I want. It’s just not good source material. The best paintings are the ones I’ve done simply from pencil sketches — just glorified chicken scratch, really.” Hughes isn’t sure why this is so, but he suspects that less information allows him to be freer in his interpretation of the scene, rendering a more cohesive whole.

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Jim Hughes Painting 2007, oil, 24 x 32 in.

Collection the artist Plein air and studio

TAKING LESSONS FROM ILLUSTRATION So, what is the value of reference?

“How do I go about using source material? It’s a challenge, a learning experience,” Hughes says. “When I’m painting, it’s what feeds my soul, but that’s hard to talk about, hard to communicate. I am perfectly mystified how or why other people come up with a different way to do

Sunday Morning 2018, oil, 9 x 12 in.

Private collection Plein air

things. It’s fun to explore and see how I can put things together; I am always trying to find out what I have to say about a given subject.”

Hughes can dispense with many of these questions because of his background. He worked in illustration for seven years, and his drawing skills and sense of design show it. He considers the experience a double-edged sword, however, and talks about how some former illustrators can’t seem to shake the illustrative feel of their fine art. But his past has clearly given him some sharp tools for his toolbox. “Whether I’m painting directly from my subject or not, my designs are not at all wobbly,” Hughes admits. “They are all locked in, in some way. I like the idea of having it all in mind.”

One thing Hughes says he learned from illustration is how not to be precious about a passage in a painting, no matter how proud of it you may be. In illustration, you serve the client, or at least the text that you are illustrating. In fine art, a painter must serve the painting. “The good thing about illustration, where usually you have a deadline, is you have to cultivate a detachment from the piece you are doing,” Hughes says. “That works for painting too. One of the things I find with students is sometimes they like the way they’ve painted something, even if it’s not quite working. You have to get rid of things that don’t help the painting. You can’t be attached to it.

There’s a kind of ruthlessness you must have with your own work. Remember, you can make another nice mark. You can mix that color again.”

OBEYING THE PAINTING The artist says he gets a lot out of painting outdoors but tends to paint more in the studio. One reason is format. Hughes likes to paint big, but plein air usually means one, finite painting session. “There are a lot of difficulties to deal with when working outdoors,” he says. “There’s often not enough time to do all I want to do.”

He goes on, “When I do an outdoor oil painting, I can bring it to a close if it’s as big as 16 x 20 inches. That is pretty big for me to finish in one session. It’s much easier to do one that’s 12 x 16 inches or smaller. I used to do a lot more large plein air paintings, starting out in the field and finishing in the studio. But for a time, I started painting smaller ones outdoors, not bringing them to a close, and then slaving over them in the studio like I did big ones, which as often as not felt like beating a dead horse. Eventually, I decided that I would really dig in and bring these smaller ones to a close right there on location and save the larger paintings for the studio. I can’t believe the unreasonable amount of work it takes to get a large one done.”

Although Hughes considers himself a student of painting, always trying to learn more, push his paintings further, and work more

View From Trôo 2018, oil, 15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.

Available from Bayview Gallery, Brusnwick, ME Plein air

efficiently, he’s not a fan of rules or anything approaching a dogmatic process. “Personally, I never liked or looked at how-to books because I didn’t like the actual artwork in them. I look at good paintings, paintings that do it for me. When I started, and I was teaching myself, I would make a miserable mess outdoors and be upset about it, and I would ask myself, ‘What do I need to do to make the painting I wanted?’ I was a successful illustrator, but that didn’t translate into painting. I would look at Winslow Homer and see that he would make a green patch instead of painting blades of grass, but I wasn’t seeking out technical or handling tips from another artist. I was simply reprogramming how I process the raw data coming out of my eyeballs into my brain.”

Arguably, the only rule an artist must follow is to listen to what the painting currently in process needs. “Rules aren’t as important as figuring out how you can paint,” says Hughes. “Don’t be afraid of difficult subject matter. Go ahead and try to tackle it. Skies were hard for me, so if something interesting was going on in the sky, I would take my box out and paint it. Find the rules — which come from your painting.”

“If I were tuned up right and everything was in sync, I would be obeying the painting,” the artist continues. “If you are awake and aware, the painting tells you what it needs. You are meant to obey the painting. But it’s your paint and your time. Do whatever you want with it. It’s still fun, even when it’s agony. It’s difficult and at the same time wonderfully engaging.”

It’s a learning experience, if you are a student of painting.

BOB BAHR has been writing and editing articles about art instruction for more than 12 years. He lives with his wife and two sons at the northern tip of Manhattan. www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Expanded Digital Edition Content

(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) Long Cove, 2018, oil, 11 x 14 in., available from Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, plein air • Reflection, 2019, oil, 20 x 24 in., available from Highlands Art Gallery, Lambertville, NJ, studio • Sierra Tarn, 2006, oil, 12 x 16 in., available from artist, plein air • Spring Pasture, 2018, oil, 16 x 20 in., available from Highlands Gallery, Lambertville, NJ, plein air

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Expanded Digital Edition Content

(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) Lighthouse Cove, 2018, watercolor, 22 x 15 in., available from artist, plein air • Tidewater Ave, 2018, watercolor, 15 x 22 in., available from artist, plein air • Surf and Breaking Sun, 2018, watercolor, 15 x 22 in., available from artist, plein air • Shipping, 2017, oil, 12 x 16 in., available from Highlands Gallery, Lambertville, NJ, plein air

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

May Rock, Poppies River Right 2017, 12 in.

2019, oil,oil, 9 x12 12xin.

Collection the artist Private collection Plein Plein airair

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RICHARD MCDANIEL

RIVER VIEWS

Over the course of three years, Richard McDaniel explored California’s Russian River, documenting its path from Mendocino County to the Pacific Ocean.

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 BY MICHAEL CHESLEY JOHNSON 

or 110 miles, the Russian River threads through some of California’s most breathtaking scenery. But the river isn’t notable for its beauty alone. Both its water and watershed are precious to the local agriculture and environment, as well as to recreation and culture in the area — and, of course, to artists.

A committed environmentalist and landscape painter, Richard McDaniel spent the last three years documenting the river in a series of more than 50 paintings and drawings. “Water is precious, especially here in California,” he says, “and this project helps shed a positive light on the Russian River — and rivers in general, since they all need our attention.”

In partnership with Sonoma Land Trust and Sonoma Water, McDaniel has also published a book about the project: The Russian River & Its Watershed, which will be released on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22, 2020) — a meaningful date for the artist, who participated in the very first Earth Day celebration. An accompanying exhibition opens the same day at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa.

NATIVE SON McDaniel comes from a long line of Californians — his great-great-grandfather, a physician, arrived in 1846, two years before the Gold Rush. A childhood of summer camps in the Sierra Mountains, plus hiking and fishing, playing in canyons, swimming in rivers and surfing in the Pacific, fostered his love of the outdoors. As for art, he came to that at an early age as well.

A committed environmentalist, RICHARD MCDANIEL has had a longtime fascination with rivers. richardmcdaniel.com www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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After the fourth grade, he joined his mother, a native Parisienne, and father, a professor of European history, for a summer in France. “I had my own family history and culture guides,” he says. “Not only did I visit great museums, I was introduced to the European view of art and how it was entwined with their history and culture. They even have images of artists on their money, and I learned that painting is a respected profession.”

McDaniel bought his first easel and oil paints in 1963 and spent the next 15 years painting in a non-objective style, absorbing the concepts of Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, Hans Hoffmann, and other Abstract Expressionists.

But when he moved to the East Coast, the landscape captivated him. He suddenly desired a change. “I wanted to ‘re-complicate’ the game,” he says. “I wanted to learn how to work with space around objects, and how to render trees, rocks, and water — and that meant going outside to paint, paint, paint.” Rendering finally led him to drawing and painting landscapes, which he has done for the past 40 years.

BIG FIRES AND LITTLE SURPRISES

(ABOVE) Where Austin Creek Joins the Russian, 2018, oil, 12 x 24 in., available from Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA, plein air • (LEFT) Laguna in a Rainstorm, 2016, oil, 30 x 47 in., available from Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA, studio • (FAR LEFT) Laguna in a Rainstorm (reference sketch), 2016, pencil, 9 x 14 in., collection the artist, plein air; “I made this sketch in the comfort of my car during a heavy downpour,” says McDaniel.

When developing the Russian River project, McDaniel learned a bit about the river by studying maps and reading articles, but it was by exploring it firsthand that he learned the most. He was looking for the little surprises that come only from direct observation. “Small paths made by fishermen are never on the maps, and lighting or weather conditions can make an ordinary scene come alive,” he says. The aim of both the series and the book was to portray several aspects of the river and to illuminate areas beyond those that people already know. The two partner organizations were generous with information, especially in providing access to locations otherwise unavailable to the public. “The river flows for over a hundred miles,” McDaniel notes, “and its watershed is as large as the state of Connecticut. These paintings are hardly enough to show the totality of the Russian, but it’s a start.”

McDaniel traveled the length of the river several times, all the way from its headwaters in Mendocino County to its mouth in Sonoma County, where at long last it empties into the Pacific Ocean. He visited creeks and tributaries, wetlands, and other portions of the watershed by car, kayak, and ATV, as well as plenty of hiking. “During the three years I was drawing and painting the river, a few major wildfires impacted the area, including my hometown of Santa Rosa. There was widespread damage to the watershed and considerable strain on the people and animals of the region. But the community is strong, and Nature is resilient.” The devastating fires made documenting the river all the more crucial.

Although some of the work in the exhibition and accompanying book was done en plein air, much of it was created from studies in the studio on canvases up to 60 inches wide. “I tend to make drawings or www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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(LEFT) Bohemian Preserve, 2019, oil, 40 x 60 in., available from Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA, studio • (ABOVE) Bohemian Preserve (reference sketch), 2018, ballpoint pen on notebook paper, 8 x 11 in., collection the artist, plein air

color sketches in pastel on site — usually more than one — and then abstract from them in the studio.”

