Plein Air Starts - Europe

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'Starts' to Finish

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Starts are intentionally unfinished works to be completed later for various reasons
: (1) preference to indoor studio conditions (2) winter projects supported by photos

WESTEREMDEN, THE NETHERLANDS [NL]

When an artist friend came over t visit from the US, I showed her the coffee table book of a Dutch artist, whose countrymen voted as their second favorite artist under Rembrandt in 2006. She was so impressed, she asked if we could visit him and his studio. It's a little country and I speak Dutch so within a short time we were packed and on the road toward Groningen, where the classical painters are trained and hang out so to speak. It would be four hour drive to get there so we booked a B&B his wife suggested. This way maybe we could squeeze in some plein air time. It was a phenomenal experience. The museum was having a retrospective of his work--the most I have ever seen in one place. The studio visit turned out to be an invitation to see his whole house where many fo the amazing objects used in his paintings are just a normal part of the interior. We were very inspired and chattered the rest of the day about the works we would start and objects we would be anxious to add ot our studio props.
The plein air images shown above were done in one sitting of three hours in Westeremdem. both being 6 x 8 , a standard size I keep in my pochade box. The weather conditions posed nimbus clouded skies,. Eventually it started to rain, but passed quickly> Oil paint repels water, so it was not a real problem. Because of conditons I stayed in the same spot and squeezed in a second painting by turning my view about 40 degrees and changing the composition to a vertical.

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OHAIN , BELGIUM

This is a quaint village with local traffic and very picturesque trajectories. I thought it would be a great place to introduce my artist friend to her first plein air experience. I was however wrong.
She is a wonderful, experienced, trained painter and we had discussed her coming over each year we had roomed at an artist conference. At a first time paint out, one has a lot to think about already, but add a couple of variables like jetlag, homesickness , friendly,well-meaning villagers coming out of their house to speak (in a foreign language) and just normal village life going on around a newcomer to Europe), to the normal things like changing sunlight, --and concentration can easily dwindle into less confident strokes. She grew impatient and before we left wiped the wet paint down, claiming she did not want to do any more painting like this on her trip and proclaimed herself an indoor artist. The joy I have of plein air and I put my prizewinning friend's on a pedestal, blinded me from other considerations already outlined so I did not take this comment seriously. However, it would not be until we arrived at Monet's Garden before she would try again.
I set up at a fork on the street with the view shown above before me. Things went fine. Later in the day, locals started to come home from school or work . As gas is much more expensive over here, no one wants to go an centimeter more than one must. At a particular time of the day, my easel seemed a target in a series of three-point turns that brought little cars across the cobblestones with engines revving and gears screeching just centimeter away from my kit. Scary and funny the exchange of glances which ensued.

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AMSTERDAM

I sat on a large bridge over an active canal with lot of tourists coming by in glass-top boats. The bridge was so big a restaurant spilled its terrace on to it. Due to this, an audience was able to see a cross between Mrs. Bean and a female Charlie Chaplin contort to every angle in trying to get one retractable leg on my easel to cooperate. Patiently, I worked out of the dilemna and took a well deserved bow to the applause of the terrace 'audience' on my departure. Well everyone has their 15 minutes, right? As for the finishing touches later in the convenience of my studio, I employed creative license with the trees and gave them more compliments to the blue boat to create more vibration, corrected a few verticals, punche up the sky and boat. Amsterdam is a beautiful city and this is a great memory of it.

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JOAN OF ARC

This monumnet is near the Louvre on rue de Faubourg near Hotel Regine. I'm not the first artist who asked the hotel conceirge for permission to set up, so it was readily granted and in 20 seconds--just like the ad, I had my easel up and first strokes were on the canvas.

When the distant mist that made me choose ths spot . later lifted, to my surprise the Eiffel Tower and a big Ferris wheel appeared. Wow! How lucky could I get?! My friend stayed back in hotel to catch up on some emails home so I could easily capitalize on the time to build in these elements. Just when I thought I had the choice spot, the view got livelier.

