Another wonderful thing about plein air painting, besides being extemporaneous, is you are close to nature.
“You get to appreciate the beauty,” artist Sabina Miller said. “In Northwest Arkansas, everywhere you look, there is something beautiful to paint. Plein air painting is a real appreciation of our land and all the beauties we are graced with.”
The Plein Air Painters of Eureka Springs (PAPES) have been meeting outdoors Wednesday mornings (weather permitting) from 8 to 10 a.m., while still practicing social distancing. But they have missed the camaraderie of going to breakfast together afterwards, as they did pre-Covid, discussing art.
Normally PAPES has an art show each year, a time to see each other’s finished works and compare different techniques and interpretations.
On October 30, PAPES held an Art of Fine Art in the Ozarks show at Rockspire, a center for green architecture near the Kings River south of Eureka Springs.
“We enjoyed being able to talk to one another and it was a great show,” Miller said. “We’re so grateful to George Myers, a founder of Rockspire, for holding the show there. Jody Stephenson started PAPES, and she has always been our leader – someone to aspire toward. She is so very accomplished!
“The last paint-out of the year is going to be at the Crescent Hotel before it gets too cold, and it will be spring before we go out again. When we are all painting together, we rarely get to see a completed painting from one another. Jody can often finish a painting in two hours, but most of us can’t. We have to go back to the studio to finish the painting. We don’t get to see the final product until we have our yearly show.”
Paul O’Neill, organizer of the recent art show, agreed that being able to see each other’s work at the annual show is a big deal for the painters.
“Since Covid started, we have missed out on being able to get together for breakfast and talk,” O’Neill said. “We really don’t get much of a chance to talk with one another while we’re painting, so this year we thought we would try and do something. We know George, and Rockspire was a very nice place to have the show. We have been out there painting on more than one occasion.
“We paint in town all the time, too. There’s no shortness of subject matter. Eureka is unique. We paint with other artists from out of town and they can’t believe the settings there are in Eureka Springs. You don’t run out of subject matter. Eureka is a great place to paint, you are just drawn to it.”
O’Neill said he has been in Eureka Springs for almost 20 years and is sure plein air painting was very popular long before he got here.
“Jody Stephenson and Ernie Kilman have painted plein air for many years,” O’Neill said. “Both are really well-known. When plein air artists are in town, tourists are delighted to come upon them. It is not something you see in many towns. It is probably more common here than in any place I can think of.”
Being an artist is thought of as a solitary profession, and O’Neill said plein air artists benefit by interacting and inspiring each other.
“If you are having a problem doing something, another artist can say, maybe you should try this,” O’Neill said. “Quite often that really helps. This is not only our profession, but a great way of socializing. A great way to see other people’s work. Sometimes we go to other shows together such as at the Statton Gallery or Eureka Springs School of the Arts competitions. A group from Texas came one time and painted as a group. It was really interesting painting with them.”
Others participating in the show include Mariellen Griffith, Betty Johnson, Ron Lutz, Larry Mansker, Cynthia Ré Robbins, Sara Russell, Terry Russell, Bridget Schupp, Marty Benson, Sandra Walker, Bill Westerman, Dixie Westerman and John Willer.
Pics by Paul O’Neill