KEEPERS AND THROWAWAYS The drawings took two forms: “keepers” and “throwaways.” When McDaniel travels, he takes

a few pieces of white archival mat board to draw on. These scraps — the center pieces left after cutting mats — don’t flutter distractingly in the wind as paper can. In this case, he felt some of the “keepers” were complete enough to mat and frame. The other form of drawing is much different. “Any scrap of paper will do. I don’t

Where the Fire Jumped the River (near Tomki) 2017, oil, 30 x 44 in.

Available from Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA Studio

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consider these permanent, and I want them to be non-precious. I often enjoy using a ball point pen on lined notebook paper. I’m free to experiment, redraw, paint on the paper, add grid lines, fold or tear, tape a couple of drawings or pieces of drawings together — and ultimately throw them away.” These more casual sketches, the

South From the Headlands 2019, oil, 30 x 60 in.

Available from Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA Studio

The Cedars, 2018, oil, 40 x 30 in., available from Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA, studio

“throwaways,” became references for finished drawings or paintings.

DETERMINATION OF SUCCESS Once in the studio, McDaniel’s process of working from field references is somewhat exploratory and a slight departure from his plein air work. The drawings and pastel sketches become springboards to larger works in oil. They contain some topographical information — but that’s only the beginning. He changes colors and moves shapes around, all with the goal of developing a space he enjoys. Mostly interested in color harmonies, rhythms, and energies, he hopes the scene will still seem believable. “A bit like Anton Chekhov, who preferred to write about an event or a place only after returning from a trip, I like the concept of allowing memory to filter out the non-essential and perhaps accentuate the meaningful. When it works, it’s like poetry.”

Once a large oil painting is dry to the touch but not yet complete, he often uses tape to help him evaluate the work — “lots of little pieces of painter’s tape in different colors,” he says. The tape may serve as a reminder of a value or color that needs to be changed, or it may serve as a design aid to help see if a new shape might add to the painting. He uses a mirror to look at the image in reverse. “It’s not only a good way of checking composition, but it’s easy to imagine

Ukiah Riverfront Park 2018, oil, 24 x 30 in.

Available from Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA Studio

the little tape spots as real marks.” If after a period of self-critique, he wants to experiment further, he may use pastel to help him envision changes by scribbling right on top of the painting. “If I don’t like the idea once it’s visible, it’s easy to wipe off the pastel marks and then try another idea.” If the new idea works, he can remove the pastel with a moist cloth and make the changes “real” with oil paint.

One of the wonderful things about both oil and pastel is that changes are easily made.

“When I’m out working on location, I go after the initial impulse, yet sometimes I wipe out shapes and repaint them. It’s just part of my process.” Large studio paintings allow him to combine that direct painting style he uses outside with a more cerebral, slower-paced approach.

McDaniel has several criteria for determining whether the Russian River project is successful. “It’ll be a success for Sonoma Land Trust and Sonoma Water if it turns out to be an elegant portrayal of the river and if it increases awareness.” Yet painting sales are equally important. “I’ve kept this work off the market for three years,” he says. “I’ve already experienced the joy and the struggles of doing the project; now it’s time for the paintings to move on and live elsewhere.”

A painter, writer, and teacher, MICHAEL CHESLEY JOHNSON (www.mchesleyjohnson.com) splits his year between the Canadian Maritimes and New Mexico. He is on the faculty of the 2020 Plein Air Convention & Expo in Denver. www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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special feature

Macpherson and students show off their unique take on the family portrait.

PUTTING ART WITHIN REACH Kevin Macpherson and his ambassadors have made it their mission to introduce art to children and communities in areas of the world where it’s hard to find, and needed most.

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 BY STEFANIE LAUFERSWEILER 

rt is one of the first things to leave curriculum, yet it’s one of the few things that survives throughout cultures,” says renowned plein air artist Kevin Macpherson. The nonprofit he started, Art Ambassador for a Colorful World (AAFCW), is his impassioned effort to combine his love of painting and travel with the chance to make a greater impact by bringing art to underprivileged children, and helping their communities see how art has the power to improve every life.

With the help of a small team at AAFCW and the partnerships he’s made with schools and other nonprofit groups such as

“Some of the greatest opportunities begin in the most unexpected places. Art has no borders. And art education allows one to dream in color,” says Macpherson, shown here with some of his young pupils on an AAFCW trip.

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“My classes may have 20 children or so, but on this occasion I had 500 throughout the day — the whole school, including the teachers, painting on a 30-meter canvas roll. It was wild,” says Macpherson.

On one side, the girls painted shapes in beautiful colors, while the boys on the other side reveled in finding the artist’s stash of black paint. He let each group do their own thing. “There are times to teach art and other times to explore and let go,” he says.

“I find much of art instruction can fan the flames of passion or snuff it out forever.”

Xela AID — which serves Mayan children and families struggling to survive in the Guatemalan Highlands — Macpherson organizes 10-day painting trips that offer sightseeing and artmaking alongside himself and other professional artists. The unique experience includes visiting nearby villages for volunteer projects that involve giving kids unforgettable painting opportunities, at schools where time and resources for making art are scarce, if not nonexistent.

These “artist painting adventures,” as Macpherson calls them, give others a taste of the service activities he’s engaged in since 2011, bringing hands-on art instruction to thousands of children in China, Guatemala, and Mexico, with plans to expand AAFCW’s outreach to other areas in Southeast Asia, Central America, and South America as well. “This taste often changes how an artist sees their painting and their gift that can go beyond just paint and canvas,” he says.

HOW IT BEGAN Travel is a passion for Macpherson — he’s been to more than 35 countries — but the first time he connected that with volunteering came after he watched a TV segment in his home in Taos, New Mexico, about a man in Shanghai who had created a nonprofit center for the children of Encouraging imagination, Macpherson says, is his main job when teaching children, especially where art supplies are hard to find. “I bring the kids outside to look for rocks that inspire them to see, be curious, and imagine what we can paint on them,” he says.

At one school that had barely a few crayons to share among the class, he took advantage of the bananas growing nearby. “I asked the farmer to chop a bundle for me and I dragged it nearly a mile to the school,” he says. “When I was young, I loved to inscribe bananas with drawings and secret messages for my mom to find later. So, on this day, my students and I had a wild time creating on bananas.” www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2019 2020

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Walter Sacarias Perez Lopez (left) grew up in a poverty belt in the Guatemalan highlands but dreamed of being an artist, an idea that AAFCW nurtured as he grew up. Lopez was awarded AAFCW’s first Mariposa scholarship, involving a three-month apprenticeship with Mariano Gonzalez Chavajay, one of Guatemala’s best-known living artists.

Lorenzo Efrain Lopez Perez (right) was also awarded a scholarship acknowledging his artistic talent and desire to make a future living from it. “Walter and Lorenzo will face many difficulties to be artists, but it feels good to give them a chance,” Macpherson says. “This is only a beginning.”

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“Painting portraits is a great way to truly get to know someone as we talk about their life,” says Macpherson, shown here with students in Xishuangbanna, a region of China. After a visit from him and fellow artist Barry Raybould, the school there created a dedicated art studio, filled with easels and painting supplies donated by the pair through AAFCW. “Every day, the little girl I painted in this portrait would spend her own money and bring me a popsicle,” he says.

migrant workers coming from other provinces.

“The children didn’t have access to the same after-school activities as the local children, so he offered music to them,” Macpherson says. “I really felt a connection with that. So I found a way to contact him by e-mail and said, ‘I know nothing about music, but I can offer art to your children.’ He said, ‘Come on over!’”

A few months later, Macpherson was painting with 20 children along the Bund waterfront in Shanghai. That experience led to others, and sometimes a bit of creative thinking along the

grow its presence in Guatemala by developing a way. “It’s very difficult to go to a foreign counplein air studio on top of Xela AID’s new threetry and try to do something without ground story Center for Learning Innovation, which organizers; there are lots of government necessities,” he says. “But we can easily add an ‘extra’ houses more classroom space and guest rooms for to a variety of other organizations. For instance, volunteers. doctor missions often have hundreds of people needing care, and art activities can add to the LEARNING WHILE TEACHING program while they wait.”

Although Macpherson has spent three decades Macpherson has primarily self-funded his instructing adults in how to paint, he’s never projects with the children, but was inspired had any formal training in teaching, especially enough by individuals he’s met and collaborated children. “But I think that is an advantage,” he with to set up his own nonprofit. “Art Ambassays. “I wing it! Once, I found a pile of white sador for a Colorful World just evolved out of gloves in a shop, so I asked the children to create things I was doing,” he says of the organization their family on each finger along with any dogs, that became official in June 2014. “With the help cows, and chickens in their home. I think kids of my wife, Wanda, and a few dear friends and instantly enjoy my classes because I’m silly and students, we formed a board together, and away it’s a relief from their regular strict teachers.” we went.” AAFCW director Ruth Heffron says Macpherson’s classes are typically arranged that although they’re a small nonprofit, they’d like by the hosting school, which borrows one of the to “go further” and develop online curriculums classrooms that may normally be used for math and instructional videos for young people they or another subject. “The classes aren’t long, often meet who’d like to pursue an art career. Through barely an hour, so it’s a hectic time,” he says. its partnership with Xela AID, AAFCW plans to “They may tell me I’ll have 35 kids, but what www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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“We all wonder if one person can make a difference, but the smiles and joy you see in these kids’ eyes is worth it for me,” Macpherson says of the students he’s had. And every painter, at any time, has that opportunity. “Let a child join you on your next plein air outing,” he says. “Let them witness your joy and enthusiasm appreciating something as simple as the light on a tree. Give them paper and paint — no instructions — and just let them go. My guess is you’ll be impressed, and you may learn some things from them.”

“On my last morning at a village school in Wenshan [in the Yunnan province of China], I opened my dorm room to find an offering of handmade presents for me. The children then greeted me with tears in their eyes,” he says. “In the short time I shared my love of art with them, I made a lasting impression and a real connection. We are all born with a gift; sharing our gifts brings many more presents back to us.”

