By Lyn Diefenbach
Sometimes the familiar gets overlooked, the ordinary ignored. But look again and go on a journey of joy for the mundane that can feed our everyday world with a visual treasury.
I have been an artist my whole life, and that is all that I have ever wanted to be. I saved up my pocket money and bought my first set of oils at a very young age. I even sold my first painting at the age of 12, which just so happened to be a local landscape done en plein air.
I married and became a professional artist after our children came along. I can remember thinking “Oh, you’re asleep – I’m going to paint.” I became very good at time management, making sure that there was a balance between my painting activity and the life of my family. My faith and family were always the priority but I discovered that my painting could also be an expression and articulation of both.
My art practice became studio based out of necessity until I began teaching on invitation to various art groups across Australia and then teaching for international paint-aways. This of course meant having the pleasure of painting en plein air. What a treat! I can still hear the sounds, smell the aromas, and remember my emotions when I think of each place that I have visited and painted in.
The pleasure of painting en plein air is heightened emotion and visual perception. A time to “just be.” To be anchored, to be still, and to see. A time to come aside from our chaotic world and to find that pool of peace that restores the soul.
I had painted landscapes in oils for many years but then discovered the beautiful medium of pastels. At the same time I rediscovered my love of the portrait and floral genre, which has held my attention for many years but always, there in the back of my mind, was also the love for plein air painting.
I’ve become aware that plein air painting can inform my studio practice and the reverse is also true. I can even see an improvement in my work. There’s a freedom that had been missing and a keyed up emotional content.
Whilst I paint in both oils and pastel, pastel is my chosen medium for plein air, although oils aren’t off the cards. Pastels are spontaneous. Just open up that delicious box of pure pigment and off you go. They are immediate. There are no wet paintings to contend with when you’re finished; just stack them with a sheet of glassine between each work and clip them between two pieces of foam core. The only drawback with pastels is rain. So if rain is about, make or find a shelter before you start painting. You can even use pastels sitting in the front seat of your car.
As a result of plein air painting, I have discovered an intense love for my own region, something which I have always loved but have overlooked as a painting subject. “The grass is always greener… .” It was the familiar, beautiful, but seemingly not as exotic as some of the locations that I had painted in.
Earlier in the year, I needed to prepare for teaching at the Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE) so off I went into my own patch. I sat amongst the mangroves, I painted the Casuarina trees, I jammed my easel amongst the rocks and seaweed, I painted the first light, I painted the last light, I painted the headlands and the bays. I painted the sand dunes and the tracks, the boats and the pine trees that had stood the test of time and the wonderful cloudscapes that scud across the ocean. What a joy, what a treat! I solved how to deal with the wind, the sandflies and the sun in the wrong place. I found beauty in the middle of the day as much as at the beginning and the end because that was the only time I had available.
My place became so alive. I could see and feel its rhythm, its heartbeat, the life that continued regardless of me. My artistic muscles had been stretched, my vision heightened and I was replete.
Don’t wait for the perfect moment (although those are a joy), don’t put it off. Painting en plein air will enrich your painting practice and give you space to contemplate that which is good.
Lyn Diefenbach has a five-star-rated art video workshop titled “Floral Secrets: A Step-by-Step Guide to Painting Luminous, Lifelike Flowers in Pastel,” available here.
