Plein Air Painting
Plein air has been something that has been interesting me for a long and calling me to add it to my creative practice.
After painting on site at Rainbow Row a few months ago with Christine Lashley, I decided to sign up for a local Plein Air quick draw competition. This gave me about two months to practice and hone my skills before the event. I set aside one day every week where I would pack up my supplies, pick a park or a scenic site and go paint for a couple of hours. Each week I focused on something different; one week it was value, the next it was time, the next it was composition, and so on. Each week challenged me as an artist and forced me to put skills to work that I realized I had been neglecting in my practice. When it finally came time for the quick draw, I was ready. It was a different environment, this time the time restraints were set by more restricted. Once two hours ended, there was no wiggle room with being done, it was brushes down. The event was on an extra windy day and I was painting by the water, so I had the extra challenge of being cold and dealing with the wind. Luckily, my set up stayed in tact the entire time, but the artist painting next to me had her entire set up blow over about 15 minutes before the buzzer! Once the buzzer went off and we put our brushes down I got my piece framed and delivered to the gallery in time for the judging.
There were so many amazing pieces in the show and it was great to see all of the kids that got out there and painted on top of the adult competition. It was very exciting to see my piece in Meyer Vogl gallery on Daniel Island, as this was my first taste of gallery life in Charleston. The competition was a great experience, and hopefully the first of many. I have continued my Plein air practice since the competition and plan to keep it as a regular part of my creative portfolio. I have released my plein air paintings on my website available for purchase. I hope you all love them as much as I enjoyed painting them!
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