Click here to see this email on the web |  | Tuesday, November 14th, 2023 | | John Constable: A Student of the Sky
| Share this article:     |  | John Constable, "Cloud Study: Stormy Sunset," 1821-1822, oil on paper, mounted on canvas, 8 x 10 3/4 in., National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Louise Mellon in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
| As a plein air artist, you are part of one of the largest art movements in history. Learn about those who have helped start this movement in some way, and be inspired to continue your own journey of landscape painting. For even more inspiration, subscribe to PleinAir® Magazine.
Our Plein Air Heritage
John Constable (British, 1776-1837)
A student of the sky, John Constable felt that a thorough understanding of the formation of clouds, their influence on the quality of light, and their contribution to atmospheric effects would give his landscapes greater truth.
In the early 1820s, he lived in Hampstead, a village situated just north of London on an open, hilly heathland that gave him the perfect vantage point to study the sky and its ever-changing effects. It was during his residence there that he made many oil sketches of the sky, working on paper en plein air. | — advertisement — |  | Typical of his Hampstead sky sketches, "Cloud Study: Stormy Sunset" (above) vividly conveys the effects of light, atmosphere, and movement on a cloudy evening after a stormy day. Working quickly to capture his subject, the artist brushed on color with gusto, wet into wet.
Although he considered these studies research material gathered in service of exhibition pieces to be completed in the studio, they took on added significance as his art became more emotionally charged toward the end of his life.
He increasingly regarded the sky as "the chief organ of sentiment" in landscape painting, and likely looked to his cloud studies more for their expressiveness than for their empirical or scientific content.
He referred to the exercise as "skying," often annotating the studies with the date, time of day, wind direction, and scientific description of the cloud formation depicted.
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— advertisement — |  | On View Now at the Grand Canyon |  | 2023 Celebration of Art plein air artists | The 2023 Celebration of Art exhibition is on view at Kolb Studio through January 15, 2024.
From the organizers: Founded in 2009, CoA invites participating artists to paint en plein air for a week at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Artists are tasked with capturing the ever-changing colors and light as the sun moves across the intricate layers of the canyon.
Celebration of Art (CoA) is a wonderful tradition at Grand Canyon National Park, providing a vibrant experience for visitors, a venue for artists inspired by the canyon, and a successful fundraiser to benefit a dedicated art venue at the park.
The 15th Annual Celebration of Art was a grand success. This year featured 24 plein air artists who spent a week painting at the Grand Canyon.
Congratulations to our 2023 Award Winners:
Best of Show: Dawn Sutherland
People's Choice Award: Michelle Condrat
Artist's Choice Award: John Lasater |  | Best of Show: Dawn Sutherland, "Heavy Traffic on the Outbound," oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in., sold | About "Heavy Traffic on the Outbound," 2023 Best of Show
By Dawn Sutherland
Just below O'Neill Saddle as the S. Kaibab Trail descends like a twisting artery into the Canyon's heart, rises a plume of red dust from a switchback far below. Supai dust – once a muddy shoreline, hardened by passing eons, now ground to powder and liberated into the warm morning air by the passing of iron-clad hooves.
Hikers step aside as this parade of Canyon veterans passes by. First one, then two, then three strings of sure-footed mules approach, leaning hard into the grade, focused on their task, rhythmically making their way upward through Watahogomii, Manakacha, and Wescogame. Leather creaking, trickles of sweat seeping from under their heavy cargo load, the dusty air filled with their signature equine scent.
Mules care not for names ascribed by geologists, nor for the number of miles on their shoes. What they know are the towering rock walls on one side of the trail and the abyss on the other. Their hooves find the sweet spot in between. And they know they have a purpose. Just one more uphill trudge to the corral, where they'll be relieved of their heavy load, and rewarded with a fine supper and a good night's rest. | — advertisement — |  | — advertisement — |  |
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