Plein Air Painters in Mississippi: Plein Air Magazine

Sunday, August 12, 2018

The Road to Becoming a Plein Air Artist

By Guest Art Blogger Sue Kirkpatrick, Arab, Alabama (former resident of Iuka, Mississippi)

Sue Kirkpatrick.
(All images on this post ©2018|Sue Kirkpatrack unless noted otherwise)

I was solidly bitten by the art bug so now I have a bad case of passion for painting!!! Oil painting in particular. I have pursued oil painting by attending many workshops, buying art books, and buying more and more art supplies!

One of Marc Hanson's workshops at Courson Workshops in Pontotoc, MS

Painted/sketched this in Zhaoming Wu's workshop in Huntsville sponsored by Protege Atelier.

What I've discovered is that being an artist is a struggle in many ways. Actually, I got a late start-I was past middle age when most people start slowing down. A late start with a 90 degree learning curve would cause most people to question maybe not for me:
I had only taken two art courses in college, I was not at all comfortable with art language, and I had no intelligent art painting skills.

One of my favorite quotes:

"I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it.

- Vincent Van Gogh

Kim English at Courson Workshops in Pontotoc, MS.

I started going to art workshops. I found that every time I went to an art workshop my art painting skills improved and I started to learn some art language. Like I learned the word “Value” was a pretty important word in the art world. So I started trying to learn about value and the value scale and how to use correct values in painting. Did I say I being an artist is a struggle!

Here are a few photos of my paintings and photos from some workshops that I have been privileged to go to.

Reference photo credit :Steve West.
Painting ©2018|Sue Kirkpatrack

I'm still working on using correct value in my painting. I know I will continue to work on correct value skills until I die!!! Then value leads to color harmony, and to colors in your palette, then to limited palette, to composition, and to design! And on an on and on! Van Gogh was so right...

Then there are the artist, the past master painters, the living master painters, and all the really good painters in between!!!

As I went to workshop after workshop I also became acquainted with some of the most amazing people who were working to do the same thing I was doing, struggling to be an artist.
So many of these wonderful people were really already great artists who helped me tremendously!! And I am grateful for the help they gave me.

Sue's painting at the member's show, Shoals Art Guild took Best in Show
©2018|Sue Kirkpatrack

Sue Kirkpatrick is a retired teacher who lived in the lovely and historical village of Iuka, MS from 1998-2002. She attended the "W" in Columbus, MS her freshman year in college. After retiring as an educator she and husband, Terrell, now live in Arab, AL.

Sue began her artist journey by painting watercolor portraits while living in Iuka, MS.

Sue is now a pursuing oil painting by studying and attending plein air, figurative, and portrait workshops. She has studied with Kim English, Quang Ho, Jason Saunders, Marc Hanson, Morgan Samuel Price, Stapleton Kearns, and Zhaoming Wu among others. Sue paints most every day. Visit her website at: suekirkpatrickart.com

A big thanks to Sue Kirkpatrick for her story!

Follow this blog about Mississippi artists. In the coming weeks, this site will be publishing contributed articles by several plein air painters from the state of Mississippi.

Contact Dot Courson at artist@dotcourson.com to find out how to contribute.

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Sunday, July 29, 2018

A Tribe of Painters by Wyatt Waters

By guest artist Wyatt Waters, Clinton MS

It’s always been paint. Since I was two and a half. It was an old house. Mother gave me a brush and let me help her spatter the floor of our kitchen to help create a linoleum like pattern and cover up the hole repairs. I remember the sensation of paint.

I think it’s an impulse to see ourselves. Cave men in ancient France decorated their walls with painted bison and airbrushed paint through a reed using their hand to create a stencil. I remember tracing my hand on paper as a kid. I suppose that cave painting was the first hand turkey. It was more than just decoration though. The bison was god. They lived according to their hunt for bison. It provided food and tools and clothing and stories of the hunt around a fire. It gave them reason to form together as a society. The outline of their hands was their signature. It told them who they were. It provided evidence that they had been there.

I think at the core of painting there is much much more than the representation of what we see. There is how we see and the more mysterious how we feel. At its best, painting combines them all.

Crowds gathered to watch Wyatt Waters demo in May 2018 in Port St Joe, Fl . Wyatt served on the faculty of Plein Air South.

When I couldn’t say how I felt to myself, I could always paint. When I couldn’t fit in socially, I was able to gain acceptance with a brush. When I wiggled more than I should have, I was given a stubby pencil and a church bulletin and was able to be still. When I was trying to work out an idea, I drew it first. When I was dreaming of how things should be, I planned on paper. I also lost most girlfriends over my decision to paint. I drove older cars because I made art and some people laughed. I lived in homes that other people would not. I was and still am often confused with someone who might not have a home. I have been told I was lazy.

Once in a while, there are people who throw things from their cars as I paint. It can be so hot the paint evaporates as soon as it hits paper. There are days it’s so cold it freezes before my eyes. In the end, It all balances out and I’m left only with the paint.
I am like those ancient cavemen who did the same thing. It’s my life I am painting. I follow the herd and go where it leads me.

Video: Static - written and performed by Wyatt Waters.

Widely known for his watercolors of Southern culture, Waters creates paintings of the roadside South. His works have been featured in Art & Antiques, American Artist, Watercolor, Plein Air Magazine, Mississippi Magazine and Delta Magazine. His paintings are held in private and corporate collections. Waters has had solo shows at the Mississippi Museum of Art, The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, The Meridian Museum of Art and The Jackson Municipal Gallery. He owns and operates the Wyatt Waters Gallery in Clinton, MS.

Wtatt has published books of his paintings and collaborated with Robert St. John on “A Southern Palate,” “Southern Seasons,” “A Mississippi Palate“ and “An Italian Palate.” He and Robert St. John also produce and host the “Palate to Palette” series on MPB. He received the MS Institute of Arts & Letters Award for “An Oxford Sketchbook” and the MS Library Association Special Award for Art for his collaboration with Robert St. John, “A Southern Palate.” He has the recipient of the Mississippi Governor’s Award for his painting. He lives with his dog, James in Clinton, MS.

This fall Wyatt and Robert traverse the state of Mississippi in a one-of-a-kind deep dive into the food, art, music, and culture.

A big thanks to Wyatt Waters for his story!

Follow this blog about Mississippi artists. In the coming weeks, this site will be publishing works by several plein air painters from around Mississippi.