Next week I am headed to Pennsylvania Dutch Country for a week with family. During that time I will make a painting of the landscape each day. Plein Air painting, or translated from French, simply painting outside, was popularized by the 19th century Impressionists and made possible by advances in painting technology such as paint in tubes. Before this, artists ground their paint by hand and stored them in little sacks made of pig bladders!
Although you may be more familiar with my abstract work, painting and drawing from life are an important part of my practice as an artist. Observing the effects of light on color and shape, and translating that into paint keeps my eyes and hand sharp. These images work themselves into my abstract pieces as well – a memory of a particular color or shadow or shape – all these elements play into my abstract paintings.
I am offering each of these plein air paintings during a pre-sale this week July 2-8.
Each of these five artworks will be painted with oil on wood panel, 7.5 x 10.75 inches, and priced at $550. This will include taxes and free shipping to anywhere in the world. Because of oil paint’s long drying time, these paintings will be shipped in September. This way your painting will arrive in tip-top condition.
Note: After this pre-order period, shipping outside of the United States will add $100 to the price of these paintings.
If you know someone who may be interested in claiming one of these special paintings, please share this post with them.
What to see how I keep painting on the road? Here’s a little video I made to share my kit for painting in the outdoors. It’s a minimalist’s setup for oil painting when you have little space.
The Story of Antiquity Hill
I painted Antiquity Hill 2, the painting at the top of this post, in 2014. I used to ride my bike to a nearby field to paint there. It was a vast space and there were just a few houses on the land at first. I’m sure you can guess what happened as time went on. The tree line receded, more houses were built, and eventually a shopping center went up. The field disappeared. This painting is a love letter to that field.
Antiquity Hill 2 is available for purchase below: