The Plein Air Adventure

Traveling as an Artist is extremely informative to your understanding of not only the world but to your painting process. I fell under the spell of Plein Air painting in the late 1990’s. Due to a back injury I was only able to paint my watercolors standing upright at an easel. A Dr. who wanted me to use my painting as a distraction from the pain suggested that I take a plein air painting workshop. The first day I realized that there were colors in the shadows that I had never seen in a photograph. I saw how the light fell around objects and created color bounces. I was hooked.

Last year, 24 years later, July 23^rd, I participated and competed in Europe’s largest plein air event, “Art in the Open” in County Wexford, Ireland a nine day event. I registered the first day you could clear back in January. Bought my flight, arranged for a rental car and booked my places to stay. I flew over to Ireland a week early so that I could “get my feet under me” before the event. I went out sketching and drawing every day in order to get my hand, eye and brain communication fired up and ready. I drove to locations that we would be painting and scouted out views, bathrooms and places to eat. This helped me feel confident in getting around during the event. The first day of the event, it rained. I am a watercolor artist and luckily, I am used to painting in the rain. I used the rainwater instead of my water container. Yes, it was raining that hard. As a matter of fact that first “rainwater” painting is one I entered into the competition gallery show! Plein Air and travel painting offers a variety of subjects to paint. Every day we were in a different location around the county. I painted harbor scenes, street scenes, castle and lake scene, a river and mountain scene, a seashore, a dock with boats, a lighthouse, fields and stormy skies, a fountain and last but not least we had a quick draw where in the city of Wexford we had two hours to finish a painting.

 

This year, in June, I will be participating and competing in the Dublin Plein Air Painting Festival!! If you are in Ireland June 19th to 25th, look to see where we will be painting and come watch us paint the views.

Happy Painting, Kim Caldwell