St. Jo en Plein Air

MVIS paint out at Krug Park, 2013.

This year I am taking on plein air painting on a biweekly basis where I will be creating a collection of local art right here in my hometown of St. Joseph, MO.  Few artists interpret the local scenes of this city enriched with grand architecture and parks dating back to the Victorian Era.  If nobody else is going to make use of them in creating fine paintings, I guess I will.  ;) 

The visual arts here in town have stayed fairly stable in the past decade while the music and theatre has continued to thrive.  Though, this year we are seeing progress with more opportunity and enhancement for artists and art lovers with the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art's "Business + Art = Inspired Workplaces" project, the newly Paradox Theatre and Glass Eye Gallery downtown, "Beer Walk for the Arts" by the Allied Arts Council, along with the MVIS national exhibit "MVIS 3rd Annual Juried Art Show."  Most everything is still on an annual basis and we need more encouragement and opportunity monthly, year after year.   The more - the merrier.  

These paint outs are my part in enhancing the local art scene and encouraging other artists (locally) to get out of their studios and staying active.  Whether you are a beginner or advanced, these paint outs are opportunities to work from life.  Anyone who would like to tag along for a couple of hours of painting is free to do so.  Bring your paints, pastels, or sketch pad and pencils---bring another artist friend if you'd like.  I will post dates, times, and locations on my studio facebook page.  Some locations will be painted more than once.

Never know---if I get a good body of work going, maybe I'll have a solo exhibit at the Albrecht-Kemper or Paradox if they have me.  

If you want your work to stand out, do something to make yourself known.