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diligently studying Mandarin) and any uncertainties. “On my first trips alone to China, I arrived not knowing anyone, not speaking or reading a word of Chinese, and not painting portraits,” says Macpherson, who is best known artistically for his impressionistic landscapes.

“Children and teachers helped me as I painted them,” he says. “What better way to learn a language? And what better way to find oneself as an artist — trying everything new, without expectations from others or, more importantly, oneself?”

BENEFITS FOR ALL Macpherson believes that what he and other artists do on their trips is less about teaching specifics and more about nurturing creative spirit.

“I believe all children are artists until adults tell them they are not,” he says. “Quickly, society stamps out the curious wonder in children. I don’t teach them art, but I give them opportunities to be creative.”

He also encourages the adults in the places they visit to embrace their own creativity, especially in the time-honored local crafts that will disappear unless they pass down their skills.

Macpherson mentions the beautiful, painstakingly detailed weavings made by the Mayan women he’s met. “If we can encourage and help create marketing for their crafts, it not only helps them have a livelihood, but we don’t lose this art form,” he says. Some agree to model for the artists on the trip. “They live a hard life — many of them do not smile,” he says. “But after we paint them, some have said they feel better about themselves Lori Putnam’s first trip through AAFCW in 2018 was life-changing. “It was my first real chance to use art as a because we see the strength and beauty they did way to give hope and help mend a small, broken community in Guatemala,” she says. Putnam became vice not even see themselves.” president of AAFCW in 2019 and she sponsors one of the children she met, something a number of particiThe experiences Macpherson has had pating artists decide to do. through AAFCW have not only benefitted many The students at Long Lin range from 7 to 11 schools, other artists, and the organizations he’s often happens is the other students get wind that partnered with, but have kept him on the edge years old and live in the mountains a few hours ‘teacher Kevin’ is here, and all of a sudden my of his comfort zone — exactly where he wants to away, along dirt roads in slat wood houses. “On class fills to 90.” be. “Putting myself in foreign environments and One of the biggest challenges of teaching art the weekends they go back home, but during situations keeps me alive,” he says. “My mission the week they all live at the school. The teachers in faraway rural locations, Macpherson says, is is to get the community involved — to show getting supplies. During one trip to a remote area care for them, and the children watch out for them that art is an important aspect of our lives. of China, he had to get creative while teaching at one another,” Macpherson says. “They wear the same outfit for the week.” He visited one of their Creativity can improve our lives and our thought Long Lin elementary school in Xishuangbanna, process no matter where we live, what career we about 30 miles north of the Laos border. “When mountain villages and was welcomed warmly choose, or what our circumstances are.”

I first arrived, I saw that it had one outside earth with gifts of mangos, fresh nuts, and local vegetables. The artist has returned to the school toilet for the 250 children that boarded there,” he says. “You can imagine there was probably not multiple times over the course of seven years.

STEFANIE LAUFERSWEILER is a writer a Dick Blick nearby! So, with my very rudimen- “The kids get excited when I arrive,” he says. “It’s based in Cincinnati, Ohio. tary ability to speak Chinese, I’d go in any shop I fun for me to see how they grow up; the older could find and imagine what I could use to make ones all want me to visit their middle school in For more on Art Ambassador for a Colorful the bigger town.” art with.” Some ping pong paddles he found World and to find out how you can register for He quickly discovered that making art were a big hit: “We painted portraits of their upcoming trips, make a donation, or subscribe together eases the language barrier (though he’s buddies on them.” to their newsletter, visit artambassador.org. www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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plein air collections

TRUE TO NATURE

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Some never-before-seen sketches offer unique insight into the plein air tradition of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

or European painters in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, painting en plein air occupied an integral stage of their art education. The core practice challenged their abilities to quickly capture effects of light and atmosphere, relying only on the materials they carried with them into the field. In pursuit of this endeavor, intrepid painters made sometimes arduous journeys to study landscapes at breathtaking sites, ranging from the Baltic coast and Swiss Alps to the streets of Paris and ruins of

Rome. The exhibition “True to Nature: Open-Air Painting in Europe, 1780–1870” brings together stunning examples of these works from four collections, including some that have never been published or exhibited previously.

The combined 100 oil sketches illustrate how pervasive plein air painting had become across Europe, with examples by English, French, Belgian, Danish, Dutch, German, Swiss, and Swedish artists, many of whom started their introduction to plein air in Italy

before returning home to paint their native surroundings. Examples include rare studies by well-known artists such as John Constable, Jean Honoré Fragonard, Odilon Redon, and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, who brought the A Study of Waves Breaking Against Rocks at Sunset Baron François Gérard Oil on millboard, 12 5⁄16 x 15 3⁄16 in.

Private collection

Desenzano, Lake Garda Richard Parkes Bonington 1826, oil on millboard, 10 1⁄16 x 13 in.

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

“The best practice, according to Valenciennes, involved making quick studies that captured the local tone, beginning with the sky and progressing down to the foreground, ensuring all parts were in accord. Details were to be ignored and no more than two hours spent on a study — or just half an hour if the subject was a more rapidly changing phenomenon, such as sunrise BEST PRACTICES Inspired in large part by Pierre-Henri de Valenci- or sunset. Although he was sympathetic to those ennes’s influential treatise on landscape painting, who painted a scene for a couple of hours and published in 1800, the sketching campaigns embarked upon by these artists aligned with the Enlightenment ideal of observing reality firsthand and objectively gathering empirical data. As Mary Morton, Jane Munro, and Ger Luijten, who wrote the introduction to the exhibition catalog, note: “In addition to storing up these visual notations for possible use later in the studio, the practice of sketching was also employed as a means of understanding nature and distilling experiences in the outdoors. The confidence and agility developed by repeatedly capturing nature on the spot, activating intuition and invention, translated into bolder, more luminous studio work. practice of open air painting back to France and inspired a younger generation of impressionist painters. Sketches by lesser-known painters like Louise-Joséphine Sarazin del Belmont, one of the few known women artists active during this period, are also featured.

then returned at the same time the next day to continue where they left off, he demeaned artists who spent a whole day painting a single view and then called the resulting works études d’après Nature [nature studies]. ‘These are just mistakes and lies against Nature,’ he wrote.

“As the practice continued over the early decades of the 19th century, it was fueled by a resurgence in a love of nature and the rise of Romantic sensibility. The Rousseauian attitude towards the magnificence of nature, stripped to its essential qualities, elevated landscape sketching and validated the practice beyond its role in leading to more formal paintings. The general lack of finish of plein air sketches indicated an immediacy of execution and a spontaneous reaction to the subject at hand. In addition, the informality of materials — the paper support, limited brush sizes, and paints — invited experimentation. All of which contributed to the excitement of discovery in these small studies, where the artist felt freed from the obedience and rote learning of the master’s studio. Alone with his or her subject, however banal, shaking off the mannerism and pretension of academic dogma to connect with nature honestly and authentically — this was the ideal of painting in nature.

“Produced for neither sale nor exhibition, these landscape sketches circulated among a

Santa Trinità dei Monti in the Snow André Giroux 1825–1830, oil on paper, mounted on canvas, 8 11⁄16 x 11 13⁄16 in.

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Chester Dale Fund www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2019

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(TOP ROW L-R) View of the Waterfalls at Tivoli, Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld, 1788, oil on paper, mounted on canvas, 20 x 15 in., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Fern and George Wachter • The Tomb of Cecaelia Metella, Léon-François-Antoine Fleury, c. 1830, oil on canvas, 11 x 13 in., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Frank Anderson Trapp • (MIDDLE ROW L-R) View of Bozen With a Painter, Jules Coignet, 1837, oil on paper, mounted on canvas, 12 3⁄16 x 15 3⁄8 in., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Mrs. John Jay Ide in memory of Mr. and Mrs. William Henry Donner • Grotto in a Rocky Landscape , Louise-Joséphine Sarazin de Belmont, 1790-1870, oil on paper, mounted on canvas, 16 5/8 x 22 5/8 in., private collection, London • (RIGHT) Cloud Study: Stormy Sunset, John Constable, 1821-1822, oil on paper, mounted on canvas, 8 x 10 3/4 in., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Louise Mellon in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

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(ABOVE) View of the Fort de Bertheaume, Eugène Isabey, 1850, oil on paper, mounted on canvas, 11 15⁄16 x 24 15⁄16 in., Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, Paris • (RIGHT) The Eruption of Stromboli, 30 August 1842, Jean-Charles Rémond,1842, oil on paper, mounted on canvas, 10 5/8 x 14 9/16 in., private collection

small group of artists or, more likely, remained in the studio, hidden from public view, serving as precious aide-mémoires for formal compositions. Considered to be of little art historical and financial value, the vast majority of artists’ sketches from this period have been lost. Adding to the devaluation of these works, the late 18th-century neoclassical, academic painters who had championed the practice of sketching outdoors fell from status. Compared to the looser, more tonal work of the Barbizon school that followed, formal neoclassical landscapes — forged in training at the Ecole des BeauxArts in the shadow of the two great masters of 17th-century landscape painting, Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin — looked particularly lifeless, so distant from what was considered ‘natural.’ According to this narrative, only with the work of Theodore Rousseau, followed by that of the Impressionists, did artists liberate themselves from the studio and return to

nature, a heroic rupture that revived a supposedly moribund art. With few exceptions, the late 18th- and early 19th-century plein air tradition was largely overlooked until its gradual rediscovery beginning in the mid-20th century.”

The works featured here provide a glimpse into this rich period of plein air’s history.

EXHIBITION TOUR DATES National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., through May 3, 2020 Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, Paris, June 13–September 13, 2020 Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England, October 6, 2020–January 31, 2021 www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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the elements

PAINTING BUILDINGS IN THE LANDSCAPE Drawn to places where the randomness of the natural world intersects with the geometry of manmade structures, this artist shares the “how” and “why” of including structures in your work.

