I was quoted in the Capital Journal again! This "Plein Air" event gave me the opportunity to commune with a lot of well known Kansas artists who work full time in their craft. They are living the dream! It was very inspiring to be around so many creative people.
Having not painted "Plein Air" before, it was an exciting challenge. While talking to the other artists who are not golfers, I found that being a golfer myself, I had a different perspective on the subject. I selected a spot on hole 3, in the rough near a maple tree which had started to color for fall and began with that as inspiration. As the painting developed, I started to imagine how I would feel if I actually had my ball lying where I was painting. Suddenly, the trees became looming obstacles and I could see the light over the hill which hid my goal. This created the opportunity for me to personalize the piece with an emotional reaction. Here is my result from the day:
Below is the article:
Ann Williamson/The Capital-Journal
Lawrence artist Stan Herd puts the finishing touches on a plein air painting Monday at the Topeka Country Club.
Golfers let artists paint through
Published Tuesday, October 10, 2006
By Bill Blankenship
The Capital-Journal
The golf carts at the Topeka Country Club carried artists and easels Monday instead of players and clubs.
About two dozen artists spent the morning painting outdoors at the tree-lined, 18-hole private golf course in an event organized by Gary Blitsch, owner of the SouthWind Gallery at Framewoods of Topeka.
The French term for what the artists were doing is "en plein air," which means "in the open air," and for some of the artists, outdoors is the only place to work.
"In my book, painting outside is a necessity. You learn so much more outside than you do in your studio," said Judith Mackey, the Cottonwood Falls artist known for her landscapes of the Flint Hills and the Kansas prairies. "Nature is a good teacher."
While Hugh Greer, an award-winning artist from Wichita, spends more time painting in a studio than outdoors, he agreed about plein air exposing an artist to colors beyond his imagination.
"Colors come out of you here that you wouldn't normally see," Greer said.
Working outside often requires a faster pace than painting in the studio, he added.
"You have to work faster and try to capture the moment," Greer said. "Here you don't have a lot of time to dink."
Dana Hassett, a painter who recently moved to the Topeka area from Burns, called plein air painting "more tactile" than working in a studio.
"I think you get the real essence in a painting when you're in the fresh air and the wind blows your easel over," she joked.
Like Mackey, Hassett is more used to painting in the open prairies than on a carefully groomed golf course like Topeka Country Club.
"It's a little more manicured, to say the least," she said.
However, Stan Herd, of Lawrence, spotted a connection between the golf course greens and the fields where he has created works of art.
Pointing out the mowing patterns on one green, Herd said, "It reminds me of lines in a field. That pattern tripped my trigger."
Herd said he recently immersed himself in plein air painting when he and his son did a 12-day, 104-mile trek from Lawrence to Cottonwood Falls, during which he created 16 paintings.
Topeka artist Michelle Leivan was trying plein air painting for the first time Monday.
"I paint outside a lot, but I usually do it from a reference photo or from my head," said Leivan, whose inspiration Monday was the turning of maple leaves to their autumn colors.
When they made way for afternoon golfers, some of the artists had nearly finished works. Others will use what they did Monday as a starting point.
"You get basic shadows, basic lights, forms, shapes, then you take the thing into the studio and refine it," Walsh said.
The final works that began Monday at the Topeka Country Club will be displayed and sold there at a Dec. 5 reception.
Bill Blankenship can be reached at (785) 295-1284 or bill.blankenship@cjonline.com.
