Post Paint Out Thoughts

Last weekend I participated in a local plein air paint out and even though I was prepared, it was still challenging! Does it ever get easier?

I paint outside often in summer and I have had the same palette of colors for many years (this creates easy prep). Additionally, I know my equipment and can set up my pochode quickly. Along with my paint gear, my backpack has:bug spray, sunscreen, water and snacks. Another timesaver is scouting locations before the paint out--important so that I could head to my painting location the first day right away.

The first major issue that I faced was heat and thunderstorms - plein air pros know that weather will always challenge a paint out.  Since I am not a big fan of the heat, I decided I would paint quick and small paintings, focusing mainly on 8x10s ( my gameplan). I have been practicing completing an 8x10 plein air painting in an hour for a few years now and the less time in the heat, the better.

My second challenge was painting storefronts and structures as I typically paint nature scenes. I have love little storefront vignettes but I don't paint them often and this paint-out was limited to a small downtown area. Since heat and storms were expected I started my first day early, in downtown painting a pretty storefront (painting shown above). The storefront seemed simple but was complex to paint, including the chairs and table set up out front. I decided to exclude half of the table legs and chair legs as they were a complex mass of x's.  I am an expressive painter but I struggled to determine how to simplify the storefront structure. What goes in and what should be left out to keep it expressive and loose?

After the morning storefront painting, I met up with art friends at a park, where there were a few historic structures. Many of the artists in the paint out were at this location painting images of buildings, so I chose to paint the pond and trees and sky. I loved the stormy grey sky. This is what I am more comfortable painting, water and trees. In the afternoon it got warm so after 2 paintings, I headed home to rest and recover- I was hot, tired and achy. And, I had some brushes to wash and prep to do for the next day!

The next morning was stormy and rainy; however, by 930 the storms had moved on so out I went to paint. Again the skies were interesting and blue and grey with clouds. So I tried to find a place near downtown where I could get a sky view. I found a great back parking lot--it takes an artist to see the beauty from the parking lot. I loved the vista from the parking lot, I saw many painting possibilities. As I looked around I saw a great white construction trailer under some trees--this would be a fun structure to paint. So I painted the trailer in the morning and then turned a bit to paint the sky and trees in the afternoon (painting shown here). Since it was getting hot I rushed through the sky and tree painting, and it turned out the fourth and fastest painting ended up being my favorite! 

Emergence

 Emerging from a pandemic world

Clouds Move In 8x10

For two years I isolated myself in my house - creating and making art alone. I painted mostly landscapes (from photos in winter and en plein air in Summer). What do I have to say about my thoughts from these last two years? And how will artists emerge?

First, I am thankful that I was able to continue working as an artist these last 2 years. This time alone at home forced me to organize my studio and to finally take a class with a National Artist (online). For years I resisted taking online classes--the pandemic changed that! Online was a way to connect socially with other artists across the US. And honestly, classes went better than I would have expected, this was a fun, less costly way for me to meet with a National Artist (no hotel, no flight, only the upfront cost of class).

My first thoughts as the world shut down, early pandemic, were, "What can I do on my own?". The answer is that which I always do - PAINT!  Not having my weekly painting group and live models was a hard as my social life came to an abrupt halt. Initially motivation to get into the studio was a struggle. I very much missed my artist friends and our art conversations. Taking online classes helped as they forced me to paint. I was strongly encouraged to focus on painting and not on the "business aspects of art" --blogging, tracking art on spreadsheets, updating website, blog, FaceBook and Instagram.  Letting go of the business side ended up being easier than I could have imagined as I got tired of my computer and wanted to spend less time on it. 

Over these last two years my skills as an artist have grown, as have my art collection (available for purchase). I continue to focus on painting but I do believe that now is the time to get back to the business side of art to include tracking organizing and categorizing my paintings. While it’s still cold here, I soon will be ready to emerge from the snow into spring and plein air painting.