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Painting the town
Monday, October 8, 2007
Plein Air Painters of Ohio gathered in
London Saturday for a town “paint out” to capture a bit
of the charm and architecture of yesterday as it exists
today.
The event was hosted by members of the
Artists of Madison County.
The subject matter was limited to the
historic Main Street area roughly from the Madison
County Hospital on the north to the old railroad station
to the south, which included many of the historical
homes, the courthouse and downtown business section.
Many of the guest artists, who came from
throughout central Ohio, were from the Ohio Plein Air
Society. There was a wide variety of artist’s set ups
and paint mediums. Besides the traditional oil paints
used by Carol Cosgrove and Edie Dean, Brian Johnston
used water soluble oil paint while Phil Brevick used
Genesis oil paint that will not dry at all until treated
with high heat. Also, several artists like Alice
Seyfried used acrylics, a water-based paint which dries
very quickly. Pastel artist Marge Foulk from the Choctaw
Lake area, set up in the park. All artists painted a
variety of subject matter, and there was a great variety
of styles and sizes of canvas being used from postcard
size to approximately 16x20.
The artists’ set ups were unusual, also.
Some used the very traditional French Jullian style
easel that is also a storage box for supplies. Others
used various combinations of more contemporary easels
usually made of aluminum. Some had seats, others stood
at their easels. Some didn’t use their easels at all and
held the painting in one hand and brush in the other.
Some London residents walked around and
talked with the artists as they painted. All together,
it looked like a very interesting and successful
painting day. Hopefully this will inspire more days to
be set aside in the London area for future “paint outs”,
and a special thank you to the Ohio Plein Air Society
members who joined us in this creative day.
Photo captions:
Brian Johnston is a member of the Ohio
Plein Air Society. He painted in water soluble oils
while his wife sat comfortably in a fold out chair
working on her lap top computer. Before retiring Brian
was an illustrator for North American Rockwell in
Columbus.
Carol Cosgrove is a teacher, artist who
works with physically challenged children and paints for
relaxation. She participates in many different
paint-outs in the area. She is from the Worthington area
and very active in the arts in that area.
Edie Dean from Franklin County paints
with a more contemporary set up and paints small when
painting outside. Many plein air artist choose small
canvases when the painting time is of a short duration.
Phil Brevick paints with Genesis Oils.
These paints need high heat to cure. He usually uses a
hair dryer for this process. Phil is a London painter
who does exceptional wildlife paintings.
Alice Seyfried, also a London artist,
was working with acrylics, a water-based paint. She sat
on a park bench and created from there.
Marge Foulk lives in the Lake Choctaw
area and works on pastels: usually she does pastel
portraits. She frequently participates in outdoor “paint
outs” and almost always includes people where other
artists excludes them.
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