Lovely Pine Meadow Gardens

  A week before the "big event" at Pine Meadow Gardens, a fundraiser for Arts Escape, eight professional plein air painters took advantage of the great summer weather to capture views of the gardens.  As visitors strolled through the manicured paths, they could stop and chat with artists busy at work.

The White Garden, 8" x 10", Oil

 
My paintings for the week focused on the "White Garden", a terrace garden and fountain at the rear of the house, a view of the end of the garage where the Bantam chickens formerly roosted, a stunning pot of succulents leading to one of the aviaries with doves, the sculpture of the pipes of Pan, the Japanese Lantern carefully placed by the pond, and an opportunity to paint the beautiful model Erin in the garden on the day of the event.

"Succulents" 5" x 7" Oil

Erin posing on the terrace garden.

  It was an honor to be asked to pull together a fine group of painters, and I was thrilled to see their reactions to this veritable Eden.  Thank you to Tom Adkins, Zufar Bikbov, Harriett Carew, Lorraine Chapin, Rick Daskam, Edward DeVoe, and Jane Zisk for joining me in this adventure.

  Why “plein air”?  The French coined the term when they rebelled against the strict rules of painting taught in the classes of the academies.  They left the studio, and went outside to capture the fleeting effects of light on scenes of the country, city gardens, and street scenes.  The challenges are the same today as they were back in the 1890’s.  Only today there is a massive movement of plein air, with more people than ever trying their hand at painting and attending plein air shows, competitions, and conventions all over the country and internationally.  Lightfilled, colorful "impressions" of subjects are no longer scorned but highly sought after.  Plein air has been termed “the new golf".

  Today’s plein air painters still have to battle the movement of the sun and other elements — there is no air conditioning in nature, and the bugs are ever-present— but they have the luxury of pencil sketches and digital cameras to take along to capture a reference of the scene. However, without the fresh studies of nature painted “plein air” the painter attempting to paint from a photo has a hard job.  The camera compresses the field of view, makes the sky too light, darkens the shadows to uninteresting black shapes.  The plein air painter is racing against the clock of the sun, showing the viewer what the scene was really like. Even with a small study, most outdoor painters can look at a painting years later and tell you where it was, what the weather was like, sounds happening around them, and even what the location smelled like.  The goal of the plein air painter may be simply to enjoy being outside, studying nature, often in a relaxed group setting. 

  A show of these plein air works from the gardens and other spots in the area will take place at Arts Escape at 88 Main Street South in Southbury from September 5th to the 28th.  The show is open for viewing Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., or by appointment.  Artists will donate a portion of each sale to benefit Arts Escape.

"Japanese Lantern" 3" x 10" Oil

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."  Claude Monet

#ArtsEscape #Southbury #pleinair #gardenart