An American workshop group coincidentally had this location to meet at this spot and before I was aware of them, they had gathered behind me for breakfast with an eyeview of my setup just before embarking on plein air workshop in Normandyand I was totally oblivious. Artist work in solitude and it is fun to have a chat when things lke this happen Despite the time spent chatting I got a nice start I was able to complete in winter studio hours.
Indoors, I added the balcony railings, corrected verticals, glazed pink in the sky, and punched up contrast overal in statue, arches of building, shadow areas and row of trees to create more depth. I love it that I could capture these special two months when the amusement towers above the beautiful Tuilleries.

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MONET'S HOUSE

This is Giverny, Normandy, France. Normally I am can draw fast and accurately especialy with a familiar subject . I bring my workshop groups here but this day was different.

It started out overcast and I am here mainly for my friend's benefit. Aftercarefully considering the weather and rest of our agenda, she decides it would be worth trying plein air again at Monet's house. Albeit later than planned, we enter the big doors in the tractor shed and sniff out an excellent spot. We then go all over the premises taking hundreds of photos, hoping the weather will turn to more favor.

After major photo session, and just upon setting up easels, we heard the sound of a cat (?) in the distance. It was to be an annoyance that drove us to distraction. I have never been there when anything like this happened. I thought at first it a TV or audio system playing loud and repetitive. As soon as we got set up almost we heard this cat. Let me say, if it was a singer it would have been more Rod Stewart than Maria Callas. What a sound coming out of an animal. Was it hurt, looking for love, even dying or what? During the complete painting window, this poor animal was letting out a sound that could not possibly be described as a meow. We felt sorry for it, especially when it made its appearance-not only a cat but a (black!) cat. The sound was there all day long, like a broken record, in the near distance and sometimes close to us. If you are an animal lover it is impossible to keep your mind on painting. Needless to say I have a lot more in-studio touches to add to this one. The good news is that my friend did not wipe her's off this time and turned and became more determined to venture into plein air when she returned.

Also on Mondays when artists are allowed to paint, the facilities are closed to the public. On this day the guardians who live in Monet's House, had a photographer VIP as guest. All of the windows and door shutters (normally closed) were opened for her shoot and we were able to obtain great shots as well for our archives and reference materials once back in our studios.

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VILLERS LA VILLE , BELGIUM

This ruined abbey is a well kept secret, ensconced in a forest about half hour from Brussels center. It is a ruin of the largest cistern abbey that existed in Europe in its time. It is amazing--again one of these places has so many painting trajects, it will give you Stendahl Syndrome just choosing. I set up on second level opening to a courtyard beneath with a lot of botanical growth typical to the whole ruin.. .One can always depend on solitude upon entering this history- drenched alcove of Belgium. Worth a google if not able to visit there in person. I am a lucky artist, but it is great place to practice zooming in and simplifying a composition. There's a lot of information for paintings.

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Plein Air Checklists

HOW TO USE THE CHECKLIST : Don't pack all that is on the list, it's meant to promt ideas and serve as template for possibilities to scavenge for things you may find at home. iF you are attending a workshop the organizer usually sends exact list of what is needed, per medium..

The list includes clothing , supplies by medium, and excessive but comfortable, 'spoiled brat' items that add bulk to load. But if you like High Tea with friends you can plan ahead for a special paint out.

See 'feathered nest' for things like iPods. They're nice for faking out the well meaning bystander who chat minimizes painting time when its crucial to capure the light at just the moment great shadows or person appears to add punch to your composistion. Use the lists as a template to select items to pack/buy/or organize on location as deemed appropropriate.. Have fun Good Luck!

