Working Against The Shifting Light: A New Exhibition Will Celebrate Newtown And Sandy Hook, En Plein Air

By Shannon Hicks

August 6 may be the date for the big Tercentennial Birthday Party in Newtown, but don’t worry — events will still continue in observance for a few more months.

In fact, a group of artists is currently creating new works that will debut with an opening celebration at River Glen Fine Arts Gallery in a few weeks.

“Tercentennial Celebration: En Plein Air Exhibit of Newtown and Sandy Hook” will open on Sunday, August 14, from 1 to 4 pm. The exhibition will offer a brand-new collection of works created specifically for Newtown’s tercentennial celebration.

Artists who have signed on for the project are Melody Asbury, Patricia Barkman, Shane Blomberg, Betty Christensen, Marilyn Colman, Ron DeFelice, Will Doyle, Frank Federico, Leslie Levy, Barbara Madden, Dick McEvoy, Ruth Newquist, Alain Picard, Sandi Randall, Ralph Schwartz, and Peter Seltzer.

While not all of these artists are Newtown residents, all are award-winning Connecticut artists who have accepted the challenge of working outdoors at some point during recent weeks in order to create new images for the tercentennial plein air exhibition. Some of the artists – Mr Federico, Ms Levy, Mr McEvoy, Mr Picard and Mr Seltzer – are represented by River Glen Fine Arts Gallery.

Plein air, which is French for “open air,” painting became popular in the early 19th Century when paint manufacturers made available for the first time a wide range of premixed oil pigments. Originally packaged in pig bladders, the artist could now easily take his or her oil paints afield.

While oil paints seem to be the primary medium for plein air painters, watercolors, acrylics, and pastels show up quite regularly when artists head outside to work.

Plein air painting, wrote the master pastelist Frank Federico in an article called “Plein Air With A Fauvist Touch,” is “essentially … an expression that means open air, maybe clear air. Its execution is outdoors.

“Historically, the Impressionists painted en plein air to capture fleeting light,” continued Mr Federico. “They would paint at a particular time each day to accurately record their sensations.”

Further in his article Mr Federico explains why painting outdoors is so attractive to him.

“I believe one can create with much vitality by being ‘exposed’ to outdoor light and subject matter. Much of my work is equated with the outdoor experience,” he wrote.

All of the work in the upcoming River Glen Fine Arts Gallery show will be the result of being exposed to the outdoor experience. Artists have been working during early to midmorning hours and late afternoon to early evening hours lately, capturing the sun during a particular span so that they can in turn re-create the colors and lighting of the scenes in front of them.

Ron DeFelice, Will Doyle, and Dick McEvoy spent a recent Saturday morning painting at Ferris Acres Creamery. Mr DeFelice and Mr McEvoy were set up in different areas of the ice cream stand’s parking lot and both had — independently of each other — ended up painting the same area of the farm.

“Plein air is wonderful,” said Mr McEvoy, who was set up under a tree. “You have to work quickly because you really only have about 90 minutes before the scene really changes.”

Mr DeFelice produced a pair of small oil paintings that morning, each of which could have been framed as sold as is or worked on further before they were shown.

“I may go back to the studio and work on these a little more,” he said. “For paintings like this, your main objective is to make a color statement. I’m basically going for information. These are like studies for me.”

Betty Christensen was found working  on a new painting for the exhibition during the morning hours of July 9. She set up her easel at 50 Main Street, near the historic Budd House.

While ticket-holders attended the 11th Annual Historic Homes & Gardens Tour that was being presented by Newtown Historical Society that day, Mrs Christensen worked on a new painting of the historic house on Main Street.

Ms Christensen said she was particularly inspired by the bright, clear light defining the architectural elements that morning.

“I have to work fast because the light is always changing and architectural subjects are tricky.

“You have to be there to get it right – not rely only on a photograph,”  said the artist, who is a longtime Newtown resident. (A collection of her works was recently featured in a one-artist exhibition at Booth Library.)

Across town in Sandy Hook that day, fellow Newtown artist and longtime resident Ruth Newquist was also working on a new painting. She spent a few hours working in the yard at 25 Zoar Road, the home of Deb and Mike Osborne, which was also on the homes and gardens tour.

A signature artist member of the National Watercolor Society who specializes in New England scenes and cityscapes, she enjoys working en plein air.

“It definitely helps [to work quickly, outdoors] because we don’t know what everything looks like out there until we’re standing out there with a brush in your hand and you’re putting it down,” she said. Working on-site certainly has its advantages over trying to re-create a scene from a photograph.

“You can’t see the texture of things from a photograph,” Mrs Newquist pointed out. “Also, you have a limited amount of time, only about an hour and a half, from the standpoint of light. The light changes quickly.

“You may see some light on a tree that may be what inspired you, and you have to act quickly,” she continued. “Acting quickly gives you power in your work. It gives you that center of interest.”

Capturing light at a specific time is what plein air painters aim for.

“What you saw, what brought you to stop right there … usually it’s the light hitting something,” Mrs Newquist said. “That’s not what all plein air painters do, of course, because not all days are light, bright, sunny days. But it’s the light that draws us outdoors again and again.”

Echoing the thoughts of Mr McEvoy, who had set up under a large tree the morning he was working at Ferris Acres, Mrs Newquist also added: “The trick is also to get under a tree so that you’re not blinded by the sun.”

In addition to the joy of working outdoors, Mrs Newquist said it also shows in other artists’ work when they have worked en plein air.

“There is a freedom about plein air painting. There’s certainly a freshness — you can spot them,” she said.

“Tercentennial Celebration: En Plein Air Exhibit of Newtown and Sandy Hook” will remain on view until September 11.

Ten percent of the total proceeds from the Newtown plein air collection will be donated to Newtown Scholarship Association.

River Glen Fine Arts Gallery is at 3 Washington Avenue in Sandy Hook; telephone 270-1199. Regular hours are Tuesday from noon to 4 pm, Saturday and Sunday from 11 am until 4 pm, and by appointment.