Not What, But How

Friday, October 20th, 2023

Not What, But How

Anne Blair Brown, "Reflecting," 12x12, Acrylic, Plein Air

The following is part of a series featuring a leader in the art community who is on the faculty of the 11th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE) in The Great Smoky Mountains, May 20-24, 2024.

"The main thing I am inspired by with every painting, including these, is focusing less on what I'm painting, and more on how I'm painting," says Anne Blair Brown. "My color choices and mark-making are how I share my voice, i.e. what I am experiencing in the moment.

"I'm always looking at how to arrange the shapes and identify the values to create more impact with less information. I want to engage my viewers such that they might complete the 'story' for themselves."

Anne Blair Brown, "Botany Bay View," 10×12, Acrylic, Plein Air

Anne Blair Brown, "Bushy," 12×12, Acrylic, Plein Air

"In the past two years, I have started to move away from solvents in my studio. I still use water-soluble oils a lot, but I also use acrylics a good deal in both my plein air and studio work. It has become my goal to remove the cloud of inferiority that seems to be attached to acrylics as being paints only worthy of craft projects. In fact, I challenge you to be able to tell the difference between one of my oil paintings and one of my acrylic paintings.

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Anne Blair Brown, "Girl Time," 16×16, oil, studio, based on a plein air study

"The fast drying time of acrylics allows me to get that look of spontaneity in a larger piece that I might fail to get if I had all this extra drying time to 'smoosh' the paint about. I'm excited to demonstrate my process of 'going big' to the PACE attendees and open eyes to using acrylic paints for gallery-worthy paintings."

Anne Blair Brown, "Happy Place," 12×14, Acrylic, Plein Air

Anne Blair Brown, "In the Pink," 11×10, Acrylic, Plein Air

Join Anne Blair Brown and PleinAir Magazine in the Smokies for the 11th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo! May 20-24, 2024 we'll have five stages with over 80 instructors, and will be painting throughout The Great Smoky Mountains, including the Biltmore Estate.

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Happening Now: En Plein Air Texas

Plein air painter Suzie Baker, last year's Grand Prize Winner at En Plein Air Texas

2023 En Plein Air Texas: In the 1920s artists gathered on the clear spring waters of the Concho River, never dreaming today we'd be doing the same!

More from the organizers:

En Plein Air Texas is celebrating 10 years of capturing the authentic West with artists painting on iconic private ranches and the eclectic downtown of San Angelo along that same Concho River.

Happening Now:

En Plein Air Texas
Dates: October 20-28, 2023
Opening Reception: October 27 (Buy your ticket now for a catered lunch at the historic Cactus Hotel while learning more about an artist's creative process on Friday, October 27th. Enjoy an informative talk with Suzie Baker, last year's Grand Prize Winner, as she helps us understand why we love our favorite paintings so much!)
Sponsoring Organization: San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts
Venue: Fort Concho National Historic Landmark in San Angelo
Format: Juried
Juror: Kathryn Mapes Turner
Awards Judge: Michael Grauer
Award Total: $30,000

2023 En Plein Air Texas Competition Artists

Hector Acuna – Harsh Agrawal – Kirsten Anderson – Suzie Baker – Carla Bosch – Lon Brauer – Kent Brewer – Debbie Carroll – Michael Compton – David Diaz – Katie Dobson-Cundiff – Vlad Duchev – Alex Eisenzopf – Bill Farnsworth – Orville Giguiento – Palden Hamilton – Qiang Huang – Neal Hughes – Charlie Hunter – Rajendra KC – Shelby Keefe – Farley Lewis – Carolyn Lindsey – Elizabeth Osborne – Antwan Ramar – Julie Sanderson – David Savellano – Michael Situ – Richard Sneary – Jeff Steiner – Gary Tucker – Richie Vios – Durre Waseem – Stewart White – Yong Hong Zhong

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