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 BY LYN BOYER 

lthough buildings appear fairly regularly in my paintings, I don’t intentionally seek them out as subject matter. I just seem to be drawn to the patterns found in an old barn, or just as likely a dam; electric tower; or, as happened one day on the Rio Grande, an old gauging station — places where the randomness of the natural world intersects with the geometry of manmade structures.

To paint buildings in a landscape, we must have an understanding of one- and two-point perspective, but we must also know why we’re including them. “Because they’re there” isn’t good enough; they must serve the intent of our painting. Once we’ve satisfied that prerequisite, we need to ask ourselves the following questions. Will the building be the main story, or will it be tucked away in the distance to lead the eye or add a color note, to be stumbled on by the viewer like spice in a good meal? Does it contribute to the piece as a design element? Is it in harmony with the landscape so it doesn’t look pasted onto the scene? Is it washed with the same light source as the landscape even though the light may have changed during our painting session?

Some of my earliest memories include growing up in a derelict house that my parents lovingly restored over a decade. When I saw this beautiful old home still languishing with the “For Sale by Owner” sign in the window a year after I first encountered it, my heart sank. I felt I was witnessing what may very well be the end of this old building’s life. The challenge in a painting like this is to faithfully convey the dips and sags while retaining the “correctness” of the structure. If you try to put too much character into the drawing, it will become a cartoon and lose its power.

For Sale by Owner, 2018, oil, 14 x 18 in., available from Authentique Gallery of Fine Art, St. George, UT, plein air 114

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LYN BOYER takes her painting gear on the road for more than half the year, returning to her studio in Durango, Colorado, for the winter months. lynboyer.wordpress.com www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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DEMONSTRATION: Using Implied Detail to Paint Complex Structures Living in Colorado, I find abundant opportunity to paint rural scenes with ranch and farm buildings, but I want to paint something a bit more industrial, so I return to an old feed mill I’ve been eyeing for a number of years. My intent is to capture the feel of the place — its rough edges, its years of hard work.

To do that, I must resist the urge to render. I have to be willing to lay down strokes and leave them, to embrace a little mess.

View of the scene

Step 1

Step 2

Sometimes the landscape will hand us what we need; sometimes we have to fight for it. The first thing I do when I arrive at a site is take it in — all 360 degrees — so I know what I have to work with; anything within view becomes fair game for my painting. If I need a dark shape to define a form in front it, I may move some shrubs into the composition from elsewhere in the surroundings.

I may even raise or lower the line of a landform to create a better division of space or to avoid creating a tangent. I also get rid of anything that doesn’t support my concept. In this case, buildings or trees obscure nearly every view of the mill, so I have to search extra hard for a place to set up. I find it just off the road, between two blind curves.

Orange traffic cones provide security.

I’ve found that creating a value sketch allows me to catch any compositional problems at the get-go rather than attempting to fix them during the painting process. This is particularly important when I have a limited amount of time. I use a bulldog clip to attach the sketch to my panel holder, just above my canvas, and refer back to it at regular intervals to ensure I stay on track.

Using a paper towel, I prime my panel with odorless mineral spirits. If it’s too wet, the surface will be slimy and not take the paint. In that case, I simply take a dry paper towel and wipe the surface down. I then tone the canvas by rubbing it with a bit of paint on a fresh paper towel. I want the paint to stay where I put it and not run down the canvas, but I also want to be able to move it around freely. I never pre-tone my canvases, since each scene will require something different. From the minute I first approach the canvas with paint, I’m already considering where the warms and cools, as well as the major verticals, horizontals, and sweeping shapes, may be.

I then mix up a bit of ultramarine blue and transparent red oxide (or if I’m doing a very highkey painting, I’ll use cobalt turquoise and transparent red oxide for a lighter mixture) and begin mapping out my painting with a brush. I find that getting too detailed at this point can lead to a fear of losing my drawing and the temptation to “color in” areas. If too much paint builds up, I may take a paper towel and give the surface a light wipe before moving on to the next stage.

When I canvassed the scene earlier, I could see the snow-capped San Juan Mountains draped behind the mill from the other side of the street.

They are so magnificent, I feel obligated to put them in at this stage.

Step 3 I check my map to make sure the underlying perspective feels right, then lay down the shadow shapes, creating an interesting abstract design.

Finding opportunities to connect the darks assists in retaining the underlying structure and integrity of the design. I also look for the lightest light and lay that in. These are not my darkest accents or my highlights. I add those at the end, if needed.

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Step 4 I block in the mid-tones on the mill using a large brush and broad, simple strokes. When I first arrived at the scene, the overcast sky had compressed the values and given the building a quiet feel, which seemed appropriate given that the hustle and bustle of its early life had passed.

Even though the sun now shines brightly, creating high value contrast, I remain with my initial concept. I often work around the entire canvas, bringing the image together all at the same time. In this case, however, I stay focused on the building until it is resolved enough for me to judge the appropriate values for the background and foreground. This way, I ensure that the building and landscape will feel integrated and harmonious.

The Grain Mill 2020, oil, 12 x 9 in.

Available from artist Plein air

Final Step

DON’T PET THE KITTY

At the beginning of the painting process, I feel free to lay paint down, move it around, and lift it with tools or a paper towel to create a variety of transparent and opaque passages, particularly as I move away from the focal point. Once I start laying down structural strokes, however, I rarely touch them again — though I may lay a stroke on top of another or carve back into a shape with a second stroke. I virtually never touch a stroke twice in one pass. I call that “petting the kitty.” It can be a nervous habit akin to saying “um” in a conversation and is the quickest way to kill freshness in your painting.

I move on to laying in the foreground, background, and sky, using an economy of paint and strokes. I abandon some clouds I had indicated in my initial value sketch since they would have created too much movement. I also decide that between the mill and the mountains in the background, I have two equally striking elements in the painting, and since the subject of the piece is the mill, I opt to eliminate the mountains. The simple hillside with the cell towers that I can see from my vantage point is the better view after all. And as enchanting as the old Purina checkerboard on the mill is, I decide not to include it. No matter how much I knock back its value, the geometry is just too powerful, throwing too much visual weight onto the left side of the composition.

Once the entire canvas has been addressed, I make a few final marks to define an edge, lead the eye, or add a structural accent like a guy-wire. Usually, if I’m listening, a painting will tell me when it’s finished. The finish on this piece comes abruptly as the sun dips below a ridge, and I realize how cold it has become. Now shaking uncontrollably, I abandon my normal ritual of cleaning brushes, scraping my palette, and carefully packing up in favor of hurling everything into the back of the car and racing home to start the process of thawing out enough to paint again another day.

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8 TIPS FOR PAINTING BUILDINGS EN PLEIN AIR 1. Decide whether the landscape or the building is the main character.

2. Don’t try to paint narrow lines by using a small brush. Lay down the lines freely and then cut back into them with the adjacent color.

3. When possible, scout the scene in advance. Finding a view and time of day that clearly throws one side of the building into shadow, defining the plane changes, gives you a powerful compositional tool.

4. Use a brush at least one size larger than feels comfortable. An older brush that’s a bit beat up will create interesting edges so the building doesn’t look like it’s been cut out and pasted on.

5. Make sure the underlying perspective is correct even if the brushstrokes are loose.

6. Infuse the building and the landscape with the same color and angle of light even if the light has changed throughout the day.

7. Create textures and patterns by lifting paint off with scraping tools, paper towels, fingers, a stiff brush (used in a pushing motion), rock, or stick.

8. To indicate wires, scratch them in with the point of a tool or the edge of a flexible palette knife. You may also lay in wires by loading a tiny bit of paint onto the edge of the knife.

This works well when you have light reflecting off just the dip in an electrical wire.

The Arnold Barn 2018, oil, 16 x 12 in.

Private collection Plein air When I drove by this barn I knew I had to return to paint it. Its state of neglect gave me what I love most in a painting — beautiful, rhythmic patterns of light and dark. By placing the barn smack in the middle of the canvas with the center line running through the peak of the roof, I purposefully broke a primary rule of composition. Because the barn had such a stateliness to it, I wanted to use the kind of symmetry found in religious icons. I also had a dramatic sky in mind for behind the barn, but it remained clear. As is my habit, I looked around to see what else I could work with. I glanced over my shoulder, and lo and behold, the sky I’d been imagining was rolling in behind me. The mostly overcast day provided no powerful light source so I was able to move the clouds from behind me to behind the barn and still maintain the harmony of the piece.

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Finding Beauty 2018, oil, 9 x 12 in.

Available from Sorrel Sky Gallery, Durango, CO Plein air I’ve never forgotten a story I heard about a couple of painters who drove around for an entire day, looking for that epic painting spot, before eventually setting up right where they’d started. Now I always look around and see what treasure might be lying at my feet before jumping in my car and rushing off on a mad search. In this case, I opened the door of my trailer during an event and saw an old pole building that had been sitting there all week waiting for me to notice it and became enchanted by the simple scene.

ARTIST’S TOOLKIT

Paints: M. Graham — cadmium yellow, cadmium orange, cadmium red light, alizarin crimson, cobalt blue, transparent oxide red; M.Graham in cold weather, Gamblin in hot weather — titanium white, ultramarine blue; Gamblin — cadmium lemon. (For specific locations or conditions, I may also add Winsor & Newton’s Indian yellow and M. Graham’s quinacridone rose and cobalt turquoise.)

Solvent: Gamblin’s Gamsol odorless mineral spirits Mediums: I rarely use mediums in the field, but depending on the temperature of the day and if I need to make the paint a little more mobile, I might use a touch of M. Graham’s Walnut Oil and Gamblin’s Solvent-Free Gel. For The Grain Mill demo, I used: Surface: 9 x 12-inch Centurion Deluxe Oil Primed Linen Panel Brushes: Nos. 2 and 6 Rosemary & Co Ivory Long Flats (long-handled) Drawing tools: Prolific Painter Sketch Box; 4 x 6-inch Strathmore spiral sketchbook; Prismacolor double-ended cool gray markers — 30, 50, 70, and 90 percent; black Sharpie marker; pencil; pencil sharpener Misc.: Double-ended rubber wipe-out tool, Viva (cloth style) paper towels, Prolific Painter Daytripper easel, Dolica tripod, orange traffic cones (for safety) www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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BIG WINNERS IN WEST TEXAS

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rtists celebrated San Angelo with more than 400 paintings during the weeklong 6th Annual EnPleinAirTEXAS competition.

