It’s hard to stop the passionate outdoor painter from venturing into nature to find his or her next masterpiece. However, as a recent situation demonstrates, sometimes painting indoors is the best — and only — option, but the results are still beautiful.
Occasionally Mother Nature just doesn’t cooperate. During the 2017 Olmsted Plein Air Invitational in Atlanta, artist Kathie Odom and her cohort of 29 other invitees were required to paint at the Atlanta History Center, an astounding indoor/outdoor museum honoring the past and present days of the city.
After a morning orientation, every artist was eager to venture around the complex to paint. “As Kathie went to exit through the glass doors,” Odom’s husband, Buddy, recalls, “she was met with a sudden crash of thunder and lightning! In one motion she turned and headed toward the indoor Appalachian exhibit that was down the hall. Sometimes you simply must paint indoors.”
Although Mother Nature forced Kathie back indoors, she was still able to execute a successful painting, called “The Slatbacks,” which shows four antique wooden slatback chairs prominently displayed on a gallery wall.
