Women Artists of the West to host 'plein air' gathering May 12-14
Local artist Carolyn Mock said the best way to paint is outdoors in natural light.
"The colors are so much more true outside in the sunshine. You can mix your paint to exactly match the color of nature," she said. "Also, the shadows are different outside. Photographs hide things in the shadows."
Women Artists of the West will host a spring 'plein air' − French for open air − painting event May 12-14 in the Bartlesville area.
A WAOW member for 22 years, Mock said these types of events are exciting not only for the painter but for the public.
"It's fun to get to know the painter in person and to see these gals at work," she said. "Most of these gals are real pros. They're not Sunday painters."
Mock said most painters will complete their work that day, and many will offer their paintings for sale.
"This is our second year having a “gathering” in Bartlesville out of respect to Woolaroc and our pending Women Artists of the West Invitational to be held in this top-notch museum in 2024," said organizer Tricia Bass, an American impressionist artist of Colorado. "We have gatherings in other parts of the country and will continue to do so in the future."
In July, the group will gather in Newton, Kansas for its 2023 national show, “No Place Like Home.” The organization will return to Woolaroc in 2024 for the Women Artists of the West Invitational, she said.
The Bartlesville area gathering will begin 4-6 p.m. May 12 at Wolf Creek Ranch near Pawhuska. Ranch owners Mark and Kelly Spencer have invited the public to visit with artists and enjoy the "wet wall" of just completed paintings.
On Saturday, May 13, the event moves to the Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve, where WAOW members will pain on location from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to come and watch the artists at work throughout the day. Freshly painted works and a few from last year of Woolaroc will be available to view and purchase in the afternoon. Visit www.Woolaroc.org for admission details at this venue.
Several WAOW artists will set up at various locations throughout the area to paint on Sunday, May 14, including downtown Bartlesville, Tallgrass Prairie Preserve and other spots in Bartlesville and Pawhuska.
"A number of our members are very competent plein air (open air) painters and will actually be painting on location throughout the area," said Tricia Bass, one of the event's lead organizers. "I have been juried into a number of national plein air events and am a Signature Member of Plein Air Artists of Colorado, for example. Some of our members are more studio painters and/or sculptors and may be just sketching and taking photos."
Originally founded in California in 1971, the group has expanded to include professional artists from around the country working in both the Western genre and otherwise. Members of WAOW must be juried into this group, which includes some highly regarded pros from the national art arena.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Women Artists of the West to host 'plein air' gathering May 12-14