Over $22,000 in cash awards and $21,000 in vendor certificates and merchandise were handed out to prizewinners. Hiu Lai Chong took Grand Prize for Sunset on Block One. Thomas Jefferson Kitts won Second Place for Aged to Perfection, and Zufar Bikbov, Third Place for Twin Buttes.

(RIGHT) Sunset on Block One by Hiu Lai Chong • (FAR RIGHT TOP) Aged to Perfection by Thomas Jefferson Kitts • (FAR RIGHT BOTTOM) Twin Buttes by Zufar Bikbov

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TOWN AND COUNTRY

rom 225 entries, jurors Anthony Salvo (LPAPA Signature Member), Rosemary Swimm (LPAPA Executive Director), and Ludo Leideritz (Forest & Ocean Gallery owner) chose 39 paintings created by LPAPA Signature and Artist Members for coveted spots in the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association’s latest show, “Town and Country — Where the Cities Meet the Pastures,” in Laguna Beach, California.

First Place went to Tom Brown for Until the Cows Come Home; Second Place to Debra Huse for Classic Oxford II; Third Place to Lisa MozziniMcDill for Signs of the Times; and Honorable

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Mention to Nanette Biers for Moving Through the Gate. A Peoples’ Choice award was also introduced, allowing individuals the opportunity to vote for their favorite painting via Facebook, and was given to Joe Anna Arnett for Poppies Forever.

(RIGHT) Poppies Forever by Joe Anna Arnett • (BOTTOM ROW L-R) Moving Through the Gate by Nanette Biers • Until the Cows Come Home by Tom Brown • Classic Oxford II by Debra Huse • Signs of the Times by Lisa Mozzini-McDill

plein air salon

AND THE AWARDS GO TO… Diane Waterhouse, owner of Waterhouse Gallery, unveils the top paintings in the December-January competition.

(TOP) First Place: Snowy Owl’s Haunt by TJ Cunningham (LEFT) Second Place: Oasis by Bill Farnsworth (ABOVE) Third Place: Between Charlotte and Mary Lou by Ryan Jensen

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plein air salon

‘BEST OF’ CATEGORY AWARDS

Figure: Serene by Derek Harrison Acrylic: Morning Pink, Algonquin Park by Marc Grandbois

Animal: Compadres by Laurie Kersey

Oil: Golden Light — Laguna Beach by Michael Situ

Floral: Summer Cut by Lori Putnam

Watercolor: Clay Street — Chinatown by David Savellano

Pastel: Morning’s Gift by Linda Mutti

Landscape: Surf in Light by Camille Przewodek

Outdoor Still Life: Big Bend Opuntia

by Laura Barrow Water: The Evening Show by Jill McGannon

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Plein Air Only: Avalon Afternoon by Donald Demers Building: Last Light on the Bay by Richard Boyer

Drawing: Ava by Kerri Mcauliffe

Western: Awaiting Dawn by Jim Wodark

Nocturne, Sunrise, Sunset: Buffalo County Nordic Star by Ben Bauer

Student (High School or College): The Pride of the First Nation by Sarah Xu

Artist Over 65: Rock Creek Waterfall by Sheryl Knight

Vehicle: Boats at Dusk by Jane Hunt

Artist Under 30: Traveler’s Desk by Lyubena Fox

The PleinAir Salon consists of six bimonthly contests, with the First, Second, and Third Place winners of each contest, and the category winners, automatically entered into the annual competition. First prize in the annual competition is $15,000 cash and the publication of the winning image on the cover of PleinAir Magazine, along with a feature story. Second Place earns an artist $3,000 and an article in the digital edition of PleinAir. Third Place yields $1,500 in cash. Three additional finalists win $500 each. The annual prizes will be presented at the 2020 Plein Air Convention & Expo in Denver, Colorado.

Artists also earn cash for the top prizes in the bimonthly contests. First Place winners receive $1,000, with $500 going to Second Place, and $250 going to Third Place. pleinairsalon.com www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Donald Demers

Acadian Surf 16x20 oil

The Art and Instruction of Don Demers Director of The American Academy of Landscape Painting hosted by Lyme Academy at Old Lyme, CT. Courses start, May 2020.

For information about original paintings or instruction, please contact me at

www.donalddemers.com

APRIL 19-25, 2020

WINTERPARKPAINTOUT.ORG

Image: Light from Above, Kathleen Denis

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ALBERT HANDELL in his Santa Fe Studio Studio visits welcomed!

1109 Don Gaspar Ave. Santa Fe, NM 87505

Studio/Workshops/Gallery Phone 505-983-8374 Cell 505/603/1524

www.alberthandell.com

MARY GARRISH www.marygarrishfineart.com marygarrish@aol.com 321.698.4431

Moon rising thru Tall Pines 30x 30, oil on linen

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Trey Finney

“Imminent Dusk”

24x36

www.treyfinney.com

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ANN LARSEN

Signature Member Oil Painters of America • American Impressionist Society Artist Member California Art Club

ONE DAY PAINT OUT PAINT NANTUCKET! AS PART OF

PLEIN AIR FESTIVAL

MONDAY, JUNE 15th NANTUCKETARTS.ORG • NANTUCKETCHAMBER.ORG

“Fishermans Wharf - Gloucester”, 11x14, oil on linen REPRESENTED BY: Northlight Gallery, Kennebunkport, ME Mary Williams Fine Arts, Boulder, CO The Laffer Gallery, Schuylerville, NY

annlarsen.com

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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AARON SCHUERR

Transfiguration Aspen Grove 27x39 Oil

www.aaronschuerr.com | aaronschuerr@gmail.com | (406)539-8393

HUGH O’NEILL

ART WORKSHOPS Celebrating 25 Years of Successful Art Workshops to Northern Ireland A visual 5 star Experience Designed for beginners and Non Painters

July 22nd-29th “I learned more in two days of painting with Hugh O’Neill than I did in 20 years with other instructors” Denise Hodgins, VA ART MATERIALS SUPPLIED AT LOCATIONS AS PART OF THE PRICE “Best Trip of Our life times” Mr & Mrs Callery, Rhode Island

www.irelandarttours.com email: oneillarts@gmail.com

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Larry Cannon ASMA LPAPA CPAP CWA

C

Fine Art Watercolors www.cannonwc.com

Moonlight on Monterey Bay California Art Club’s 109th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition

Beth Bathe 2020 Workshops April • Wayne PA May • Warm Springs VA July • La Crosse WI Lancaster PA & NEW demo video!

For more information visit bethbathe.com/events beth@bethbathe.com 703•628•5044

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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August 17-22, 2020 Art Competition, Exhibit & Art Sale

Photo by Mark Gregg Photography

Monument Park, Dexter, Michigan

Presented by

www.paintdexter.org Sponsored by The Dexter Arts, Culture & Heritage Committee

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Sheryl Knight

LINDA MUTTI FINE ART AWA • PSA • IAPS-MC

Morning’s Gift, 12x16, pastel

Rock Creek Waterfall 16x20, oil on linen, Salon Winner January 2020

Winner of Best Pastel in the Plein Air Salon

LindaMutti.com

www.sherylknight.com Nancy Dodds Gallery, Carmel, CA • Seaside Gallery, Pismo Beach, CA Park Street Gallery, Paso Robles, CA • Bronze, Silver, and Gold Gallery, Cambria, CA Solvang Fine Arts, Solvang, CA • Gallery Los Olivos, Los Olivos, CA

Classes start May 2020!

The only Academy for serious artists dedicated to the genres of landscape and seascape who seek extended study with some of the very finest painter/instructors in the country.

Hosted by Lyme Academy of Fine Arts

CLASSES FOR 2020 Foundation Courses

Jacqueline Jones - Elements of Form, May 19 - 23 Eileen Eder - Color for Landscape and Still life, June 1 - 5 Rick Lacey - The Topography of the Human Figure, June 8 - 12

Intermediate Level

Zufar Bikbov - Drawing Outdoors, June 15 - 19 Michelle Jung - Seascape Painting, June 15 - 19 Cindy Baron - Innovative Methods to Bring Richness and Life to your Landscapes, June 22 - 26 Kenn Backhaus - Critical Thinking, Editing, Composition and Brushwork, July 20 -24 Jerry Weiss - Bringing Plein Air Studies into the Studio, August 3 - 7

Master Classes

Don Demers - Painting the Coastal Landscape, August 24th - 28 West Fraser - Going Beyond Theory of Color to Application, September 14 - 18 Joe McGurl - Transforming a Field Study into a Studio Painting Master Class, October 5 - 9

lymeacademy.edu

This group of classes is intended to have a sequential order, building skills from basics through advanced techniques and philosophies of painting.

