Inspiration, The Love Affair of a Plein Air Artist

This is the painting I should have painted at the Leighton Art Centre's Plein air paint out. But I chickened out. I made excuses-- I didn't have the right format, it was too foggy that day, my acrylics were handling like oils in the mist, I had just hauled all my supplies up to my truck, I was tired from teaching a Plein Air class the night before...... So I took photo references instead and painted some really bad paintings instead.

But the image haunted me. I've painted Plein Air since I was 14 and I am almost 60 now. You know the challenges of Plein air, but I am often pulled out of my studio. With landscape as my muse, it seems like going back to school. I can look and react to the place where I am painting. This image captured the feeling I have about painting on location.

I choose this odd ratio to emphasize the relationship between the artist and the environment. I liked the romance and timelessness of the figure. It connects us to the past history of painting Plein Air, but speaks to the continuation of this practice.