In August, the Barrhead Art Gallery is featuring ‘en plein air’ art. It will be open every Friday from 12-4 p.m. and a plein air artist will be in attendance. Refreshments will be served. Check out the new location next to Barrhead Registries – 4814 53 Avenue.
‘En Plein Air’ is a French expression used to describe the act of painting outdoors with the artist’s subject in full view. Britta Seward, a club instructor, believes “plein air is our immediate connection with nature. We take out our portable studios and attempt to capture that connection.”
Plein air artists proclaim putting paint to canvas outdoors is a joyous event. Sharing this work together is a wonderful learning experience. Because of this direct observation method, plein air art offers a special quality to the work.
But Plein Air offers different challenges than painting in an indoor setting and studio depiction. Nature provides changing lighting and circumstances that demand the artist to make constant choices, sometimes very quickly.
Choosing suitable supplies, equipment and a good spot to work are key. Of the abundance of nature, the artist must decide what appeals and why? Can that specialness be captured on a 10x12 surface? And, nature can sometimes offer surprises. A sudden gust of wind can cause havoc with a hat or supplies and mosquitoes and bugs can add unexpected interruptions or texture. When a storm blows in, a sudden scramble might be necessary. Or, if a bull comes over the hill to the perfect pasture scene, the essence can take a different turn. But whatever happens in the process, also adds to your painting. It is your personal experience and challenge with nature that special day. You will remember it.
Artists have long painted outdoors. First practiced by John Constable in England and the French Baroque School, plein air was later made famous by the Impressionists such as Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Cezanne and van Gogh. Painting landscapes on location finally became practical due to the important invention of paints in tubes. Before this, each painter made their own paints by grinding and mixing dry pigment powders with linseed oil. In the latter 19th century, the box easel or field easel was invented and made treks into the forest and up the hillsides less onerous As supplies became more suitable, plein air painting developed as a style of its own.
In Alberta, a camping paint retreat for artists is held each year. This year the location is Pincher Creek from August 6-13. For further information, inquire at the Gallery. The International Association of Plein Air Painters exists for the sole purpose of advancing the execution and enjoyment of Plein Air Painting without limitations of borders or regions.
In the more than 55 years of the club’s existence members have enjoyed ‘paintouts’ in many places around the province. They have painted in the Rocky Mountains, Drumheller, at the Vega ferry, the Ft. Assiniboine Bridge, Thunder and Peanut Lake, Hard Luck Canyon, and many local fields, farms, back alleys, and gardens.
In August, the BAC offers to you a showing of their Plein Air work and a chance to talk to the artists. New works will be added during the month as ‘Alberta plein air’ is more ideal in summer than in winter.
