Where in the World is Plein Air – Wrap-up

Well, it's been a fun three days!  I really enjoyed going out each day and painting in the "Where In The World Is Plein Air?" event.  Each day was a little different with respect to location, scenery and weather.   If you've been watching the videos and viewing my paintings, you'll have seen three very beautiful locations in this region.  If you've not been here before, I encourage you to visit.

By the way, the paintings are all for sale.  At the top of this post, you can see all three paintings, framed.  Below are the three paintings for you to view in a larger format.  You can see the videos and purchase the paintings at this link:  http://www.whereintheworldispleinair.com/2015-artist/michael-chesley-johnson/  Next week, I will ship these paintings off to the Illume Gallery of Fine Art in St George, Utah, for a month-long exhibition.

I guess the only sad thing with this event is that I believe each of us – 100 painters in all – were out there in solitary spots, away from all the other painters, working away.  Usually with a plein air event, there's a certain amount of friendship that gets created when you paint side-by-side.  I always enjoy making new friends and reconnecting with old ones at the events.  On the other hand, now I have 900 video clips to watch!  (Each painter painted three days and uploaded three clips each day.)  I'm looking forward to finding a rainy day, or maybe several, to spend some time surfing.

Now I'm off to other projects.  The proof of my new book is on its way, and I hope to have more news about this for you soon.  But even though that's nearly done, it's still going to be a busy summer.  I have several magazine articles to write, another plein air festival to attend (in person), a nearly-full workshop season to teach, a joint US-Canada exhibition to coordinate, plus some exciting painting projects.  I'll keep you posted.

Low Tide, 9x12 oil

Land's End, 12x9 oil - SOLD

Incoming Weather, 9x12 oil

Where in the World is Plein Air – Day 3

"Incoming Weather" 9x12 oil/panel

View the videos and buy the painting here:  
http://www.whereintheworldispleinair.com/2015-artist/michael-chesley-johnson/

(If it's not online yet, it will be soon, so keep checking back!)

Above is my finished piece for the third and final day of the "Where in the World is Plein Air?" outdoor painting event.  For this day, I again went to the other side of the border, in Lubec, Maine, to the waterfront.

My goal was to paint some boats!  As difficult as they are to paint or draw, fishing boats are beautiful.  They come in many colors and have pleasing curves.  But they also speak to a way of life that is quickly vanishing.  The fishing industry in Downeast Maine and the Canadian Maritimes isn't what it used to be, partly because of overfishing, but also because of large corporations taking things over.  The little guy, who has to take out a house-sized mortgage for a boat, has to work hard to pay off that loan.  I know one fisherman from Campobello Island who has to take his boat all the way to Nova Scotia to make a living at fishing.

For the first time in three days, I finally had some visitors at my easel.  Three fellows sauntered up to take a look. When a fisherman says, "You got that boat just right," that's high praise indeed.   They also told me that they work on my central boat.  That was good news.  Because they weren't on the boat, it meant the boat wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.  That's one of the dangers in painting working boats – they tend to go out to sea.

Just as a reminder, Where in the World is Plein Air? consists of a hundred artists painting for three days wherever they happen to be in the world.  Each day, the artists post three videos – beginning, middle and end – of that day's painting efforts, plus a photo of the finished painting.  The paintings will be for sale that very same day and can be purchased immediately online.  The paintings, whether sold or unsold, will then be shipped to the event's sponsor, Illume Gallery of Fine Art in St George, Utah, for an exhibit that will run for the month of July.  Following the event, purchased paintings will be shipped to their happy owners.

So as they say, that's a wrap!  I now need to let the paintings dry a bit, frame them up, and ship them off to Utah.  You'll be able to see and buy the paintings online for a few more weeks.  As I mentioned in my videos, I'm really pleased with the way my paintings turned out, and I think they are some of my best maritime plein air paintings.

By the way, I still have a very few spots left in my Paint Campobello workshops this summer.  To find out more, please visit www.PaintCampobello.com.

Here are more photos from this last day.

Where in the World is Plein Air – Day 2

"Land's End" 12x9 oil/panel

View the videos and buy the painting here:
  http://www.whereintheworldispleinair.com/2015-artist/michael-chesley-johnson/

(If it's not online yet, it will be soon, so keep checking back!)

Above is my finished piece for the second day of the "Where in the World is Plein Air?" outdoor painting event.  For this day, I went to the other side of the border, in Lubec, Maine, to West Quoddy Head State Park.   This is another of my favorite spots – I just love this view with the little tree perched on the cliff.

