“The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live.” – Auguste Rodin

I just got back from a week of painting for the Bird Dog Arts Invitational! It was a wonderful week painting the beautiful town of Bakersfield, visiting with my fellow artists, staying with a great host family and finding new collectors for my work.  What I always find interesting are the conversations around my work as an artist and the perception of artists in general. For art enthusiasts and collectors, the behind the scenes of what goes into a work of art is a true mystery. Many people do not understand the process of creating art whether the work is done plein air or in the studio.

Painting in plein air can be challenging at times depending on what the day has to offer. The first thing artists consider is finding a location to paint that inspires them. In a competition the luxury of time can be against us because we know that we need to turn in paintings of quality for the competition so we need to make decisions quickly. The second aspect that can be challenging is the weather conditions.  Is it too hot? Can we find shade? Can we find good light and shadow patterns on our subject matter? Is the wind too strong? Most artist stand during a plein air painting so endurance can be a factor. One of my friends traveled with me to a plein air location and was very surprised to see how much equipment I had in order to set up to paint. She said she did not realize how physical plein air painting was and didn't realize how much of a hurdle equipment management is! Choosing the right equipment and simplifying what we need is very important. Below is a view of my car with my equipment for last week's invitational plein air competition.

Pre-wired frames for finished paintings & extra blouses:)

What some non-artists do not realize is that it is not easy to create a work of art in 2-3 hours - especially if we are unfamiliar with our location. There seems to be a common misconception that artists just stand by their easel and magically a great painting just appears. Most artist struggle to compose an original composition, keep within a set value range, control their edges and brushwork and all within a certain time period so they do not lose their light. Another misconception is that an artist is finished when just one painting is completed  during an event. Artists need to paint multiple works in a single day and usually a typical day can begin very early and end well into the evenings. Some artist will continue into the night time to paint sunsets and nocturnes.

The most successful artists in the plein air field have regularly tested themselves in the field and practiced painting for many years. In  my experience the most successful artists have painted their subject matter repeatedly over many years. A great example of this can be seen in Debra Huse's beautifully painted boats. She lives in a harbor town and owns a boat. Debra regularly paints harbor scenes and can even be seen painting while on her own boat. Her continual practice is seen in her ability to masterfully render boats in her paintings. Michael Obermeyer's coastal paintings also show how an artist masters their understanding of their environment by regularly paintings similar scenes.

I believe a painting can also come alive when an artist connects with their subject matter. I love painting in the vineyards. Honestly, it is not something that I have regularly done but my enjoyment of the subject matter came through in one of my paintings for the Bird Dog Arts Invitational. On the second day I found vineyards and was happy with my initial composition. The gorgeous hills in the background and puffy clouds were also a big plus to this scene. Below are some photos of my site.

Another subject matter than I thoroughly enjoy painting is sunsets.  I was happy with this painting and it also found a new collector!

My work for the competition

There are also times when even though your painting may not be competition ready, the experience of painting the scene will become a memorable event for the artist. The photos below are of one such event when I painted on top of the hills looking towards the farmlands. This location was by the National cemetery where a cross stood on top of the hill. It was a magical and serene spot for me to paint especially since I had a hawk that kept me company for most of the morning.

Not quite there:)

I feel blessed to be able to live a creative life even though the path can take a lot of twists and turns at times. For me, the ability to create, be out in nature and be among like minded people is incredible! Below is a photo of the animals that kept me company during the week in Bakersfield and the wonderful group of artists that I had the pleasure of seeing!

Happy Painting!

Bird Dog Arts Invitational