Plein Air Smokies
‘Plein Air Smokies,’ will once again bring 20 nationally acclaimed artists to paint “en plein air” (outdoors) throughout the national park. Artists will be positioned across the park throughout the week, with locations such as Cades Cove on Monday and Elkmont on Tuesday and Wednesday.
These one-of-a-kind paintings will be available for sale at a Collectors Soirée on Sept. 27 in Downtown Knoxville at Regas Square Events. Proceeds benefit Great Smoky Mountains National Park! Whether you’re a first-time art buyer or a long-time collector, this event has something for every Smokies enthusiast.
Plein Air painting, in its strictest sense, is the practice of painting landscape pictures outdoors. The purpose is to create intense impression of the open air (French: “en plein air”) in a landscape painting.
En plein air painting was essential for the Impressionist Movement to take place. Impressionism is the painting of what the artist interprets as taking place at a certain place at a certain time. It is the changing of the shadows, the shimmering of the water and the movement of people. Impressionists start and finish their paintings outdoors to be able to depict what they would later be so famous for – capturing their impression of life.