Readying for the Featured Artist show! ~ Potomac Artworks

5.29.2010

Readying for the Featured Artist show!

Got a nice write up in the Connection for Fairfax Station and Clifton:

Associate Artist for the Month: Bonnie Ferguson Butler. Butler is an en plein air artist who lives and paints in Lorton. She is the Workhouse Associate Featured Artist for June. Her show, on display from June 9-July 4 and entitled 10 Mile Radius, will feature local landscape paintings created in pastel and oil. Each location is 10 miles or less from the Workhouse.

I am so excited to show this much new work together! See you in Building W-16 at the Opening June 12 from 6-9, with my Artist's Talk at 7:30. I will be there several times on the weekends during the month as docent, too, and will post when I could be there to meet you. Or let me know and I maybe I could give you a personal tour!

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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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5.29.2010