KAREN SINCLAIR PLEIN AIRE_2266 Karen Sinclair BARBARA ALLEN PLEIN AIRE_2268 Barbara Allen

I am showing my pastels this month (June-2016) in the Gunnison Gallery, Gunnison, Colorado. I've been planning and arranging this show for some time. Luckily Anne Michel is a gracious and very competent hostess. When I arrived with a lot of paintings, she found room for almost, if not all of them. The gallery wall looks great. Dale and I camped at the KOA, which was very nice, and were joined with another Eighth Tribe member and her husband. Thursday , Karen and I met three other Tribe members to plein aire paint.

AMY DANIELS PLEIN AIRE_2267 Amy Daniels

We went to Neversink trail-head and picnic area. We had talked about plein aire a lot. Although it was not the first time painting outside for Barbara Allen and Amy, the others had gathered pieces and parts of equipment to set up. Carolann got equipment that made plein aire a lot more fun. A good easel, sturdy pastel paper, and a small or medium sized pastel box were easily acquired. A small table or chair worked well to sit or store pastels on while working. This was Karen's first time. She enthusiastically dug into the experience. Amy set up and went to work immediately and competently. Barbara was trying a new technique with a complementary underpainting. Great job.

The artists worked for three hours in the morning and another three in the afternoon. The artwork was exciting and the whole day exhilarating. They are amazing. I want to share their work but will let them finish up. Those finishing touches are a way of bringing the outside in.  rifle creekplein aire on Rifle Creek at Rifle Falls, Barbara Torke

Rifle Creek at Rifle Falls plein Aire by Barbara Torke

Plein aire is good for the soul. It makes us work out problems, (the weather may be one, but that day was splendid) composition, perspective, proportion, placement (how much and how little of the total landscape, color, and value). The artist takes control of the environment on the sheet of paper. It was a lot of fun, and everyone learned a lot. You can't help but learn.  CAROLANN PLEIN AIRE Carolann Rasmussen

A little more plein aire is our choice. Who knows where you'll find us next - on Grand Mesa - in someone's back yard, Confluence Park, or on the highway to the orchards. Maybe in a wheat field somewhere, watching crows land, or Monet's garden.

Survivorplein aire at Jumbo Lake Grand Mesa by Barbara Torke

Survivor at Jumbo Lake Grand Mesa plein aire by Barbara Torke