A New ArtVenture-- The Plein Air Retreat

STOP! Plein Air Painters Ahead!

I went to a plein air paint out last week, not knowing what to expect, but feeling prepared and excited. The paint out was pure plein air painting, no instruction. With other artists from around the state in a Nature Center setting a few hours from home, we met to paint. The schedule was grueling and amazing: breakfast, painting, lunch, painting, dinner, demo, art critique, shower, bed, next day repeat! I loved meeting all of the other artists and it was great to "escape" daily life and focus on painting and art talk--no cooking, no cleaning, just painting! A good time! All artists were given a map of painting locations (areas in which we were permitted to paint). It was hard to choose locations as many of us did not know the area!

Day 1, Painting the barn - sunny & nice

My friends Janet & Teresa were there the same days that I was and we had fun choosing painting locations and meeting all of the other attending artists. Plus, several other friends joined us later in the week. The first afternoon was sunshine and excitement as we painted a barn from the side of the dirt road. Hey, we each got a decent painting! There was lots of sunshine, and after painting we had dinner, watched a demo, attended art critique (of the days paintings) and then I took a shower, it was late! The art critique was my favorite--all of the talent in the room was amazing!!! Wow!

STOP! Plein Air Painters AHEAD!

Day two I had a good morning painting, but the afternoon was less successful. From my earlier blog you know I packed a million canvases--way more than needed. So I did have too many canvases, otherwise I was glad that I brought what I brought. And, art supply wise, I did not forget or need anything so that was a plus due to our remote location. Also, on day two since the afternoon was tough (I think I was tired), I worked on a small one hour painting. It was a good way to stay fresh without the pressure of making a full size or great painting. I will have to find and post a pic at a later date.

Would I attend a plein air painting retreat again? Absolutely! As I mentioned earlier, I loved the art critiques in the evenings. The work of many artists was "Lovely"--I guess I said that a lot, but there was so much talent in one room! It was amazing to see what other artists can produce in a morning or in a day. I also really enjoyed meeting other artists and talking about processes and art supplies -- it is good to get out of your art comfort zone -- to go out and explore the world with new art friends.

I was painting across the road from this gal on our day three painting adventure, I loved the sign behind her... I proposed our next year Tee Shirts be this image & caption!