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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PLEIN AIR PAINTERS OF AMERICA

MASTER CLASS WORKSHOP Connect with six instructors

Skip Whitcomb, Tom Hughes, Ron Rencher, Jill Carver, Lorenzo Chavez and Dan Young

Taos, NM September 22-25, 2020 PAPA annual members show September 26 at Taos Museum at Fechin House For details and registration contact Mark at pleinapa.mark@gmail.com 757-585-5355 www.p-a-p-a.com “Shadowed Lily Pond”, 25x40, Skip Whitcomb

Eileen Eder

AWARD WINNING LANDSCAPES AND STILL-LIFE

Coastal Sunset, oil, 12 x 16

Workshop, Color for Landscape, June 1-5, 2020 The American Academy of Landscape Painting Information at lymeacademy.edu

EILEENEDER.COM

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Kim Casebeer

Luminous, oil on linen, 30x40. Exhibited in the AWA Show at the Booth Western Art Museum

2020 Workshops t 'MPSFODF BOE 'JFTPMF *UBMZ t BSUFOTJUZ PSH t #BZรถFME 8JTDPOTJO t XJMESJDFSFUSFBU DPN t 'SFEFSJDLTCVSH 59 t GCHBSUTDIPPM DPN t )BZT ,BOTBT t DJOEZCBMUIB[PS!HNBJM DPN -FBSO GSPN BO BXBSE XJOOJOH BSUJTU ZFBST UFBDIJOH FYQFSJFODF QBTUFM BOE PJM "8" .BTUFS 4JHOBUVSF BOE 01" BOE 14" 4JHOBUVSF .FNCFS

LJNDBTFCFFS DPN XPSLTIPQT

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MELANIE FERGUSON

Flowers Abstracts #1 24x24 Oil/mixed media on Panel

Art Credit - Bets Cole, acrylic

310.500.5940 meljosiefergie@gmail.com www.melaniefergusonart.com

14TH ANNUAL

ALLA PRIMA WESTCLIFFE

JUNE 13th thru 21st Capture the amazing beauty of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in June Join acclaimed artist and show juror Lorenzo Chavez, for his one-day workshop on Saturday, June 13th For more information, visit

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2020 Painting Retreats Janet Rogers | June 21 - 25 Lorraine Glessner | July 12 - 16 Kim Casebeer | July 26 - 30 Kami Mendlik | August 16 - 20 Sandra Duran Wilson | September 13 - 17 Peter Fraterdeus, Kate Miller & Pamela Paulsrud | October 18 - 22

Explore + Reserve Online www.wildriceretreat.com Bayfield, Wisconsin

Mendocino Art Center’s

Mendocino Open Paint Out

SUSAN JOSITAS

PAINTING WITH A MEDITATIVE PROCESS

September 14-20, 2020

Our Featured Artists John Hewitt (co-founder)

Natasha Isenhour Ryan Jensen Jim McVicker Camille Przewodek Michael Situ © Ryan Jensen

CALL FOR ARTISTS Open Plein Air Festival on the picturesque northern California coast Sponsors:

MendocinoArtCenter.org/pleinair

Plein Air Workshop/Retreat on the beautiful island of Nantucket - May 30-31, 2021

www.susanjositas.com

203-913-5349 • susanjositas@gmail.com

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Piece by Dan Shultz 2nd place, 2019

For tickets: kernarts.org or 661.324.9000

A week of plein air painting and special events in scenic Kern County.

April 22- Plein Air Picnic April 23- Artist Meet & Greet April 25- Painting on the Paseo Gala

RULE BREAKING LANDSCAPES - video available now MI: Franciscan Life Process Center, Lowell - August 2020 SCOTLAND: Ceres Workshops - October, 2020 Watch for new video - Autumn 2020 AZ: Scottsdale Artists School - January, 2021

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Tim Oliver NWS, WFWS www.timoliverart.com | tim@timoliverwatercolors.com

Iain Stewart

AWS/NWS

Old Spanish Trail Gallery www.davismtsgallery.com A Beautiful Mess Antiques and Gallery (806) 407-5895

Give Me a Range to Ride and Room to Roam 18x14� Watercolor Available from Artist

Tenuta di Sticciano, Plein air watercolor For upcoming workshops or to invite me to teach for you please visit my website

www.stewartwatercolors.com | mail@stewartwatercolors.com www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Laurel

Daniel

TOM CHRISTOPHER MC/IAPS • Signature Member Pastel Society of America, PSA

The Waddlers, 8 x 8, Oil SPRING WORKSHOPS March 30-April 2, 2020 - Wimberley, Texas April 16-18, 2020 - St. Simons Island, Georgia May 8-9, 2020 - Austin, Texas

www.laureldaniel.com | 512.632.4166

Gentle Stroll, 24x24, pastel, private collection

A Creek Runs T hrough It 24x 30 i nches Pastel on Tex tu re d Panel 2020

www.tomchristopherartist.com

Bursting, 12x9, pastel, private collection

Shimmering, 12x12, pastel, private collection

Jacob Aguiar Turner Fine Art in Jackson, WY Powers Fine Art in Acton, MA

Online at www.jacobaguiar.com You can also find me on Facebook or Instagram Patreon instructor page coming soon

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“Tuscan Getaway” pastel

PSA-MP IAPS/MC

12” x 9”

J I L L S T E F A N I WA G N E R 2016, 2017, 2019 & 2020 PACE Pastel Faculty

jillwagnerart.com

PAINTING NEW MEXICO & THE AMERICAN WEST Register at

larimore.faso.com for exclusive offers and first views of new work.

Visit our NEW LOCATION in TAOS!

P L E I N A I R & S T U D I O PA I N T I N G S

Hassayampa After the Rain 12”x16” oil on canvas panel

135 North Plaza, Taos, NM 87571 larimore.faso.com 575.770.4462

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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THE ART OF CONVERSATION PALETTE KNIFE & FIGURATIVE WORKSHOPS: • Dillman’s Artist Retreats, WI • Tuscany, Italy • Whidbey Island, WA • Booth Art Academy, GA

Join my email list

michelebyrne.com michele@michelebyrne.com

Tuscan Memories 14x11 - oil

BARBARA TAPP PLEIN AIR WATERCOLORS SEEKING HIDDEN GEMS

Portovenere Boats, 30x40 cm, oil on panel

PLEIN AIR IN OILS with KATERINA RING

Taking A Rest, Ghost Ranch 9x16

Represented by

Holton Framers & Studio Gallery • Berkeley, CA www.barbaratappartist.com 510-520-8383 140

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ROCKLAND, MAINE 24-28 Aug. 2020 (waitlist only) 31 Aug. - 4 Sept. 2020 (1 spot) Coastal Maine Art Workshops www.cmaworkshops.com

LUCCA, ITALY (Paint my town!)

26 Sept. - 6 Oct. 2020 Follow Your Senses in Tuscany www.followtuscany.com

www.katring.com • fb: Kat Ring • ringkat@usa.net

Marti Walker CAPTURING THE MAGIC

Cloaked in Fog • Pastel • 6x8

Winters Plein Air Festival • March 20-28 Carmel Art Festival • May 15-17 MartiWalker.com • 916.224.5909 • marti@martiwalker.com

KAMI MENDLIK Minnesota Impressionist

St. Croix River School of Painting Plein Air and Studio Workshops with an Emphasis on Color www.kamimendlik.com kamifineart@icloud.com 2020 WORKSHOPS: Capturing Color and Light En Plein Air 6/19/2020 - 6/21/2020 Stillwater, MN Color Relativity and Mentorship Retreat 8/16/2020 - 8/20/2020 Wild Rice Retreat, Bayfield, WI EXHIBITION: AWA Museum Exhibition 5/27/2020 - 8/23/2020 Booth Museum, Cartersville, Georgia “Rippling Through Quiet Waters” 16x24 oil

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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SANDHYA SHARMA

Joo-Hee Bae Fine Art Sculpture Artist

jooheebae.com

Restful Evening, Portofino, Oil on Linen 12”x16”

REPRESENTED BY: The Artists Emporium • Havre de Grace, MD • www.artistsemporiumhdg.com Dana 8” x 9” x 20” Ceramic

UPCOMING EVENT AND EXHIBITION: 2020 Artists on Location, Knoxville - April 2020 sandhyasharmafineart.com • sandhya@sandhyasharmafineart.com • 202.290.9576

September 14–27, 2020 Celebrating Seventeen Years of Art Inspired by Place escalantecanyonsartfestival.org

Plein Air Painting Competition SEPT 18–23

Art Collector’s Sales SEPT 25–26

Artist Demonstrations & Workshops SEPT 14–26

Arts & Crafts Fair Live Music SEPT 25–26

Wild & Scenic Film Fest SEPT 18

*Early Bird Registration rates for artists and vendors through April 30 Escalante, Utah is located in the heart of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks.

DeLee Grant, Rocky Top, 2019 Award of Artistic Excellence

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Retreat on the Artist’s Ranch artlacuna.com/creative-retreat Marcia Burtt, Autumn on the Pond.

NATASHA ISENHOUR EARTH AND SKY

Last Chapter 20x24 pastel

SOLO EXHIBITION OF NEW WORK Opening Reception June 5, 2020, 5-7pm Ventana Fine Art 400 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 Represented by Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM • RS Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX Cobalt Fine Art, Tubac, AZ • Abend Gallery, Denver, CO

www.natashaisenhour.com

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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SANDI PILLSBURY AT L ANTA’S 6TH ANNUAL

OLMSTED PLEIN AIR I N V I TAT I O N A L Lavender and Lace, oil over acrylic, 30” x 60” (diptych)

Represented by: Jaques Art Center Aitkin, MN Cross River Heritage Center Shroeder, MN The Yellow Bird Gallery Grand Marais, MN Grand Marais Art Colony Grand Marais, MN North Shore Serenity Studio Castle Danger, MN authenticartist@sandipillsbury.com

www.sandipillsbury.com Available for commissions and workshops

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Ellen Howard

Mark Shasha

Windless Morning, Oil, 24 x 30 in.

Awakening

WORKSHOPS

109th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition of the California Art Club at Hilbert Museum of Art May 16-June 13, 2020

MA: Mark Shasha Studio - May 30 & 31 CT: Ocean Beach New London - June 13 ME: Monhegan Island - August 25, 26 & 27 MA: Mark Shasha Studio - September 12 &13

www.ellenhowardart.com

Markshasha.com | 617.816.3851 | mark@markshasha.com

KATHRYN STATS Advanced Painting Mentorship

nine month one-on-one mentoring program

www.kathrynstats.com kathrynstts@gmail.com 801-694-0651

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Mary Rinderle Smith AWARD WINNING PASTEL PAINTER

Exhibiting with LandArt Events | Philadelphia Pastel Society maryrinderlesmith.com Rear Acres, 16 x 12, pastel

DK Palecek palecekdk@msn.com 920-376-0057 Visit dkpalecek.com for

Workshop Schedule

Represented by Edgewood Orchard Galleries Fish Creek, WI McBride Gallery Annapolis, MD

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FREDERICKSBURG ARTISTS’ SCHOOL

Catch the color & light!