Plein Air Discovery

Challenge & Discovery

I put my plein air kit together, watched numerous dvd's of the big guys, purchased the rolls royce of easels and its accompanying backpack in preparation for an artist friend to come over for a plein air excursion in Europe. The trip included places in Belgium and France and The Netherlands and maybe a quick jaunt to Italy. The goal was to have a plein air painting to represent each day my friend was here and to post finished works on this blog... Life takes funny turns sometimes.

My artist friend discovered after her first 'wipe away', that plein air was not preferable over her indoor studio. (I am still hopeful for a conversion but it did not happen on this trip). Europe has complicated textures that invite tedious brush strokes and longer producution time than the setting sun allows. Vision is good but fast vision and ability to slap it define one's capabilty int th e great outdoors. My friend, from the point she decided the outdoor work did not match the merit of her indoor work and emphatically revoved any evidence she had succumbed to anything not lookign classically real on her canvas, turned to her passionate interest of photography. In light of our 'discovery' it was hard to set up too many times without guilt. After all it was her first trip abroad and we were excited to see panaramas either with cameras or brushes.

I ended up with seven 'starts' in the month. My husband labeled them 'childish-looking' compared to my 'other work'... considering the speed I worked, in an effort to dimish my guilt and selfish activity, I only gave him one left hook. When these works 'mature' out of their ugly duckling phase, it could be amusing to post the starts as well as the finished works. This cannot be done today. The 'afters' are not done'and none are photographed. So hang in there. Visit again and see for yourself if the left hook was justifiable or I must eat humble pie. It's the journey that counts, and posting such comparison are today a side road.

Back to our trip It contained many experiences that I am certain will be relived in paintings yet to come. We met the modern-dayDutch Rembrandt in his studio and talked with him at length after viewing his 40-yar retrospective in his museum. We did popular things too like Monet's Garden and surroundings and Richard the Lionhearted's castle. We lingered to snap other landscapes, waterscenes, sunsets before heading into Paris.

There, while set up for a street scene, I was spotted by a group of plein air artists meeting nearby before heading for their barge trip in France. I was painting the Joan of Arc statue near the Louvre, which had this gigantic Ferris wheel for a backdrop and wonderful frame for the main story. (The fair comes only once a year, and I found this a pretty lucky view). Another pleasant surprise occured there. When I started the painting it was foggy and it was only later the Eiffel Tower gradually appeared out of he misty background into a day full of sunshine Yes!

I think this has a lot of commercial appeal based on my own -want-to-keep-it feeling. There are a lot more famous sites in Paris than this little corner, so I may get to enjoy it for a while before it has a buyer which will be okay.
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Still Life Series - Antiques I

Green Apples

This is the first of a series of still life paintings that include antique objects. I am drawn toward real antique items, over 250 years old, let's say. I find them in travels in Europe: crockery, pewter, faience, tools -- things that have simple shapes and wonderful patinized surfaces -- the older the better. DnD is a web-based company, my husband and I started to mainly supply dealers in the US. A lot of still life artists buy either directly from our website or from the weekly postings on Ebay, they happen into with a boelean (keyword)search that matches the object. I aspire to own something with a surface so old that its patina is actually turquoise, or a delicate soft green Roman glass. I'll have to sell a few more paintings before these can be added to my stash. It make the evolution of one's work interesting and does not have to happen all at once.

Still Life Series

Chestnut

This is part of a series of still life paintings, depicting objects from the art and antiques collection of Dutch 'n' Duchess Art and Antiques. This is a husband and wife team who provides antiques mainly to dealers in the US with onlineselections. A lot of European artists buy objects from them for still life paintings.

A water or wine vessel of French origin with a chestnut is featured in this work. Paintings are for sale and available for pick up or shipping from Belgium or North Carolina, USA. Framed or unframed. To see more of the collection, learn more about Dutch 'n' Duchess, visit their website. To inquire about any items, just email.
Email: duchess@dutchnduchess..com or visit the Web for more views and connect with the contact us button. www.dutchnduchess.com .

