Plein Eire West
A group of artists who regularly paint together en plein air in the West of Ireland
Group challenges
Being very much a self-taught artist - and also being a bit of a rebel rather than a conformist - goes against me a bit in the confidence stakes when painting with a group. Everyone else seems so content to set up and paint while I cannot settle to a scene, and skulk around trying to capture the essence of an animate subject somewhere - usually in abstract form. A bit of me wishes I could paint stunning, conventional landscapes (and maybe I can if chained to one spot for a length of time??) but more of me has the wild animal prowl, hunting for the challenge, propelling me. However, I always end up feeling inadequate and vulnerable with the experiments I have produced on that day.
So, my questions are:
Do any of you use group painting days to experiment with new techniques and ways of looking at things?
Do you like to stay with the comfort of knowing you're going to produce a saleable painting that day, using tried and tested techniques? And is this the best thing to do on group days?
Do you ever get the feeling you'd like to experiment a bit but maybe only when you're on your own?
Do you have any advice for a skulking prowler forever hunting for "that edge" (probably better described as: an exciting contemporary painting which will cause viewers to look at least twice, if not more, at the final piece) .... while dreaming of being a landscape painter?
I'd dearly love to have more time to devote to painting and developing new techniques, but in the meantime, all advice is welcome.
So, my questions are:
Do any of you use group painting days to experiment with new techniques and ways of looking at things?
Do you like to stay with the comfort of knowing you're going to produce a saleable painting that day, using tried and tested techniques? And is this the best thing to do on group days?
Do you ever get the feeling you'd like to experiment a bit but maybe only when you're on your own?
Do you have any advice for a skulking prowler forever hunting for "that edge" (probably better described as: an exciting contemporary painting which will cause viewers to look at least twice, if not more, at the final piece) .... while dreaming of being a landscape painter?
I'd dearly love to have more time to devote to painting and developing new techniques, but in the meantime, all advice is welcome.
Lynda Cookson
Hi Mary
I would most definitely still be joining the Plein Eire group if I hadn't opened my own gallery in Moycullen (The Painter's Palette) ... and because we have a coffee shop in the gallery, it opens on a Sunday! I have though almost got it to the stage where I can take more time off, so may yet be coming back for a few more plein eire sessions - and I hope we get to meet there. I do find it limiting in subject matter to always be working with indoor subjects. Although who could grouse about the most gorgeous bowl of perfumed lilies and lily buds I put in a huge vase on my desk here at the Radisson this morning. I'm only exhibiting here until Sunday and am willing these flowers to open and be at their best before Saturday so I can capture them on canvas and get the wet painting home again before packing up on Sunday. I just wish I could capture the perfume as well! Lynda
Jul 21, 2011
Norah Blount
I am afraid I see the paint-outs not as a challenge but a day away from the stresses of routine and time for "me", I sometimes try to do a "proper" painting, or depending on the mood I could decide to go off walking with camera and backpack with my watercolour sketch book and a few paints, On these occasions I never draw with a pencil, just mess about with colour and sometimes I prefer these to the more "technical" approach I tend to use when I set up the oils on an easel. Your gallery and coffee shop sounds good - maybe you could have a paint-out near it - but give us on the east coast etc some notice ! Your gallery of paintings here are vibrant and have your own style !
Apr 19, 2012
Lynda Cookson
Hi Noran. Oh definitely joining in tomorrow, for me, will be a time-out day as well! Yay! Packing the picnic for me and Mum and luckily the meet-up is just 14 kms around the corner from where I live in the Maam Valley so if the day is too much for Mum, I can nip home without hassle. :-) Jolly good idea about a paint-out near the gallery coffee shop ... just down the road in Moycullen is a stunning harbour area (well, two of them actually) where we can park off and paint at the edge of Lough Corrib - plus loads of other sites in between. We can then meet up at the gallery for either a coffee or a knickerbocker glory at a special Plein Eire price with an extra treat thrown in. And if it rains, we can sit and drink coffee and paint the knickerbocker glory (yum). Thanks for your kind words re my paintings. Hope to meet with you soon.
Apr 20, 2012