When I started my art studies, I painted in the studio. However, a few years ago I discovered a group of plein air painters: people who take their equipment to a park or other outdoor location, set up their easels, and proceed to paint part of the landscape. Painting nature was very appealing to me because I could see the details of the outside landscape much better than a photograph would allow and I love being outdoors. When I paint outdoors, I feel like the author of a poem that says, “It doesn’t matter if I got sunburned, stung by a bee, lost my brush, or my paint didn’t turn out right, I still had a great day.”
One day, in a chance encounter with a local art teacher while having my oil changed at an auto shop, I heard about an outdoor workshop being held in Belleville, Pennsylvania. I had never been to Belleville before so this was an opportunity to see different landscapes and learn new techniques so I signed up.
Belleville, PA, is a small town near State College, in the middle of the state in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachians are mostly rolling, some higher than others, but not quite as sharp as the Rocky Mountains and not nearly as high. There is a wide variety of trees, some very different from what I am used to painting.
The first place we visited was called Plumb Bottom Farm. There was an old farmhouse there that I stayed in during the workshop, but also a very beautiful large Catalpa tree. Its base must have been 8 feet in diameter! I love painting trees: big, twisted, always trees with character and always trees whose branches have a pattern that appeals to me. This one really inspired me because of the size of the trunk and the design of the branches coming out of the trunk.
The second place we went to was along a stream near the studio. The water rippled over the stones in a joyous melody, and the trees lined the banks on either side. The entrance was a long dirt path along a fence with a variety of trees dotting the landscape. This is the scene I intend to paint.
Next, we went to a viewpoint along a road. This was Jack’s Mountain looking down on the beautifully manicured Amish fields that formed a delicate quilt in the valley below. On the other side were mountains, forming the other ridge of the valley. A small gnarled tree grew on the ridge just below me overlooking the valley and I was happy to include it in my painting.
Lastly, I found a walnut tree and two acacias, all in an area suitable for at least a 30″ square canvas. Unfortunately, I only had a 20″ canvas with me and only about 2 hours to work on the painting before my group. left, so I painted one of the acacia trees.
For me, it was a pleasure to be able to find stages with such striking design and emotion, all in a period of two days. A few weeks later, I returned to the Belleville area and found a grove of hemlock trees with their branches parallel to the ground. It reminded me of a photo I had seen of a colorful oil painting of hemlock by Wolf Kahn, one of my favorite painters. I was so happy to find a landscape area with such striking designs. Most of my time is spent on flat land with trees that are generally in good shape, so I should look for trees with outstanding patterns. Here in the Belleville, Pennsylvania area, I have found an abundance of trees with the types of designs that I love to paint.