Painting with a big brush and lots of paint

Today  one of my sisters stopped by my studio for a visit.  After looking at several new paintings she asked, " whats the deal with the paintings labeled plein air on your web page and in galleries".  She said she liked them but wondered what the significance was.  I told her that plein air was a French term coined to distinguish those paintigns done in the open air or outdoors.

Her innocent question caused me to ponder.  I thought about the fact that plein air has become quite a thing in the art world even since 1998 when I first heard the term.  Hundreds of contests and events across the country are evidence of the popularity of this method of completing work.  In the most recent issue of Plein Air magazine one author tackles the definition of plein air. He offers several perspectives and derives his own menaings.  I often find artists have strong opinions about what is and is not plein air painting.  Some say the painting must be compeltely created in the outdoors in order to earn the right to be called a plein air piece.  Others state the majority must be completed in the field; however, a moderate amount of "touching up" in the studio is allowed.  A recent event I attended allowed artists to complete work indoors as long as it was created alla prima, or all at one setting. Despite this distinction the event was advertised as a plein air event.

No doubt I have witnessed many artists competing in plein air events who don't bother doing any actual painting outdoors.  Rather, they take a photo and retreat to a stuido to complete the work.  Many of these artist cite the bravado of the brushstrokes and the directness of the surface as criteria for work created en plein air.

My humble and transparent offereing to this debate is that plein air is a term derived historically to identify a school of painting, and as a term has little to no direct bearing on the current popularity of small works created during a set period of time, displayed, and sold at an event advertised as a plein air event.  If an artists chooses to label his/her work as plein air it would seem that the work should be created in the outdoors as the name implies; however, with all the hype and popularity some will choose to capitalize on the craze without the trouble of working outdoors in nauture along with her minions (ants, flies, bugs of all sorts, intense sun, shocking cold, wind, and armies of onlookers).

My own angle is to most often refer to my work as paintings. Some are created in the outdoors completely down to the corpse of the last bug to fly into the sky- this seems to be a favorite landing zone for the bug hell bent on death by wet paint. Occasionally, I start a painting outdoors and then finsih inside. I even admit to paintng in my studio.  My studio work is easliy identified by the size and the fact that it is unlikely I could get a bison, grizzly, or Crow warrior to hold still long enough outdoors to finsh the painting all at once in the great outdoors.  If I create a painting out in nature's temple and if I only bring it inside to dry and knock the bugs off of it- then I jump on the wagon and call it plein air.

 If nothing else it tends to be a conversation starter as people struggle to pronounce the funny little words under one of my recent efforts. Perhaps it would help if I spelled it "plain air"?

J.R.

"...now that there is a whole magazine devoted to what I love doing I might as well find something else-cause its ruined."

Paco Young, Montana artist, friend, mentor, and "plein air" artist