Moscow celebrates outdoor painters at annual Palouse Plein Air
Outdoor painting is harder than it looks — shadows, weather and changes to the subject or its environment all come into play in ways not seen in studio painting. That’s what makes “plein air” painting so challenging.
Once a year, the City of Moscow and the Moscow Arts Commission holds Palouse Plein Air, a competition to find the best open-air painters and to showcase their work. Painters are allowed to use any kind of surface or paint, but have to paint real, outdoor subjects without using any kind of photos or visual aid.
Andy Sewell, who won 1st place in last year’s contest with “Garden Studebaker,” a portrait of a rusted car in his home garden, said that sometimes the harder a painter tries, the harder it is to get a painting to work. He said his award-winning painting was a fun, loose piece that only took a couple of hours, but if a painter has to work around time constraints and fickle outdoor elements, it isn’t always easy to be so relaxed.
“I think a lot fewer people plein air paint than studio paint, because plein air is hard,” Sewell said. “I don’t do it all that much, but when I do I learn a ton — it’s very challenging, but also rewarding.”
For the contest, painters are given a 30-mile radius around the city to find subjects for their paintings, and eight days to work on their submissions. This year, contestants started painting on Sept. 10 and will each painter may submit up to three finished pieces for judging by Friday. Paintings will be put on display to the public at 5 p.m., Friday at the Third Street Gallery, at Moscow City Hall.
This year’s judge is Dana Aldis, a professional painter who holds a master’s degree from the New York Academy of Art.
Aldis, who has been a Plein Air contestant in previous years, said her background in various art styles, education and pervious work as an artist come together when she judges a piece — but she also considers the painter’s style and objective.
“It really is about, when you’re judging something, you really have to rely on your experience,” Aldis said. “I know how the technique is used, I know what the artist is doing when they’re doing this, and my job as the juror is to see how successful they are in creating a piece of art that is doing what they want it to do.”
There are several prizes to be won — $250 for 1st place, $150 for 2nd and $50 for 3rd. Special awards include honorable mentions, best historical painting and people’s choice. Some contest pieces will become part of a travelling show, and loaned to other galleries.
While prize money and the chance to be showcased is what motivates some painters to enter the contest, others do so simply for the love of plein air. There are a few reasons for Sewell, but one stands out — Sewell’s son, a freshman engineering student at the University of Idaho, has entered the contest.
“He’s been helping me with my art business since he was probably 6,” Sewell said. “I would feel like, if he won, and he beat me, I would be thrilled. That would be the goal, for my son to turn out better than me.”
Daniel Durand can be reached at [email protected]