GEORGIA MANSUR

COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE IN ART EDUCATION

2020 WORKSHOPS

All Classes Currently Scheduled

CHARLIE HUNTER

Composition and Values in Plein Air Painting March 4–7, 2020 Tuition $700

MARK FEHLMAN

Oil Painting-Study To Studio March 9–13, 2020 Tuition $650

KIM CASEBEER

Oil/Pastel, Landscape-Indoor/Outdoor March 10–13, 2020 Tuition $595

CAROLYN ANDERSON Oil/Pastel, Figure/Portrait March 17–20, 2020 Tuition $750 + $40 model fee

DIANE EUGSTER

Painting The Expressive Figure In Oil March 30–April 2, 2020 Tuition $495 + $40 model fee

MARY BENTZGIL K ER SON Online Courses & Workshops marygilkerson.com/workshops

PHIL BOB BORMAN Landscape April 20–24, 2020 Tuition $625

JEFF C. LEGG Oil, Still Lifer May 9–12, 2020 Tuition $700

I just keep saying, "Everything is beautiful.

Everything is beautiful."

-J.M.

Oil/Pastel, Indoor/Outdoor June 6–9, 2020 Tuition $525

CHANTEL BARBER

Capturing Character In Portrait With Chantel Acrylic and Oil September 28–October 1, 2020 Tuition $525 + $30 model fee

May-Oct 2020

KAYE FRANKLIN, OPA/PSA

Grafton Australia 16–20 April Carmel California 23–26 April Plein Air Convention, Denver Colorado 1–6 May South of France Retreat 7–16 September Italian Landscape Art/Culture Retreat 6–16 October Cambridge UK 24–27 October

georgiamansur.com/workshops

MICHAEL OME UNTIEDT

Nocturne Workshop-The Color of Light, Oil October 5–8, 2020 Tuition $575

www.FBGARTSCHOOL.com bush@fbgartschool.com 830-997-0515 812 N. Llano Street, Ste A Fredericksburg, TX 78624

visit www.laromita.org or call 1-855-476-6482 to register

UNINSTRUCTED WORKSHOPS AVAILABLE

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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ALINE E. ORDMAN

Award Winning Artist Workshops.com

OPA, AIS, PSA-MP, IAPS/MC

Charlotte, NC

PONTOON BOAT 9 X 12 OIL

Randall Sexton, “Expressive Brushwork”

ACCEPTED TO THE OPA NATIONAL JURIED SHOW 2020

2020-2021 Workshops Randall Sexton

WORKSHOP RUSSIA JUNE 2020

Oil, Acrylic Brushwork | May 13-16, 2020

WWW.ALINEORDMAN.COM

Camille Przewodek “Colorist” Oil, Other | Sept. 23-26, 2020

AORDMAN@SOVER.NET • (603) 443-1964

Larry Moore

ANGIE MALIN FINE ART

Oil, Gouache, Acrylic | Oct. 21-24 , 2020

ANITA LOUISE WEST Find the Alchemical Moment!

Abstract Mixed Media | Nov. 11-14, 2020

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO April 25-26 2020 | Landscape workshop

Bold Watercolors | March 16-19, 2021

BEND, OREGON Oct 23-25 2020 | Oil & Pastel workshop

Oil - Landscape Figures | April 27-30, 2021

Laurin McCracken

Watercolor Still Life | Oct. 26-29, 2020

Jan Sitts

Andy Evansen Kim English

Dan Graziano

Oil - Urban Life | May 1 3-15, 2021

Mailstop W62 N595A 9x12 oil on linen

ANGIEMALIN.COM angie@angiemalinfineart.com 651-216-6537

Individual instruction/workshops available

Contact me for FREE consultation today! www.anitalouisewest.com

Camille Przewodek, “Master Colorist”

4shirleyart@gmail.com www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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En Plein Air Pro Inspiration is out there

Take your studio into the field Perfect for workshops & travel • Made in the USA www.enpleinairpro.com

LOOK WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN. We’re proud that watercolor superstar Michael Holter has moved into our cat house. He makes purrrfect paintings.

www.CCPVideos.com www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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Artist Truth #187

beautiful views make gorgeous paintings. welcomE to mount washington

THOMAS HILL

JOHN FREDERICK KENSETT

BENJAMIN CHAMPNEY

ERIK KOEPPEL

Once again, PleinAir â„¢ Magazine publisher Eric Rhoads will host a week of fall color painting in a new location. Join us in October of 2020, near the summit of the highest point in the northeastern United States, Mount Washington, New Hampshire. Its beauty has been captured by master painters of the Hudson River School since the mid-1800s. In fact, one of our featured guests will be New Hudson River School painter Erik Koeppel. This event promises to be a rare opportunity to learn the techniques of American landscape masters of the last two centuries.

JUST PAINTING. NO COMPETITION. NO SHOW. NO DRAMA. MOUNT WASHINGTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE

LEARN MORE AT 152

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April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

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Just Released on DVD and Digital Video.

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April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

Discover the Secrets of the Masters on these great videos!

Brushwork Secrets Unleashed

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Cheri Christensen D-CC4 • 3 h 36m $117

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Luminous Landscape Painting with Water Mixable Oils

Bob Rohm BR-100 • 4+ hours $117

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Join our sales team. þ You enjoy talking with other artists þ You enjoy helping people solve problems þ You are a creative thinker þ You love a good challenge þ You are politely persistent

WOMEN IN PLEIN AIR

A CANDID LOOK AT THE REWARDS AND CHALLENGES OF BEING FEMALE IN THE FIELD THOMAS W. SCHALLER, TARA WILL TOM HUGHES, RICHARD MCDANIEL LYN BOYER, MARK FEHLMAN

M A G A Z I N E

OFFICIAL CONVENTION ISSUE

MAY 2020

Excellent compensation. Work from home.

For opportunities go to careers.streamlinepublishing.com 158

April-May 2020 / www.outdoorpainter.com

classifieds CALL TO ARTISTS: FRANK BETTE PLEIN AIR PAINTOUT AMEDA, CALIFORNIA Paint the island city of Alameda, California’s tree-lined streets, stately Victorian homes and shops, marinas, and ships, as well as views of San Francisco and the Bay. Frank Bette Center, 1601 Paru St., Alameda, CA, 94501.

Up to 40 artists will be selected from all applicants. All painting mediums are acceptable.

Apply at JuriedArtServices.com.

Dates: July 27–August 1, 2020 Submission Deadline: April 6, 2020 Submission Fee: $55 E-mail: president@frankbettecenter.org Phone: 510.332.6922 Website: www.frankbettecenter.org CLAYTON – 1000 ISLANDS PLEIN AIR ARTIST COMPETITION CLAYTON, NEW YORK Clayton – 1000 Islands Plein Air Competition & Kirk Larsen workshop. Sponsored by River Muse Art Gallery & Studio, Clayton, NY. Paint among the villages and pristine islands of the world famous 1000 Islands region of Upstate New York. Public bidding and sale during event. August 19–22. Full details,

visit RiverMuseGallery.com. Contact Hope Marshall, inforivermusegallery@yahoo.com.

315.285.5162 Dates: August 19–22, 2020 Registration Deadline: First come, first served, up to 30 artists Registration Fee: Event $30, Workshop $225 E-mail: inforivermusegallery@yahoo.com Phone: 315.285.5162 Website: www.rivermusegallery.com WOODSON ART MUSEUM ‘BIRDS IN ART’ EXHIBITION WAUSAU, WISCONSIN The Woodson Art Museum is accepting submissions to the annual juried Birds in Art exhibition, Sept. 12–Nov. 29, 2020. All works must interpret birds and related subject matter.

Processing fee: $55 for one entry; $65 for two entries. Postmark and online submission deadline for entry form, digital image, and processing fee April 22, 2020. For prospectus/ entry form, visit www.lywam.org/2020prospectus; call 715.845.7010; e-mail info@ lywam.org; or write 700 N 12th St., Wausau, WI 54403-5007.

Dates: September 12–November 29, 2020 Submission Deadline: April 22, 2020

Registration Fee: $55/one entry, $65/two entries E-mail: info@lywam.org Phone: 715.845.7010 Website: www.lywam.org AMERICAN IMPRESSIONIST SOCIETY 21ST ANNUAL NATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION ILLUME GALLERY, ST. GEORGE, UTAH William Schneider, AIS Master, Judge of Awards. $12,000 Best of Show.

Prospectus/entry rules/requirements www. americanimpressionistsociety.org. Entries accepted May 1–June 8. Membership in AIS required for entry eligibility.

Exhibition Dates: October 22–November 21, 2020 Workshop, Demos, Wet Wall, and Lectures: October 20–24 Opening Reception and Awards Presentation: Thursday, October 22 Dates: October 22–November 21, 2020 Submission Deadline: June 8, 2020 Submission Fee: $0 E-mail: aisdirector1@gmail.com Phone: 231.881.7685 Website: www. americanimpressionistsociety.org

Contact us for details!

