"En plein air" means out in location, in the open air. Plein Air artists are actually in front of what they are painting, working quickly to try to capture the natural light before it changes. We look like the homeless with equipment! We brave sun, wind, bugs and traffic. We hike in, carrying our stuff, to find the perfect natural composition. We try to preserve the scenes of nature and life in that moment, before it's gone.

We generally have 2-3 hours to create a painting before the shadows & colors change and are too different to continue. That's why we learn and practice to paint fast and only pay attention to certain details. Our paintings are best viewed in person, standing back. Up close they look like emotional blobs of paint. Quite often we may need to finish a painting in the studio, remembering what we saw and wanted to capture. Photos taken on sight often help, but not always. Studio paintings usually look good up close, since there is more detail and time to render it. Although studio paintings often lack the atmosphere, color and emotion that is caught "en plein air".