- Hi, I'm Kate Perdoni.
- And I'm Michael Gadlin.
- Welcome back to Arts District on Rocky Mountain PBS.
The reputation of the American West
as a prime locale for landscape painters exploded
in the 20th century.
- Following in the footsteps of Monet and van Gogh,
Sargent and Homer,
Western artists who paint outside, or en plein air,
have pursued their vision along the California coast,
down to Death Valley and across the Rocky Mountains.
- Arts District producer, Dan Garrison,
ventured into Colorado Canyon country
during a recent plein air event
where there seemed to be no ceiling for scenery.
- [Dan] After ages and ages
of being confined to the studio,
the plein air revolution set artists free
with their portable easels and tubes of paint
to bring to life, in natural color and light,
the gardens of Giverny, the Arlesienne countryside,
the Hudson River Valley and now,
the massive canvas of the Colorado National Monument
during it's newly created Plein Air Invitational,
where many artists, like Maggie Cook and Charles Morris,
work happily and quickly out in the open
with pastels and oils.
- Being outside is an emotional thing for me.
As far as the scenery goes, it grabs my heart.
I really enjoy the experience of being outside
more than being in the studio.
- The Impressionists is really the ones that kicked it off
and it became a big thing.
They were painting fast,
getting the impression of a subject.
The longer you paint, you start chasing the light
because the light is moving, shadows are moving
but that is actually what makes plein air valuable,
that you paint quickly.
(bright piano music)
Some people are better at it than others.
- When I'm doing a plein air,
I want an impression of the place
and if I feel there's movement in it,
then I want to depict that somehow.
I'm not necessarily successful.
In fact, very often I'm not.
Maybe this time.
Maybe I'll have an epiphany.
(laughing)
That's what I'm hoping for.
- [Dan] Because it's already been a miraculous
landscape for Maggie,
ever since she first traveled to western Colorado
with her husband and was truly moved by the monument
in many ways.
- We drove to the monument and I freaked out.
I was thrilled with this desert landscape
that I wasn't very familiar with.
That was one of my deciding factors
about moving to Colorado.
- [Dan] And the monument is so close
to where Charles lives, it's like a backyard park
with it's own home field advantage
when the painting gets competitive.
- I'm very familiar with this area.
I've painted up there for years.
We're all gonna be pretty much painting in the same areas.
But I do know,
(laughing)
I do know some of the better spots.
So that, sure, it's a good advantage
and I need every advantage I can get.
This year is considered an invitational,
A juried type of event to encourage the more well-known
plein air painters to come in and paint.
They're bringing in some pretty tough competition this year.
There's gonna be good art.
- [Dan] Good art that was made even more spectacular
by a series of weather effects
which were both challenging and rewarding
for the well-prepared plein air painter.
- [Charles] One of the values of plein air painting
is that you're out there experiencing things at the moment,
you're feeling the heat or the cold.
That gets into the painting.
- [Dan] Or onto the painting
when conditions put the durability
of the pigments to the test.
- [Charles] Probably the most popular medium
is oil painting.
A lot of people do acrylics now.
Both of those work very well in outdoor conditions.
I occasionally work in watercolor.
There are some situations that, obviously,
would not work, like in the rain
but I have painted in the rain with oil.
- Oh!
Rain.
Got water on it.
- [Dan] But Maggie has been mastering the art
of plein air pastels ever since she got her first box
as a gift from her husband
and it gave her a moment of sensory ecstasy.
- I looked at them and the colors were just gorgeous.
I really wanted to eat them because they looked delectable.
They looked like candy.
- [Dan] It was her hunger for color
that began a feast of speed painting that's perfect
for keeping up with the rapidly changing conditions
of the plein air.
- [Maggie] Very, very quickly,
I scribbled all over the pastel paper,
I wasn't timid at all,
and out came this wonderful picture.
I was really thrilled with it.
- [Dan] Any artist who has a taste
for something in red will be pleased to find it predominant
in the monument palette which is also reflective
of all the other rainbow shades botany and geology
have to offer.
- [Charles] That's the color of the monument.
I mean, there's obviously the complementary color
of the greens, the muted greens of the cedars
and sage and all of that, which, coincidentally,
is a pretty good contrast,
the complementary of red and green.
- Different shades of browns and different shades of reds
and purples, you definitely need purples
when you're painting rocks because of the shadows.
I'd want yellows, I'd want blues, I want everything.
(laughing)
- [Dan] Although in painting, as in life,
any of the Grand Canyon land views
will always leave artists wanting more,
even when they've planned to be surprised
by whatever might appear out of the plein air
of the monument.
- You go and catch the moment,
you don't always paint what you think you set out to paint.
Sometimes, you don't expect something
that is just mind-blowing that you didn't think
was gonna be there.
You change plans as you go.
- It's big view, you can't paint the whole thing.
You'd need a canvas a mile wide. (laughs)
(music fades)
- Plein air artists will be back on the western slope
from September 30th through October 6th.
- Ooh, once colorado starts showing
her beautiful fall colors.
- You bet!
if you're interested in participating or learning more,
you can check out this website.