PleinAir Magazine – August 2019

12 August-September 2019 / http://www.outdoorpainter.com

SIX DEGR EES

OF PLEIN AIR

editor’s note

P

leinAirMagazinepublisherEric

Rhoadstalksa lotaboutthepleinair

community,andthepartthateachof

usplays,inhisbi-monthlyPublisher’s

Letters.Forme,thisissueis a celebration

ofthatreality.Buttherearelotsofwaysto

definecommunity,and,as thestoriesthat

followillustrate,thereachofa committedand

passionategroupcanextendfarbeyonditsown

members.

A dramaticexampleofthatinfluencecan

befoundin“EnTrainAir,”theaccountof

sixwell-knownpleinairpainterswhorodea

long-distancetrainona routethat’sindanger

ofdisappearing.Indoingso,theycalledatten-

tiontothesmalltownsalongthewaythatwill

suffermostif thathappens.Notonlywillthe

worktheycreatedonthetripdocumentthese

communitiesincrisisat a pivotalmoment,the

groupis developinga blueprintthatotherart-

istscanfollow.Thus,thepeopleinthosecom-

munitieswillbeexposedtopleinairpainting

ina waytheywouldn’thavebeenbefore,and

thepleinairpainterswhovisittheirtownswill

begivingbackintouristdollarsandattention

foralltheinspirationtheyreceive.

Ona smallerscale,butas powerfully

revealed,SuzieBakerhadanexperiencethat

closedthegapbetweenthepleinaircommu-

nityat theOlmstedPleinAirInvitationaland

thebroadercommunityofAtlanta—specifi-

callythemembersofthehistoricEbenezer

BaptistChurchandthoseinvolvedwiththe

civilrightsmovementinthearea.I won’tspoil

thestory(forthat,you’llneedtoturnto“Post-

cardsFromtheRoad”onthebackpage),but

sufficeit tosaytheimpacttheencounterhad

onallinvolvedwasextraordinary.

Thesekindsofmeaningfulexperiences

aren’tlimitedtotheartistswhomakethe

paintings,however;theyextendtothoseofus

whocollectandadmirethepiecesas well.For

“Collector Profiles: Passion for Plein Air,” I

talkedtofourcouplesaboutwhatsparkedtheir

interestincollectingpleinairpaintingsand

whatdrivesthemtoselectcertainpieces.Inall

cases,a connectiontotheartists,thesubject

matter,andthecommunitiesthatthriveonthe

exchangecametothefore.

Artists,collectors,andothersactiveinthe

pleinaircommunityaffectoneanotherand

thoseoutsideofthisuniqueenvironmentin

waysbothbigandsmalleveryday—often

withoutevenknowingit.WhenI wassharing

detailsaboutthestoriesI wantedtotellin

thisissueofthemagazinewithourmarket-

ingteam,RichardLindenberg,nationalsales

manageranda respectedpainterinhisown

right,revealedthatcoverartistKimLordier

is thereasonhestartedpainting.Sheinspired

himmanyyearsagowhenhesawherworkat

anevent.

Everytimeyoupickupa brushora

pastelstick,buya painting,volunteerat an

event,orbringattentiontoa worthysubjectin

yourwork,youhavetheopportunitytoeffect

changeorinspireotherswithyourefforts.No

matterhowbigorsmalltheactortheinten-

tion,youcanhelpspreadthewordaboutthe

artformthatdrivesusall,creatingeverfewer

degreesofseparationbetweenthe people you

meetandpleinairpainting.

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KELLYKANE

Editor-in-Chief

[email protected]

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