Extreme Plein Air

en Plein Air (official trailer) from Wildman Pictures on Vimeo.

"I had to re-think what I thought about landscape painting as a trivial pursuit. It's not trivial. The land, how we live on the land, how we relate to the land...it defines us." says Kally Thurman of Outskirts Gallery in Hope, Idaho, in this film entitled Extreme Plein Air. 

 The entire 20-minute film can be seen here on Vimeo. It features artists Jaren Shear and Aaron Cordell Johnson. It also features close-ups of *real mountain goats* ;-)

This is your brain on plein air painting...

Earlier this week I had some errands to run in Denver, about 100 miles away. As I was driving home in stop-and-go traffic, feeling an impractical combination of tired and anxious at the same time, I happened to notice the sun coming through the clouds and landing in a bright patch on the foothills, which were green from the recent rains. 

I felt my brain relax and expand, and I took a breath. Ahhh, that's the bonus for a plein air painter...awareness beyond the ordinary. And you don't have to look far. There's usually something visually remarkable within reach. 

I came across this blog by a runner who is also a photographer, illustrating his various trails...including climbing the Flatirons in Boulder.