Wednesday, February 11, 2015, Posted by Donna Walsh

Check out the following link to see the announcement to enlist poets to write about plein air paintings at the Cornell Museum. Can hardly wait to see the poems that are written. The PAPB exhibit its there until March 8th, 2015

Thursday, January 8, 2015 11:00 AM Posted by Donna Walsh

Plein Air Magazine has a story on the "En Plein Air" show at the Cornell Museum. Thanks to Violetta de la Serna and the Staff of Plein Air Mag and everyone involved in making this a wonderful exhibition.

Wednesday January 7, 2015 10 AAM by Donna Walsh

Plain Air Palm Beach Artists have an exhibit at th Boynton Beach Library that is part of the Kinetic Art Symposium

Saturday, January 3, 2015 10:30 AM Posted by Donna Walsh

Elfrida Schragen invites you to visit her exhibit at Spanish River Library

Friday, May 4, 2014 10:30 AM Posted by Pati Maguire

Nice little article on the Cultural Council exhibit, and a pix of one of Ralph's painting in the Palm a Beach Post today!

Saturday, April 19, 2014 10:30 AM Posted by Stan Dornfest

The Plein Air event was set for Thursday-but late Wed evening it was pouring out-I hate painting in the rain-especially with water soluble paints.

When I awakened the next morning, the sun was shining. I headed to the Arts Arena where Kathryn Carlyle was ready to register me.

There were already a few painters well underway in the process of painting in the beautiful courtyard adjacent to the gallery. I was tempted to join them but I already scouted some locations in Historic Bankers Row.

Steve was painting in the adjacent Park-the painting was awarded 3rd Place

Pati had already finished her 2nd Place painting of Pineapple Grove.

I figured that many painters would be painting at the beach-but only Lorrie was there-working on her painting that was awarded Jurers' recognition.

Ralph was up on Atlantic Ave near the railroad tracks painting a canvas that was awarded Best in Show.

Elkin Canas come to the festival from Miami and painted a breathtaking city scape that was awarded first prize.

I headed to historic Bankers Row (not far from Pati and Steve's Studio) and set up my easel across from a magnificent residence that had beautiful, colorful foliage intermingling with Spanish Stucco Architecture. I love the dynamic interaction with other painters when I am painting in a group. This was unusual-just me and my lonely easel & canvas on a sidewalk.

Once I stared painting I was transposed into a Zen like state and was oblivious to the isolation, in fact I just experienced the joy. People would pass by and comment-I enjoy the interaction-they were all invited to the gallery opening. A couple stopped by and told me that their daughter owned the residence that I was painting, I told them to come too the opening and see the painting and other Delray Paintings Friday evening. One woman asked me how I deal with the heat-I told her honestly that once I am in the process of painting-I don't even notice it.

I returned to the Gallery and some painters were still painting in the the courtyard.

I had a great day and thanked Kathryn for nagging me to join the event. The Painting received a Honorable Mention

Another joyful Plein Air Event-aren't we al lucky to have this in our lives!

Friday, April 18, 2014 10:30PM Posted by Donna Walsh

Mary Murray wrote about the exhibit Plein Air Palm Beach has at the Cultural Council. She says " The joys of this collection are bountiful. The exhibition is divided by locale, and it's a great challenge to try to guess the location by the images alone. I successfully identified downtown Lake Worth, Worth Avenue and the Society of the Four Arts, so three is the score to beat." See the whole article at EN PLEIN AIR

Monday, April 7, 2014 6:30PM Posted by Donna Walsh

The major exhibit of Plein Air Palm Beach, Art Outside the Walls: en Plein Air, will be on exhibit at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach from April 11th to June 7th 2014.  The opening reception for artists and members of the Cultural Council is April 10th from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.  

Plein Air Palm Beach, the group I cofounded with Ralph Papa is very pleased to have worked with Nichole Hickey, Manager of Artist Services at the Cultural Council, on this endeavor.  This project was a major undertaking for our newly founded group and involved artists painting at ten of our favorite plein air locations around Palm Beach County.  As to be expected, there were challenges, including a number of  days of bad weather, not what one expects in beautiful South Florida.  The solution was to have many make-up plaint-outs in order to have a good representation of the artists in our group as well as a good representation of the locations.   

