Occoquan Wildlife Refuge ~ Potomac Artworks

5.26.2007

Occoquan Wildlife Refuge

I painted this the day my grandmother died several states away from me. She went peacefully in her sleep.

It was my first and last time going to this location. Parking was awkward and I came home with four ticks, a common nuisance of plein air work.

Afterwards, I was never happy with the painting. It wasn't a good day all around.

My other grandmother always told me, "Never knit when you're angry, because you'll have to pull it all out." I can generalize that, I believe, into saying to not paint when your heart isn't in it.

Occoquan Refuge
Pastel on Pastelboard
8x10
SOLD

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The Charm of en Plein Air

Much of my work is done en plein air, French for "in the open air." People often associate it with the Impressionists, but the move to paint outside preceded them by a number of decades. The trend to appreciate landscapes as a genre at all was new for the time.

Several characteristics contribute to the distinctive beauty of en plein air painting. They are generally smaller in size in order to be able to capture a scene in a single sitting. Because of the time limit and environmental factors such as the sun and shadows moving, they often lack extensive details and might appear slightly fuzzy or unfinished. Lastly, they tend to have a freshness and spontaneity which makes them impossible to compare to traditional and methodological studio work. That said, my own studio work tends toward the same feel as en plein air, which then identifies my overall style: softness with an edge.

My aim when painting en plein air is for alla prima paintings, which roughly translates for me as "what happens outside, stays outside." It adds another level of difficulty to the work.

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5.26.2007