Louisville artists showcase open space scenery at plein air gallery

Feb. 4—Louisville residents showed off their artistic abilities and the beautiful open space views at the Open Space on Canvas gallery on Sunday.

In 2020, the open space division in the city started hosting plein air painting programs as a way to celebrate nature through art. Plein air painting lets the artist be outside rather than painting nature from inside their studio.

Benjamin White-Patarino, senior ranger naturalist at Louisville, started the program as a way to get more people outside. He said the open space division works to preserve the landscapes, and having artists in the community also celebrate the landscape was important to him.

White-Patarino said people do not have to be great artists to join in. The plein air painting events are open to everyone regardless of art style, mediums, age or artistic knowledge.

"I would love to see people who have never done this before and put something together," White-Patarino said.

Even if people are unhappy with their first couple paintings, he said practice makes better paintings and people are still able to enjoy the local scenery even if they struggle to put it on a canvas.

On Sunday, a variety of different locations the plein air painting group has gone to were on display, like Coyote Run or Lake Park.

White-Patarino said that as a ranger, it is not hard for him to come across a beautiful scene in the city. He likes to find a spot, make sure the place is accessible and have the group paint there.

Plein air painting is fast and artists cannot take the time to get every single detail right, White-Patarino said. But not stressing over the details can also be a good thing.

"There's something really organic and visceral about that," White-Patarino said. "It gets you to just do it. Put it down, do your best, try it out, don't obsess about it. People talk themselves out of wonderful things all the time and I think the plein air setting lends itself for people to just give it a shot."

Sarah Smith uses watercolors finished with a wax to emphasize colors to capture the local environment. She said artists have to respond immediately to their surroundings.

"Mainly, it's a record of an experience. So when I pulled (the paintings) out of my sketchbook and I mounted them, it was really fun because I just remembered so much about each of those days.

While plein air artists have a lot of things to consider when painting, like time, weather, materials and transportation, the paintings are a snapshot of that moment in the area.

Lynn Berggren and Laura Hagar said plein air painting has given them a deeper appreciation of their local open space. Hagar said she sees the beauty in everything, even if it's a rainy day. She can't help but notice all the colors, movement and beauty of the world around her.

Berggren said the more people go out to paint, the better they become. She said each painting teaches the artist new things, and she welcomes people to work through their creative process in nature.

The next Open Space on Canvas event will teach new people the basics of plein air painting, and is scheduled for March 24 at the Louisville City Services Facility at 739 S. 104th St. Registration and dates for more open space plein air painting events are available at tinyurl.com/LouisvilleOpenSpaceEvents.