22 CLASSES: BELFAST & ROCKLAND ME

Humboldt County, California September 28-October 3, 2020 www.cmaworkshops.com Rockland: JULY 2020 20-24 Diane Reeves Oils AUGUST 2020 3-6 Clarity Artists Provided 10-14 Iain Stewart AWS NWS WC 17-21 Ken Dewaard #1 Oils 24-28 Kat Ring #1 Oils 31-9/4 Kat Ring #2 Oils SEPTEMBER 2020 7-11 Aline Ordman Pastels 14-18 John Hoar WC 21-25 Dan Graziano Oils 28-10/2 Colley Whisson Oils

www.redwoodart.us

OCTOBER 2020 5-9 John Wilson Oils

Belfast: JULY 2020 13-17 David Lussier Oils 20-23 Frank Eber AWS NWS WC 27-31 Paul George NEWS WC AUGUST 2020 3-7 Ted Nuttal AWS NWS WC 10-14 Tony van Hasselt AWS WC 17-21 Dan Marshall AWS WC 24-28 Janet Rogers AWS WC Aug 31-Sept 3 Peggi Kroll Roberts Oils SEPTEMBER 2020 7-11 Larry Moore Oils 14-18 Ken DeWaard #2 Oils 21-25 Mike Kowalski AWS NWS WC

207-594-4813 • cmartworkshops@gmail.com www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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A RARE CHANCE TO SEE AND PAINT THE REAL RUSSIA

When I first visited Russia, I fell in love with the people, the scenery, and the Russian paintings. I’ve been back many times and, next time, I’m taking 50 painters with me to tour and paint Russia. Not just the Russia of the movies, but the real Russia!

We’ll tour and paint in historic Saint Petersburg, arguably the most beautiful city in the world. We’ll also see and paint the highlights of Moscow. But it’s in between these great cities where we’ll find the real gems.

We’ll visit the home and studio of famed Russian artist Ilya Repin. We’ll paint quaint villages and stunning landscapes in the exact same places as the great Russian landscape painters Shiskin and Levitan. We’ll tour the three great Russian museums: The Hermitage, The State Tretyakov Gallery, and The Russian Museum.

We’ll have the chance to paint with Russian master Nicholai Dubovik and visit great Russian art schools. We’ll open doors few others could ever open.

You’ll leave with a great appreciation for Russian art, you’ll discover the warm and wonderful Russian people (not what you see in the movies), and you’ll want to come back again and again.

Best of all, you’ll travel with people who know the real Russia, you’ll grow as an artist, establish new and lasting friendships, and paint the memories from your time there.

I’m opening doors to my friends and contacts in Russia to create this unforgettable painting trip in September, 2021. I can only take 50 people.

Eric Rhoads, Publisher

TO LEARN MORE OR APPLY TO ATTEND VISIT PAINTRUSSIA.COM 160

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Directory of Advertising A.R. Mitchell Memorial Museum of Western Art...AG11 Aguiar, Jacob ...................................... 138 Ampersand Art Supply ........................... 2 Anderson, Janet .................................... 54 Anderson, Kathy .................................. 58 Arnett, Joe Anna .................................. 59 Art In the Open, Ireland .................... 132 ArtFrames.com ................................... 155 Award Winning Artist Workshops ...... 149 Bae, Joo-Hee ...................................... 142 Basham, Jill .......................................... 58 Bathe, Beth Brownlee ......................... 129 Baumann, Stefan .................................. 56 Beauregard, Chula ...........................AG12 Best Brella .......................................... 155 Bingham, Bruce ................................AG8 Birdsall, Stephanie ................................ 57 Blick Art Materials ............................... 13 Bohlman, Tina ..................................... 47 Boyer, Lyn .............................................. 6 Brinton Museum, The .......................... 38 Brown, Anne Blair.............................. 135 Brown, Brienne .................................. 124 Brown, Krystal ................................... 139 Byrne, Michele ................................... 140 California Art Club .............................. 40 Carte Hotel .......................................... 44 Casa de los Artistas, Inc. ..................... 151 Casebeer, Kim .................................... 133 Christopher, Tom ............................... 138 City of Carmel, Community Relations & Economic Development, Carmel on Canvas ........... 7 Coastal Maine Art Workshops ............ 159 ColArt Americas, Inc.............................. 9 Colorado Frames .............................AG12 Curran, Carrie ...................................... 56

General Pencil Company .................... 153 Gilkerson, Mary ................................. 147 Golden Art Materials............................ 18 Goldman, Robert ................................. 42 Grand Canyon Conservancy/Celebration of Art.....16 Granston, Lonny .............................AG14 Gredzens, Sandra Pillsbury ................. 144 Groesser, Debra Joy ............................ 130 Handell, Albert .................................. 125 Haywood-Sullivan, Liz ......................... 54 Heilman Designs ................................ 155 Highland Lakes Creative Arts/Paint the Town Marble Falls .................................................... 133 Hockaday Museum of Art/Plein Air Glacier...........41 Howard, Ellen .................................... 145 Hunt, Jane.......................................AG11 Hunter Studio .................................... 136 Immel, Peggy ..................................AG11 Isenhour, Natasha ............................... 143 Jack Richeson & Company, Inc.......... 163 Jositas, Susan ...................................... 135 Judson’s Art Outfitters ................ 151, 155 Kern County Plein Air Festival ........... 136 Kiev Academy Art Supplies ................ 153 Knight, Sheryl .................................... 131 La Romita School of Art..................... 147 Lanzoni, Kathleen .............................AG9 Larimore, Ron .................................... 139 Larry Cannon Watercolors ................. 129 Larsen, Ann ........................................ 127 Lewis, Farley......................................... 46 Lindsey, Carolyn .............................AG10 Livingstone, Ober-Rae Starr ................. 58 Lordier, Kim......................................... 36 Lussier, David Alan ............................ 159 Lyme Academy.org ............................. 131

O’Neill, Hugh .................................... 128 Oliver, Tim......................................... 137 Olmsted Plein Air Invitational............ 144 Ordman, Aline E. ............................... 149 Outdoor Painters Society/Plein Air Southwest.....46 Palecek, D.K. ..................................... 146 PanelPak............................................. 155 Parrsboro International Plein Air Festival...........136 Pecos Art Center ................................ 146 Pekala, Joyce ....................................... 137 Peninsula School of Art .......................... 4 Perkins, Davis....................................... 59 Pisto, Ann .......................................AG10 Plein Air Artists Colorado .................AG8 Plein Air Emery County ..................... 127 Plein Air Painters of America (PAPA) . 132 PTV Partnership ...............................AG2 Putnam, Lori ........................................ 35 Raymar Art ........................................ 164 Reavis, Jeanne....................................... 46 Redwood Art Association ................... 159 Riedinger, Kathy ...............................AG9 Riefenberg, Jennifer ...........................AG9 Ring, Katerina .................................... 140 Roper, Stuart ........................................ 48 Rosen, Cynthia..................................... 55 Royal Talens North America, Inc. ........... 5 Sangres Art Guild ............................... 134 Savoir Faire........................................... 11 Schuerr, Aaron ................................... 128 Scottsdale Artists’ School ...................... 39 Sharma, Sandhya ................................ 142 Shaun Horne Gallery ......................AG14 Smith, Mary ....................................... 146 Sneary, Richard .................................. 143 St. George Island Paintout .................. 149

Daniel, Laurel .................................... 138 Deeb, Lamya ...................................AG13 DeGraff, Larry D. .............................. 130 Demers, Donald ................................. 124 Dexter Arts, Culture & Heritage Committee, Village of Dexter ................................................ 130 Driggs Digs Plein Air ......................... 150 Easton, Charlie..................................... 14 Eder, Eileen Elizabeth......................... 132 Edge Gear LLC .................................. 153 Ellisor, Fran ........................................ 133 En Plein Air Pro ................................. 151 EnPlein Air Texas ................................. 15 Escalante Canyons Art Festival ........... 142 Fehlman, Mark..................................... 53 Ferguson, Melanie .............................. 134 Finney, Trey ........................................ 126 Fredericksburg Artists’ School............. 147 Garrish, Mary..................................... 125

MacDonald, John H. ........................... 57 Malin, Angie ...................................... 149 Mangi, Johanne .................................... 56 Mansur, Georgia................................. 147 Marcia Burtt Studio ........................... 143 Mark Shasha Studio Gallery ............... 145 Marshall, Chuck................................... 54 McCoy, Annie ...................................... 48 McCullough, Susan .........................AG14 McPhillips, Jonathan ............................ 43 McVey, Lee ........................................AG9 Meininger Art Supply .......... AG10, AG13 Mendlik, Kami ................................... 141 Mendocino Art Center ....................... 135 Mertz, Nancie King .............................. 57 Mutti, Linda....................................... 131 Nantucket Chamber of Commerce .... 127 National Gallery of Art......................... 17 Nicholas Gephart, Susan .................... 144

Stats, Kathryn .................................... 145 Steamboat Art Museum...................AG15 Stewart, Iain ....................................... 137 Suzie Greer Baker Fine Artist................ 45 Tankersley, Nancy ................................ 53 Tapp, Barbara ..................................... 140 Turner, Cecy......................................AG8 Vios, Richie .......................................... 47 Wagner, Jill Stefani ............................. 139 Walker, Marti ..................................... 141 Wayne Art Center/Wayne Plein Air Festival........37 West, Anita Louise ............................. 149 Whitelaw, Dawn ................................ 141 Wild Horse Gallery .........................AG16 Wild Rice Retreat ............................... 134 Winter Park Paint Out ....................... 124 Yellowstone Forever Plein Air ............. 126 Zhao, Jing ............................................ 48

www.outdoorpainter.com / April-May 2020

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postcards from the road

Pounding Waves 2020, oil, 11 x 14 in.

Available from artist Plein air

I

Effects of the Moon

n January, the moon’s gravitational pull creates especially high and low tides along the California Coast,” says Mark Fehlman. “To capture the magical effects, my buddy Ray Roberts joined me for a few days in La Jolla, where our goal was to paint as many 9 x 12-inch sketches as possible.

“We made our first stop in front of the Marine Room at La Jolla Shores, where low tide revealed amazing treasures — rocks, sand, and tidal pools — in a spectrum of color. The sun glaring off the water paired with the mist created by the waves made the scene even more dramatic.

“On the second day, we focused on high tide at the cliff below the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art. Away from the crowds, we painted the well-defined dark and light shapes of the rocks, aiming to capture the elements that a camera can’t ‘see’: the glints of sunlight, and the variety of colors in the shadows and the water.”

MARK FEHLMAN paints the coastline at La Jolla Shores, north of Scripps Pier. markfehlman.com

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Low Tide Magic 2020, oil, 9 x 12 in.

Available from artist Plein air

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