EN PLEIN AIR

Second Annual Show

The Ptarmigan Arts Back Room Gallery (BRG) is excited about the second annual En Plein Air show.  This new BRG exhibit for October features paintings from this summer’s locations around Homer and the Anchor and Nikiski Rivers.

Contributors for this show are Cindy Nelson, Karen Jackman, Dianne Spence-Chorman, Kathi Drew, Annie Olsen, and Michael Murray.

For those not familiar with the title, En Plein Air (French for outdoors) is the act of painting outdoors.  This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look.  Plein Air also denotes a 19th-century style of painting outdoors, or with a strong sense of the open air, that became a central feature of French impressionism.

Plein Air painting embraces the challenge of being outdoors with an opportunity to capture the constantly shifting light and environmental fluctuations.  Speed then becomes imperative, which adds to the challenge of painting the essence of a place that relays more than just a visual message.  

The smoke and unusually warm weather this summer provided new templates from which the artists were compelled to paint familiar places in different ways because of the shifts in shadows and hue.

The opening reception is on First Friday October 4^th from 5-7 p.m.  Refreshments will be served and all are welcome to join the celebration of our second annual En Plein Air show.  Not to be missed!