Greetings Friends,
Have you heard? We are hosting "Plein Air" Paint-Outs at Mt Jefferson State Natural Area in West Jefferson, North Carolina. We will kick off the first one at 7:30 am, Saturday, May 21st at the covered picnic shelter.
Everyone is welcome, from beginner to
professional, to enjoy a day painting outdoors in one of Ashe County’s
most ecologically significant natural areas.
“Plein Air” is a phase borrowed from the French which simply
means “open air”. It is a technique
where a majority of the painting is completed on location and very little if
any in the studio.
The challenge is to capture the atmosphere of a scene that
is constantly changing. The time constraints, forces an artist to forget the
“formulas” and paint what nature is presenting before them.
Florence Thomas believed strongly in painting on locations and felt the best time to paint outdoors is when the contrast between
light and shadows is at its peak. When “the warm colors advance and cool colors
recede.”(The Art of Florence Thomas by McFarland
Pub. Co.)
This is the first of six
such paint-outs that Florence
Thomas Art
School will be hosting at
the Mt Jefferson State Natural Area. With such a wide variety of landscapes to
paint from vistas and rocky crags, to spring flowers and autumn trees, we hope
artists will return month after month!
The event is free, and we strongly encourage people to register by phone 336-982-2499 or online.
I look forward to seeing you there.
Sincerely,
Meghan B Minton
Executive Director
