I was delighted to receive an Award of Merit for one of my paintings from the Swope Art Museum Plein Air Event, at the awards ceremony yesterday evening.
The juror was Julio Suarez, professor of Art at Hillsdale College, MI. He gave an enjoyable and interesting plein air demo yesterday evening, accompanied by thunder, but we never felt rain.
Musallem Union, Rose-Hulman, 11 x 14 ins, oil on canvas board
This was painted in one session on the morning of 6/24/25. The main part of the building pictured here is the Dining Hall in the Union building.
I painted from the small beach on the side of the lake— a great way to spend a morning!
Wabash River, Fairbanks Park, looking north. 9 x 12 ins, oil on PVC board.
This is my finished painting, started the previous week. It was lovely to be out there, enjoying the scenery and sunshine, moving paint around on this super-smooth board with my palette knife.
A few people walking along the path stopped to investigate and chat a bit. I used to be fearful of this, but have grown to appreciate it. The comments are always very positive, and the people seem genuinely happy that someone bothers to paint. I felt that maybe people have a sense that there must be something okay with the world if artists can take the time to observe, concentrate on, and record the beauty around them.
After the William Turman Plein Air Event at the Swope Art Musem in Terre Haute in June 2024, I and a couple of other participants decided to go out painting more regularly.
Since the last half of August we have been going to local parks almost every week on a Friday morning. We found a good routine was to go to the same site two weeks in a row, sometimes to finish a painting, sometimes to explore a new idea that came up the previous week.
Here are two paintings from the first week, August 23, 2024:
Wabash River, Fairbanks Park, looking south. 9 x 12 ins, oil on hard board
Then I tried part of the same scene with a palette knife, on a smaller board:
Wabash River, Fairbanks Park, looking south. 8 x 8 ins, DaVinci board
And I started a painting of the river facing north, using oil crayons as an underlayer ‘drawing’:
Courthouse from the ISU campus, 9×12 ins, oil on linen canvas
On June 13-16, 2024 I took part in the second Plein Air Event in Terre Haute. This year we were allowed 10 blank canvases, up from 5 last year. I could not manage to paint 10! I ended up with 5 paintings.
I decided to have the Courthouse as my focal point this year, painting it from different directions at different times of day.
Thumbnails on the first morning, from the N EastFirst block inAnother viewDetail, oil on linen canvas boardFinished on the second morningHow I kept the sun off my palette
I decided to try this view again on Gessobord, so I went back later on the second day to block in the shapes, and then returned on the morning of the third day to finish it.
This view received an Award of Recognition!
I also painted to the west of the Courthouse, at Dewey Point at the Wabashiki wetland, over two evenings:
The view across the Wabashiki Wetlands to the Courthouse, and a poor photo of my painting of it. I had lots of fun interactions with people at this spot, I was in a hurry to go to the next spot to finish painting there, and forgot to photo any of the painting process!
My third location was in Fairbanks Bank, on the banks of the Wabash River, but this year I turned my attention to the Courthouse instead of the river. I painted two paintings from slightly different locations.
Unfortunately, I also forgot to take progress photos here, and this is not a clear photo. I like this composition, and I was happy with my use of greens, and the brushwork. The top 3 photos are from the 1st visit—a beautiful calm, quiet evening; I painted the ‘block-in’ (first layers of colors). I felt I was getting into my stride.The last photo here is a poor representation; I was hurrying out of the door to get them all delivered to the collection point.
When I returned to complete it the next evening, lots of people started arriving for a family concert (a local Wind Band) playing in the Amphitheater! I had not expected this, and it was a very different atmosphere! It turned out to be really fun. Lots of people stopped to look at what I was doing and make comments, or tell me their story; children were especially vocal and engaged. A girl told me she loved my painting and it ought to be in an art museum, and then she picked a clover and gave it to me as my award! Beautiful experiences!
My vantage point to paint the White Chapel. On the first session out, 6/22, I did not think to include my easel in the photo.Sunset at Fairbanks Park, 6/22Le Fer Lake, St. Mary of the Woods College, 6/23Deming Park, 6/23Dobbs Park, 6/24All five paintings framed, ready to deliver.
This Plein Air competition, the first of its kind in Terre Haute, was run by the Swope Art Museum and the Indiana Plein Air Painter’s Association, 6/22-6/24, 2023.
I have not done much plein air painting, but was keen to join in because I thought it was an encouragement to do more, and support this community event.
All participants had to present their blank canvases (max #5) to the Swope Art Museum for a stamp on the back to verify it was blank.
I was delighted to find that my painting of the White Chapel was given an Award of Recognition!
The winning paintings from the event (including this one) are on display at the Swope Art Museum from July 14-Aug 19, and all others painted over those 3 days are on display at the Arts Illiana Gallery for the same time period.
I painted this from my front porch this afternoon, an exhilarating experience. It was a crisp, clear, windy December day. My focus was the large maple tree in the middle of the front lawn, and the way the nearly-setting sun was lighting it, although by the time I finished (an hour later) the light had pretty much gone from the tree.
I took a lot of artistic license with the view and completely removed the houses across the street (their complexity and presence did not add to my ideas about the tree), so this is not actually the view from our porch, but my ideas about the tree and the light this afternoon. I loved doing it.
Our third Plein Air class was in the middle of very quiet Amish countryside, near New Wilmington, PA. The three of us stood within in a fairly small area but all chose different views, so came away with three totally different paintings.
I liked these big trees overshadowing the farmhouse buildings, with the big barn a little closer to me. There were numerous Amish buggies coming and going, and horses being used to plow the fields, so almost the only noise was of horses’ hooves. Altogether a very peaceful three hours of painting.
For our second 3 hour lesson we went to a rural area and found a pumpkin field. One fascinating aspect of painting outdoors with other people is that we can stand in a small area together and produce totally different paintings!
My choice of view and subject was based on the pumpkins leading up to the white barns, which are silhouetted by the dark trees. I also liked including the distant hills. I had a strong sense of representing the feel of what was in front of me rather than the exact image. To that end I ‘moved’ the pumpkins around quite a bit!
Acrylic, 6 x 9 ins The view from our campsite, in OH, mid-AugustAcrylic, 6 x 9 ins A closer view from the same spot. After some heavy rain, I’d set these children’s umbrellas out to dry. I noticed that I liked the pattern they made, so spent a half hour during ‘quiet time’ painting them.
Another delightful half-hour spent observing and recording nature, this time at a camping site in northern Ohio. I challenged myself to use only knives and blades again (like the last painting at Lake Erie). I rather the like the top version best, before I added the tree trunks!
marymayhewart 