100 Plein Air Painters Of The Mid Atlantic PDF Download

Welcome and Thank you: Gloucester's Inaugural Festival of the Arts is excited to bring you the first catalogue of The Heart of the River Collection. This group of over 100 paintings by 21 comtemporary plein air artists, captures the beauty of our life along the rivers, fields and communities in Virginia. Plein air painting gained favor with the French Impressionists. They took their canvases out of the studio to paint outside (en plein air) in order to capture the effects of transient light. They sought to create an art of movement, candid poses and composition, emphasizing the natural light and the viewer's quick study. Not fussy or belabored, plein air painting is increasingly appreciated by today collectors and painters, with the number of plein air festivals increasing across the United States. Featuring the landscapes of Gloucester County, this collection was painted in a little under a week in May 2017. All the artists invited to participate in this inaugural festival had the honor of being included in Gary Pendleton's book 100 Plein Air Painters of the Mid-Atlantic. We are very pleased to bring you the fruits of their amazing work in the following pages. Awestruck was the word foremost in my mind when I first walked into its Arts on Main Gallery to see the collection hung together. What talent! What wonderful paintings! What a phenomenal body of work enhanced by being displayed together, the white brick walls providinga perfect backdrop to the splendidly colorful and fresh works. Each painting capturing the magic of our envisions in a unique way, personal to the artist, yet with an appeal to the viewing audience that was both individual and universal. These artists have conjured up the mystic enchantment of nature and transferred to canvas where we can eternally savor the delicate morning light or myterious dusk looking at the boats on the river, horses in the field, red star chickens, or the serenity of the saltmarsh. Place we all inherently recognize and with which we feel a connection, vistas that revive our senses, both grounding and uplifting us, making our hearts soar with the joy of seeing what we love, and we breathe in deeply. The artists' fresh eye gently and unpretentiously reminds us to look up from our technological devices and take nourishment from the beautiful world in which we are so fortunate to live. We hope you will enjoy this catalogue which is the result of many people combined hard work, the artists, the committee members, our hosts and volunteers, that made this event a reality. My thanks to all and to you, honored viewer of this inaugural collection. Adrianne Ryder-Cook Joseph, President Cook Foundation.