Summer is on its way and that is time for painting outdoors! Beacon Hill Civic Association and Sloane Merrill Gallery are hosting a plein air event as a fundraiser for the BHCA. Thirty artists will be assigned different spots on Boston’s scenic Beacon Hill and will all be painting like crazy from 10-4 Saturday, June 7. That evening at 6pm all the wet paintings will be exhibited for sale at the Sloane Merrill Gallery (don’t touch!!!).
York Harbor, Oil on canvas, 16″ x 20″, ©Michelle Arnold Paine PURCHASE
I have been very focused on studio paintings for the last several years (I LOVE having a studio to work in!), so I have done very little plein air painting recently, but I used to paint outdoors frequently and I enjoy the challenge of having to bring a painting to completion in several hours.
Painting outdoors forces me to focus on the most important elements of the painting and really prioritize those. The quickness of the work often results in some beautiful painterly areas as the colors mix together on the canvas; smears of paint transforming to planes of rocks areas of spaces and brush marks into edges.
Essex Marsh, 6″ x 12″, Oil on Panel ©Michelle Arnold Paine PURCHASE
So, June 7, come and watch – it should be great fun traipsing around Beacon Hill and seeing how different artists approach their problem. Wish I could wander around and watch some of these amazing artists, too, but I’ll have some paintings to finish!!!