One of the things that surprises me most about this part of the world is the sparse number of visitors that come.  June is one of the most beautiful months, but when I was out painting – and set up along the main trail, where you'd think there'd be lots of  people – not a single person hiked by.  It was just me and a couple of lobster boats tooling around in the distance.  In July and August, the height of the tourist season, you'll find a few more people around, but by September, they're mostly gone again.

Just as a reminder, Where in the World is Plein Air? consists of a hundred artists painting for three days wherever they happen to be in the world.  Each day, the artists post three videos – beginning, middle and end – of that day's painting efforts, plus a photo of the finished painting.  The paintings will be for sale that very same day and can be purchased immediately online.  The paintings, whether sold or unsold, will then be shipped to the event's sponsor, Illume Gallery of Fine Art in St George, Utah, for an exhibit that will run for the month of July.  Following the event, purchased paintings will be shipped to their happy owners.

Tomorrow I'll be off to my third and final location.  In the meantime, here are a few photos from today.

Where in the World is Plein Air – Day 1

"Low Tide" 9x12 oil/panel

View the videos and buy the painting here:
  http://www.whereintheworldispleinair.com/2015-artist/michael-chesley-johnson/

(If it's not online yet, it will be soon, so keep checking back!)

Above is my finished piece for the first day of the "Where in the World is Plein Air?" outdoor painting event.  I set up in the Roosevelt-Campobello International Park in one of my favorite secret spots.  The tide was out, giving me a great view of the rock outcrop and the head jutting out in the distance.

If you haven't heard of this event yet, here you go:  It's a hundred artists painting for the next three days wherever they happen to be in the world.  Each day, the artists will post three videos – beginning, middle and end – of that day's painting efforts, plus a photo of the finished painting.  The paintings will be for sale that very same day and can be purchased immediately online.  The paintings, whether sold or unsold, will then be shipped to the event's sponsor, Illume Gallery of Fine Art in St George, Utah, for an exhibit that will run for the month of July.  Following the event, purchased paintings will be shipped to their happy owners.

Having to man the camera at key points during the painting process is interesting.  Although I'm no stranger to being on video, taking a "selfie" with the camera while at the same time remembering to say who I am, what the event is and also to mention all the other key points definitely required a few takes!  Even so, I found the process very enjoyable and am quite happy with the painting.

As one of the artists, I'm eager to see what everyone else comes up with.  Some of the other professional artists participating in this event include Lorenzo Chavez, Linda Glover Gooch, Marc Hanson, Lori Putnam, David Santillanes, Aaron Schuerr, Kim Lordier, Kathryn Stats, Timothy Horn and Charlie Hunter.  Although I know personally several of the painters, I've not seen most of them perform "live" before, so it'll be fun to see their videos.

Tomorrow I'll be off to another secret location.  In the meantime, here are a few photos from today.

"Where in the World is Plein Air?" Event Starts Soon

I'm pleased to be one of several artists who have been juried into the second "Where in the World is Plein Air?" event.  The event runs from Wednesday, June 10, through Friday, June 12.

One possible painting spot for me

So, where in the world is the event being held?  Everywhere!  The idea is that the artists will paint three days on location wherever they want.  Each day, the artists will upload a series of one-minute videos of the painting process.  You'll be able to watch the progress of the paintings, from start to finish, during the course of the day on the website, www.WhereInTheWorldIsPleinAir.com.

Another possible location

Each painting will be available for sale the moment it is posted.  From what I'm told, the paintings will go fast, so don't delay if you're interested.   Once the event is over, paintings will be shipped (sold or unsold) for an exhibit at the hosting gallery, and once the show is over, the sold paintings will be shipped to their happy buyers.  The hosting gallery is the Illume Gallery of Fine Art in St George, Utah.

Yet another spot!

I'm really looking foward to the event, because I'm eager to share some of my Canadian Maritimes and Downeast Maine scenery with the rest of the world.  Let's keep our fingers crossed for good painting weather! Scattered throughout post are some of the locations I have in mind.

Event website:  www.WhereInTheWorldIsPleinAir.com

Hosting gallery: Illume Gallery of FIne Art (http://illumegalleryoffineart.com/), 60 E. South Temple, Suite #115,  Salt Lake City, UT // (801) 210-2853

This area is just filled with possibilities!