PLEIN-AIR.

PLEIN-AIR. This article by Daniel Grant in last weekend’s Wall Street Journal says that painting outdoors came into its own in the nineteenth century. Technology helped—the century saw portable easels and convenient tubes of paint. I took a particular interest in the article because the Rowayton Art Center sponsored a plein-air event about a month ago and Annalisa and I took part. Two days were set aside for the painting to be done, with an exhibit on the evening of the second day. It rained for most of the two days and we wound up working fast for the last two hours, with trees providing some protection against a drizzle. The Journal article describes how outdoor artists cope with animals, wind, rain and blown sand (wait til the sand dries and it will fall off). It turns out that for many artists, the biggest problem of painting outdoors is the kibitzer. The article mentions an artist who carries a pistol and leaves it out on the easel where passersby can see it. And Jamie Wyatt, of the illustrious Wyatt family of painters, kneels inside a four-foot high, seven-foot long, three-sided wooden bait box when he paints to discourage onlookers.