 And it worked. 

 The body of work produced from these paint-outs was spectacular and it is going to be incredible seeing them all hanging together in the exhibit.  Myself, I have several pieces in the exhibit; that of happens when one organizes the paint-outs. 

Working on this exhibit has brought together two of my passions, painting and project management.  Not only did I get to be an individual participant, but I was able to organize and orchestrate the project.   As an individual participant, I am honored to be exhibited along with world class artists.  Being the project manager was gratifying, not only in seeing the exhibit take place but also receiving the appreciation and support from all the participating artists.  

 

Monday, February 17, 2014 7:27 PM Posted by Tom Ryan

In February, I was one of 31 plein air artists that participated in the 15th Annual Everglades Day at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach County, Florida. This was the first time plein air artists took part. The group is Plein Air Palm Beach. This is a large well-run event with over 4000 adults and children attending. There were many lectures all day long, live animal and bird talks, guided walks, live folk music entertainment, kid’s activities, etc. We painted all day in the Refuge in four designated “event” areas. One time, there were several 7-year old girl scouts gathered around my easel and me. They stood about as close as they could possibly get prompting one mother to question whether I had enough air to breath. The girls watched me paint and asked several questions. I showed them how I mixed greens, oranges, and purples. After 10 to 15 minutes, they were off to the next thing. One of the mothers said, “I maxed out their attention span”. At 3 PM, we gathered for a “meet and greet” the artists in the Administration Building. The day’s paintings were on display and judged. The paintings were to be finished, if necessary, framed, and returned to the Refuge for a month long exhibit. Most of the artists paint in oil or acrylic. Watercolorists are as rare as some of the endangered wild life species. It was a great event and I thoroughly enjoyed the day. I completed two paintings for the exhibit. In the first, I inserted a great white egret that wasn’t in the area I was painting. They do exist in the refuge and the inspiration came from an artificial one attached to a nearby swamp boat that was on display. I used a little artist license. The second painting featured an anhinga. The anhinga (wing span about 3 ½ feet) dives underwater searching for prey. However, the anhinga wings and feathers are not oily, and hence, become waterlogged. Therefore, they perch in the sun to dry out. This one perched for about an hour about 30-40 feet from where I was painting. I told a few spectators that I hired the anhinga to pose for me.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 7:27 PM Posted by Donna Walsh

It was a great day. Starting out very foggy, which cast a magical glow on the everglades, and later turned sunny and warm, it was a great day for plein air painting. Twenty-five of our artists showed up to paint, and while visitors for the day listened to talks at the pavilion, they could see the artists painting the beauty of the refuge. At the end of the day, we gathered in the visitor’s center theater for a meet and greet the artists.

It was great to see all the work produced that day all up on the artists’ easels during the gathering. While we were chatting with the visitors, the juror for the exhibit, Maxine Schreiber, circulated around and judged the works presented. When Steve and Maxine presented the awards, Maxine commented that she was impressed by the quality of the artwork. I have to agree, I am always humbled to have my artwork being displayed along with the truly great artists we have in Plein Air Palm Beach.

The Winners were:

First Place: Kerry Eriksen for “Gator” Oil on canvas(above)

Second Place: Lorrie Turner for “Foggy Morning” Pastel (right)

Third Place: Linda Apriletti for “Willows and Lifting Fog” Oil on Linen

HM: Stan Dornfest for “Joyful Loxahatchee” Acrylic on Canvas

HM: Sal Sidner for “At the Pavilion” Oil on Canvas board

HM: Elfirda Schragen for “Two Trees Trail at Loxahatchee” Oil on Canvas

There will be an exhibit of the paintings produced the day of Festival in the  visitors’ center of the Wildlife Refuge that will run from March 5, 2014 – April 30th, 2014. Be sure to visit the exhibit “Plein Air Palm Beach Paints Loxahatchee” and the take a look around the refuge that inspired the artwork, you won’t be sorry. Twenty-five percent of sales of any artwork will go to Friends of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, a very worthwhile organization.

If you have never painted outside, it can be a bit intimidating. But it is an enormous amount of fun when you go with a compatible group, and the Palm Beach Plein Air Artists are so much fun. Once people paint with us, they can’t wait to come back. We plan going to many places in Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade Counties and have a lot of fun.