Posted on Oct 08, 2009 - 01:20 PM

Plein Air Works Take Center Stage at PAINT! Conway 2009

By Christina Knauss

Art was created in the streets, alleys, byways and along the river walk of historic Conway for two days last month, as more than a dozen men and women from both Carolinas brought their brushes and easels out for PAINT! Conway 2009.

The event was organized by local artist Barbara Streeter, and was held in conjunction with the International Plein Air Painter's World Wide Paint Out. The Conway artists joined hundreds of other painters worldwide who spent these days creating their art outdoors. The organization has members in 41 of the 50 states, as well as 15 foreign countries, and is dedicated to promoting the activity of plein air painting.

Plein air painting comes from the French expression en plein air, which translates as "in the open air," and it refers to painting outdoors. Artists have always painted outdoors, but the movement especially took off in the mid- to late-19th century with the French impressionist movement. Painters such as Monet and Renoir needed the natural light available outdoors to create their distinctive impressionist masterpieces. During that era, advances in art supplies such as paints in tubes and smaller, collapsible easels made it easier for artists to start creating outdoors as well. Plein air painting has never lost its popularity.

During the Conway event, painters were invited to set up anywhere in downtown Conway and to create images of some of downtown's distinctive and historic landmarks. Black Water Market and Pop's Glass sponsored the event.

Marilyn Pounds has been painting for 12 years, and has enjoyed painting the Grand Strand's diverse scenery since moving to Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. from Philadelphia.

During the plein air event, she worked on paintings of the old Conway peanut factory and some of the other scenery near the river, including the historic Kingston Presbyterian Church.

"I love to paint outdoors because it's really the only way to catch the light," Pounds said. "When you do plein air, most of your works have to be small because the light changes so quickly."

On this Saturday morning, Pounds carefully bent over her easel to get the details of sunlight playing off the white surface of the church front. She had used a pink shade beneath the white to make sure the sunlight's dappled play on the church walls was captured accurately.

"The pink gives it just enough glow so the sunlight comes through," she said with a smile. Pounds was one of several members of the Waterway Art Association, based in Calabash, N.C., who came down for the event. Members said they'd been looking for a way to interact more frequently with Horry and Georgetown area painters, and the plein air event was a perfect way to meet up with their fellow coastal artists.

The artists were especially happy with the Conway farmer's market and live entertainment taking place along the riverwalk because it gave some of them a chance to add live figures to their work.

"This event is a pleasant surprise - there's a lot of subject matter to experiment with here," said Sharon Boling, another resident of Ocean Isle Beach who has been painting since the '60s and works mostly in acrylics. "I'm having a lot of fun out here."

Linda Johns of Aynor said she usually paints portraits of people and horses, and works in acrylics. "This is my first time painting outdoors with a group," she said, while working on an image of a bridge over the Waccamaw River. "This is my gift from God and I decided several years ago to use it, and I love it. I've painted outdoors before on my own but this is so much fun. I hope they have more of these events!"

After two days of creating outdoors, the painters took part in an awards ceremony and special reception held for them at the Black Water Market.

Those who want to learn more about the activity of plein air painting can visit the International Plein Air Painters' site at http://ipap.homestead.com.