“ Lavender and Blues ” Laura Gable | Oil painting on panel | 11 ” x 7.25 ”
national acclaim in the plein air world , with a long list of awards at major plein air events . Her work is impressionistic in style and her medium is oil . Bonnie Griffith is a plein air painter who paints throughout the Western U . S . in plein air competitions and teaches plein air technique and pastel painting . Her works are impressionistic renderings of landscape in pastel and oil .
Why do these artists choose to paint “ en plein air ”? It is their desire to capture that freshness that comes from painting on location with natural light ; the challenge to capture the ephemeral qualities of the environment . Plein air studies became fashionable with the early to mid-19th century European Impressionists , once paint became available in tubes that could easily be taken into the outdoors . Prior to paint in tubes , the artists mixed their medium from raw pigments that required being freshly ground and mixed into paint , which wasn ’ t conducive to portability into the field . Once artists were able to glean the fact that painting in the outdoors gave a freshness and light quality to their work , the plein air movement was born . The practice of plein air painting spread to North America , beginning with the now-famous Hudson River School painters . Painting outdoors has become a fundamental skill in art education and these studies are often the basis of future studio work .
Cindy Gillett knows how to manage the elements in any condition as she paints a view of Bennington
Lake and the Blue Mountains .
Currently there is a huge plein air popularity increase among artists and art collectors seeking this revived approach to painting . Competitive events can be found across the U . S . all months of the year , drawing artists to paint for prizes and art sales .
The Fresh Air – Fresh Paint event is not a competition — just a three-day time for this
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