Plein Air

Plein Air simply means "plain air". Paintings completed on location are called plein air. Some artists may complete a painting with a few strokes later in the studio but I seldom do that. Once I stop painting in the field, my vision and connection to the subject are left on the canvas for later use in the studio as a study for a larger painting or often as a starting point for a new series.

For the past ten years my inspiration has come from the coastal marshes, rivers and islands. Several of the plein air paintings shown above are from that area.  I don't try to recreate the scene in my paintings. Instead I try to present the subject's voice, how it speaks to me. That language isn't always easy to interpret but there is magic when it does.

Plein air artists are faced with many challenges....the weather, the wind, changing light conditions, bugs, as well as the public at times. For me, all of these make it an exciting adventure where you never know what will happen or how the painting might turn out!

Copyright 2011 - No use of images is allowed without the expressed written consent of the artist.