Several years ago I heard about the Vistas and Vineyards Plein Air Painting Group from Mike Bergen (one of the first artists I met here in Corvallis, Oregon, and one of the fastest and most efficient Plein air painters I know - capturing line, light, and whimsy with such incredible ease.) I have since learned that Vistas and Vineyards is “the oldest continuous Plein air painting group in the state of Oregon”1, and has been around for an impressive 33 years.
This week I also learned that they are a lovely group of people - welcoming, kind, eager to learn, weather hardy, and even well organized!
I’ve embraced plein air painting off and on over the years. This method of painting, popularized by the Impressionist movement and literally translated as being created “in the open air”, is painted on-site and typically has a natural landscape subject matter in a soft light-infused painterly style - which all fits neatly within my own personal painting style. As such, I finally decided to join Vistas and Vineyards a couple of years ago. However, even though I have since continued to contribute the annual membership fee (always hopeful I would participate), I hadn’t yet made it to any of the sessions. The first summer, my father had just passed away and it felt like too much to add this activity to my list. The second summer, covid hit. Last summer - I had every intention of joining, but never seemed to make the actual effort.
This year, however, their first session happened to occur a short walk from my home, and I couldn’t resist finally stepping out of my studio to paint in community with the group. It was an educational morning (thanks to the seasoned professional insights of local art instructor, Mark Allison2), followed by a productive painting session and a very friendly (and optional) group critique.
Admittedly I’m a bit out of practice painting outdoors in oil. Thankfully, I did manage to paint a couple of Plein air oil paintings in my backyard last summer which give me a little better footing to start out this year. It was also lovely to be reminded of good painting practices by Mark before I started too - such as creating a thumbnail drawing, focusing on negative shapes, varying shape sizes, and creating points of interest. In the end, however, I forgot all these wise words and just started throwing paint on canvas. Fortunately, I have years of experience to guide me. Nevertheless, as I struggled along the way, I noted how much aggravation I could have saved myself if I hadn’t just jumped in and actually followed his instruction. Next time!
I thoroughly enjoyed my short time with this group. As we started to gather, I was surprised I only recognized a couple of faces from my art exploits around town and yet was impressed by the number of people (I’m guessing 20 or so?) circled up to receive our instructions on the rather damp and cold Oregon morning. While I stood off to the side, not knowing quite how the day would proceed, several participants made an effort to introduce themselves and exchange niceties, making me feel exceptionally welcome as a newcomer. I discovered the group includes a wide range of skills (from novice to seasoned professional) and a variety of mediums. (I saw people using pastels, colored pencil, watercolor, acrylic, gouache, oil, and charcoal). And while I only met about a third of the membership, I look forward to meeting more people in the group and getting to know everyone a little better over the coming weeks. And there will be plenty of opportunities! The group meets for approximately 20 plein air sessions at different locations from now until Fall.
Attending the painting session was also a nice reminder to not be discouraged just because something didn’t happen in the past.
Every day is a new day worthy of trying again.
So - as I sit in my studio next to a freshly painted Plein air oil landscape (still drying), looking over the list of meetups and marking my calendar, I pause for a moment here with you to celebrate finally trying new things!
Cheers!
~ Jennifer
Notes:
“A Secret Path” will be available the week of May 23 in my Studio Store. To receive announcements on new paintings added to the store, make sure to sign up for my studio Newsletter, “A Painter’s Passage”. Prints will be available soon (when the painting dries) at Jennifer-Lommers.Pixels.com
Source: https://vistasandvineyards.wordpress.com/
Link to Mark Allison’s website corrected 5/22/22