Passersby often mistake Susan Wellington for a surveyor, standing there on a roadside or in a field near Vaiden, with her easel and her intense concentration. But, she’s not making measurements. She’s making art. And, that’s where her models—the hay bales, the trees, the creeks and the woods—are, out in the open air.
Flowood artist Susan Wellington likes to paint the rural surroundings of her cabin in Vaiden, as seen in this 12-by-12-inch painting, “A Change of Seasons.” Photo courtesy Pacesetter Gallery
Like many artists drawn to nature, she paints en plein air—the French term for “in the open air” —relishing the immediacy and spontaneity of painting a scene live, on the spot.
When Keri Davis opened Pacesetter Gallery in Flowood, Miss., a year and a half ago, she remained focused on Mississippi artists and cultural events, with an eye out for more ways to put art in the public arena.
“I started learning a lot about Mississippi plein-air painters,” Davis said, who is also an artist. “There’s a lot of them out there that love to go paint live on location, to pick up the light of the day,” Davis disclosed, just as the French Impressionists did, more than a century ago.
The French Impressionist movement popularized plein-air painting in the 19th century following the introduction of paint in tubes and box easels. Artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre Auguste Renoir and more embraced the practice, contributing to its esteem.
Other U.S. states have large, long-established competitions devoted to plein-air painting such as Plein Air South in Florida, En Plein Air Texas in the Lone Star State, and Louisiana’s Shadows-on-the-Teche where artists can place in contests and earn money, prizes and prestige, Davis explained.
Gautier, Miss., has previously hosted a Paint the Town Plein Air Art Competition, but organizers have yet to restart it since the pandemic canceled its fourth-annual edition in 2020. Gautier is re-evaluating the event, which may return in the future after a local amphitheater is completed, Gautier City Recreation Director Chassity Bilbo said.
Artist Carol Roark paints on location in Brandon, Miss., at Pacesetter Gallery’s
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