8 Reasons to Attend the Plein Air Paint Out at L’Auberge de Sedona

This year L’Auberge de Sedona will host a Plein Air Paint-Out on October 25th as we participate in the Sedona Plein Air Festival from October 21st to 29th, 2022. The paint out will take place creekside and will include local and visiting artists. Each artist will have two hours to create their painting and have it ready for judging; all paintings are for sale throughout the event.

Plein air painting is about leaving the four walls of your studio behind and experiencing painting and drawing within the landscape. The practice goes back for centuries but was truly made into an art form by the French Impressionists. Their desire to paint light and its changing, ephemeral qualities, coupled with the creation of transportable paint tubes and the box easel—the precursor to the plein air easels of today—allowed artists the freedom to paint “en plein air,” which is the French expression for “in the open air.”

8 reasons to attend a Plein Air Paint Out at L’Auberge de Sedona

Linda Goldenstein from Goldenstein Gallery and curator of L’Auberge de Sedona has compiled the 8 reasons below

• To be inspired by creativity, nature and art.
  First, all your cares float down Oak Creek while at L’Auberge. It is so relaxing and touching to be surrounded by the beauty of nature, the sound of the water and the bold creativity of the artists.
• To watch a painting in the making.
  Artists bring their easels, paints and canvas to L’Auberge. Many start with a sketch that over a few hours grows into a beautiful, colorful painting before your eyes. Enjoy the magic of art as you see and revisit paintings in progress and watch how dramatically they change.
• To see through the artist’s eyes.
  We all see the world differently and nothing illustrates this more than watching multiple gifted artists painting the “same scene” and seeing how different each painting is.
• To learn what the term “Plein Air “means.
  Plein Air is a French expression that means in the fresh air; Plein Air painting is painting outside in the fresh air. Artists have done this for centuries but the French Impressionists made it into an art form. For the artists, it is a completely different way to paint without the security of the four walls of their studio.
• To see diversity in Plein Air styles.
  Many styles and many mediums are brought to the “Paint Out.” Past “Paint Outs” included oil, acrylic, watercolor and mixed media paintings and etchings too. A genre of styles is often seen including impressionism, expressionism and realism. Artists start in the early morning and at 11am its all brushes down and artists bring in their finished paintings.
• To be a part of Sedona’s art community.
  Artists have long been inspired by the light and beauty of Sedona so we have a colorful and interesting art history that includes renowned surrealists Max Ernst and Dorthea Tanning and the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America to contemporary Sedona legacy artists James Muir, Adele Seronde and Sherab Khandro. Sedona loves its artists and is known as a city animated by the arts!
• To collect a painting that you watched being painted.
  Carry the memory of this special time home with you to enhance your life and remind you of this beautiful day. It is rare that we get to watch a painting being created from start to finish. A true treasure!
• To experience dining creekside at Cress before or after the Paint Out.
  Extend your beautiful experience and enjoy the culinary arts by dining creekside at Cress on Oak Creek.

The Plein Air Paint Out at L’Auberge de Sedona will be hosted on October 25th from 8am to 2pm on the Creekside Lawn. A shuttle will be provided from the Sedona Arts Center to L’Auberge Resort from 8:30am-1:30pm. Awards, judging, and sale will follow the paint out at L’Auberge starting at 12:30pm. Paintings will then be on sale at the Sedona Arts Center Special Exhibition Galleries throughout the remainder of the Plein Air Festival.

Be sure to come and enjoy the festivities!  If you are not able to attend, we have artists on property throughout each week creating their art and chatting with guests.