Day Five - 2009 Gettysburg Fringe Festival Plein Air Paint Out

Day Three and Four of the paint out were only attended by a couple of the artists (bad weather and Sunday being Fathers Day didn't help), and there weren't any pictures. This entry will start with today, Day Five - and what a day it was! Still some cloud cover, but beautiful patches of blue in between. Mary Beth and I were talking and agreed that plein air painting just doesn't suit everyone. I really liked her comment "to be a Plein Air painter, you have to be tough! It is not for everyone. We work through various weather conditions, bugs, rodents, reptiles, tourists, bad maps and directions. The positives so outweigh the negatives for us. There is nothing like seeing the colors, textures and feeling the mood of the landscape when painting directly from nature. Once seasoned as a plein air painter, painting from a photo is never the same".


Today's paintings were done of the Trostle Farm, the Codori Farm and the Weikert Farm. Thanks to those who sent me some additonal photographs to add to this blog!

My painting today is of the back view of the Codori Farm - which happens to be one of my favorite barns on the battlefield. The sky was ever-changing, and so much fun to paint.



A picture of me at work - you can see the Codori farm in the distance. I really enjoyed hearing and seeing the red-winged blackbirds in the fields while I was painting.




The co-ordinators of this plein air event, Mary Beth Brath and Peter Plant. Everyone was really enjoying the beautiful weather.



Dorothea Barrick worked from the back of her car while she was painting the Trostle Farm.




Here's one of Dianne Lorden doing a pastel painting of the Trostle Barn



Rebecca Jackson is painting the Trostle Barn as Sharon looks on.



Glenn Souders painted the Trostle Farm from a different angle.



Susan Remmers, Mary Beth Brath and John Hagerhorst work out where they will be painting today.



Lyn O'Neal and Deborah Richardson painted at the Weikert Farm. Here is a photograph of Deborah getting started.




They have all kinds of tours on the battlefield, including tours where you can ride the trails on horseback, and each person is provided with a headset so that they can hear the tour guide. Even the horses seemed to enjoy seeing the artists at work!