On Monday, the Brown Family Environmental Center (BFEC) wrapped up the fourth and final Plein Air Painting session of the summer. If you don’t know what plein air painting is, you’re not alone — I didn’t know either until I ventured out to the BFEC picnic benches, where I was greeted by Wendy Fetters, the veteran leader of these plein air painting sessions. “Plein air is the exercise of painting outside and it is a practice which originated in France a few hundred years ago, and we’re actually now celebrating the 250th anniversary of plein air in America,” Fetters informed me.
Fetters has been running the Plein Air Painters summer courses for 10 years, accumulating a large group of regulars. I could see why almost immediately: She is the type of person who makes you feel at home in her presence. Fetters greeted me with a big smile and asked if I was here to paint. Of course I gave her an enthusiastic yes, although I warned her that I am well past my prime in the painting department. Fetters laughed at my comment and told me, “We’re going to work you to the bone.”
Before starting class, she stated, “There are so many things I want to do with all of you, so we’re going to do them all.” While this statement initially heightened some of my worries, all my anxiety faded the second the session began. These courses are very beginner friendly, which was key for yours truly, whose experience with this side of the arts reached its most glorious height right around the third grade. The crowd attending the final session consisted exclusively of adult women. This very easily could have made me feel out of place, except for the fact that this was just about the nicest crowd of people I have ever had the chance to be around, and no, I am not being hyperbolic. Fetters ran both an informative and judgment-free class.
She had us start with an exercise: We found an area around us with an extreme contrast between dark and light. Once we picked an area, we painted that location using only black and white. This author isn’t hesitant to admit that even he received some praise for his work in this exercise, which only boosted the ego by about 3%.
Afterward, we did the same scene, this time using pastel. Fetters gifted everyone pieces of watercolor paper she picked up while she was in France. I want to say here that this is where I reached my peak. I did a very elementary depiction of the BFEC from the side which will almost certainly be hung on my dorm wall any day now. The final exercise of the day was making our very own sketchbooks.
To put it in the “pleinest” terms possible, I would describe my experience as wildly therapeutic. The BFEC is the perfect setting for plein air, as it is the sort of place where one can’t help but feel some sort of inspiration just by looking around a little. The setting enthralled my senses, bringing me to a state of blissful peace.
The fact that I was the only student there was a bit shocking, considering how enjoyable a time it was, so I urge my fellow peers: Mark your calendars for Plein Air Painters at the beginning of next school year. You will not regret it.