“Nature is our greatest teacher” and as van Gogh said, “one can never study nature too much.”
I fondly remember my first “plein air” experience when I was 11 or so sitting in the backyard drawing some trees with pen and ink and then adding watercolor.
Later when in undergrad school, the subjects changed to the figure, still life and interiors and the medium was oil paint. Drawings were done with charcoal or pencil.
In grad school my focus was still life but toward the end of my last semester, my studio mate asked me one day if I would like to go paint outdoors. This was my first return to outdoor work since childhood and since that idyllic day sitting on a curb painting, I have been working outdoors. Painting plein air and allowing it to expand has sustained me since that time and continues to evolve.
Working outdoors is a challenge in so many ways.
The physical…the weather with wind, heat, cold, rain, mud, sun, insects, small animals, lots of distractions not to mention the whole painting process attempting to get hold of something true and to follow through initially. Many years ago, I would only paint landscapes on site. I wanted to observe nature rather than attempt to depend on memory or photos. What developed gradually was the ability to continue working after I returned from the landscape subject..it happened unconsciously, as did other parts of the process of painting outdoors which taught me so much about problem solving. Having the challenge of ever changing light, visual memory became imperative. A faster, more condensed process, seeing and drawing skills at the ready, but most of all, learning to simplify without losing the essential information.
Then I stumbled upon “my pond”...
Of course, it's not mine, but I remember when I saw it for the first time, I knew I had to work there and that it would inspire and teach me for a long time. It has for the last 24 years..a place that has changed dramatically, but still deeply speaks to me.
Over time I am so much more aware of the minute changes that occur in nature. The pond is a very peaceful silent place yet there is so much going on there every second. So another gradual change began to happen, my process of responding to the landscape and the way I gather inspiration and imagery began to shift to include different media and photography in order to convey the depth and incredible beauty of what I was experiencing on site. The expansion also included painting in a photo realist style which I had done early on, more drawing including dry media, pastel, charcoal, mixed media and watercolor.
Using the camera made it possible to come closer to capturing those fleeting ephemeral moments, awesome gifts from nature. When painting from my photographs, I use a gridding process which echoes the silent rhythm of nature as it moves and changes every second. Working at a slower pace adds a thoughtful integration of response, concept, memory and technical considerations this process offers. I feel that I can be equally expressive when working this way.
However, work on site is the essential first step in my process and how I immerse myself in the places that speak to me. For me, there has to be a strong response to the place and an immersion via work but also, just being there observing.
You are literally standing in your subject
One of the unique features of painting landscapes on site is that you, the artist, are enveloped by your subject. you are literally standing in your subject. The addition of atmospheric conditions, space, temperature, wind, sounds, the history of the place and the unique ways that light filters through this complex combination of living things is remarkable. it’s a very rich experience. I strive to capture the spirit of the physical place and my sincere response to the energy I experience there. The response is what carries the meaning of the painting. So, as I continue with landscape, I see myself growing and changing along with it. Part of the reason photography has become part of my process is because I am so much more aware of how every moment in nature is unique and will never be repeated exactly that way again in this place. I want my paintings to share the feeling of the air and light of the place. I want to share my experience in a very real way, as if the viewer stands in my place and the space opens to welcome them. The always fascinating work continues.