The challenge on this ? First tracking the marvelous first at the markets and second, getting it painted before the husband posts it on the internet .

Still Life Series

Painting without Numbers

While working on a still life in Florence by natural light, I started to lose the enthusiasm that had shimmered over me upon arrival and my first museum jaunts, in the city. My eyes welled and hairs on my arm had stood on end when I first saw some of the marvelous works of art, created where the age of reasoning started. I was so inspired that within a short time, a small still life near a window in my room with a view of the Tuscan hills and Florence rooftops of a 5th floor walk up, began to take shape.

As with any good artist, even those at the artist charm schools , who wired with the needed bells and tooters , show their every stroke on the big screen to a packed audience, admit to the profession's hazard-or what I call the ugly duckling syndrome. Ironically, in a profession that demands acute vision and sensitivity, in the fine art production process , at a particular point the artist loses both and begins to wonder why and spirals into thoughts like why s/he stays in this loner solitary work life, what made us start said painting in the first place, and then because we are so used to this--we just work through it from the come-out-fighting corner, and revisit the other end of the spectrum, allowing our creative spirit to hallucinate to the point we pass the home stretch and maybe even envision our work reaching a place of honor in a museum. It is part of the process almost with every painting for we have no predictable alphabet or note like other artist can depend upon. We commit gracefully and come back for more, for a lifetime of reward for our mental and other sweat.

Predictably, it was my turn to bounce the ugly duckling...Let's question the prowess and movee on, here I go again with 'the process' -- Was the composition too contrived? Was the working? Was there a GM, (golden mean) or natural spiral , Fibonacci sequence ? Oh can artists comtemplate things. Were the chosen objects too mundane? On and one I hammered into my confidence until I built the wall. This is third phase, danger zone, the artist has to pass through--like Dorothy at the Wizard's door, we are too far to turn back but still frustrated. No matter how I contorted my head, I dinged it with every dong coming out of the distant carillon. My circadian rhythm was shutting all systems down, and just like the setting sun, calling it a day.

Then it happened! A little spark of light slowly beamed a narrow chard across the surface between two of the objects like a strip of combustion out the back of a race car. I scrambled to mix the chroma needed--the one with the dimmer switch turned up as high a possible and no medium added -- but irritatingly the sun did not wait. Okay, don't be a slave, just wing it and put it in...no wipe off, do again, looks...ok...looks better, oops too much and on it went until the darkeness lead my nose 4 inches from canvas in darkness. I had to see this event again to get it.

The next day it rained, but on the third day, the Tuscan sun was again in full force. I made sure nothing and nobody kept me from the hundred steps up to my hot rod window--where I would be on my mark, ready and set with fresh pigment, anticipating a few short seconds that would make my painting cross the finish and excite the crowd. Yes! Perfect timing. Made it --the bravura flick, that would ignite the emotion of its viewer.

Just as in a portrait, one wants to find the color or a personal characteristic, event --the nuance that might go unnoticed if not for the constant search to find it. In a painting, likeness is good, but not everything. Technical bravura is not enough. A painting must stand on its own first as a beautiful work of art! Does the modern admirer know what Mona Lisa really looked like exactly? Why do we stand for hours to get a glimpse of it? For the sfumato background ? the mysterious smile ? To fantasize if Leonardo really did use himself as a model the 15 years he carried it from place to place? We don't know -- but somehow this work timelessly speaks to the human element--the one that gets us to read book, go to movies, write or relate our experiences to others through the visual. Apologies for the glare on the photo, good news/bad news--it sold before I could re-take the archive, but this gives an idea. The teacher at FAA said I should leave out the reflection in the foreground. What do you think?

--Teresa Beth Hough, Belgium-based artist, paints any subjects and works in four media. She is featured in Expat Entrepreneur and Shaw Guides for her wokshops in France for advanced and commercially-minded artists. Inquire about them via duchess@dutchnduchess.com / www.dutchnduchess.com