A Change of Pace

This has been a different year, so far.  A good year, but different.

As promised in my last post, I continue onward and upward in the joyous journey called, My Life as an Artist.  It's a journey fraught with twists and blessed with surprises, and it hardly ever goes the way I plan.  I do my due diligence, don't get me wrong; flying by the seat of my pants has never been my forte, no matter what you've heard. 

So I have professionally ventured into plein air painting, having been an avid amateur for more than a decade.  Seeing the field from the field, competitively speaking, instead of from the studio window, has given me a new perspective and some interesting insights.  I was slated to write an article for Oil Painters of America this summer and thought it would be about color, but as I began tromping around en plein air, I came to realize that I had to write about something else.  So I did.
What happened next surprised me.

I was going to copy/paste the article for you here but it would be better for you to go to the OPA site, because the surprising thing happened in the responses.  If you scroll down to the Comments section under the article, you will see what I mean. 
Click here to see the Oil Painters of America article.

Then the next thing that happened was also unexpected: another magazine wanted to do an article on the article and the responses to it.
Click here to see the Outdoor Painter article.

The most conversation took place on Facebook though.  It was fun and a little scary to see it; scary because I felt like some people were thinking that I am against plein air events.  I am not; not at all!  I love them.  Fun because it is comforting to know that you are not alone when you find yourself in an unexpected place~ and I always have fun when there's a group of us!  And also rewarding, as I received several emails from people who said that they were about to hang up their paint brushes for good, but now felt like they had been given permission to stay in the field and explore their own art at their own pace. 
   
I'm reminded that we are on this journey together, contributing to the culture and the historical mark of our generation; to encourage each other on the path is a part of our job. 
I hope you enjoy the articles!  Feel free to add your two cents, and thank you for stopping by PYJ.

 

Shell Basket, a work in progress 

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