We love to hear from the Plein Air Today community! The following is part of a series that spotlights an artist who loves painting outdoors. Today’s feature is from Erin Dertner.
“While taking part in the Paint Maui Invitational, we encountered various weather patterns,” says Erin Dertner. “While working on ‘Island Glistening’ under a covered porch, I held my easel with my left hand and furiously mixed and applied paint with my right hand while the rain came sideways.
“I had to work fast, but I was drawn to the brilliant spot of sun on the distant water and really wanted to capture it. Moving onto the painting titled ‘Bright and Early,’ I had myself set up right against a building and thought I was relatively safe, especially since it was sunny. I got up to use the restroom and when I came back, everything had tumbled over and half my stuff spilled down the nearby embankment! Thankfully, the painting survived the fall with only minor scrapes, and I managed to salvage my paper towels and brushes and carry on through to the finish.”
“Lastly, I was super excited to do a nocturne and things looked great until partway through the painting it started to rain, along with some fairly serious wind. I was too far into the painting to stop and was afraid to get up and go to my car for my umbrella. Who would think they would need an umbrella to do a night painting?!
“Instead, I furiously patted down my palette to get rid of the water so I could mix my oil paint and also dabbed at the canvas itself so I could get the paint to stick. I persevered and a collector took that painting home! Several challenges over the course of the week but ultimately a fabulous experience in the realm of good old plein (undependable) air painting.”
Connect with the artist at www.erindertner.com.
Do you have a plein air story to share with the community? Email us at [email protected] with three images and captions, and a few sentences about your funny, inspirational, educational, or extreme plein air adventures!
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Blog post prepared for the web by Cherie Dawn Haas, Editor of Plein Air Today
