I received a pleasant surprise in the mail today. I have been honored to participate in the 2008 Nomadas del Arte plein air show this coming year. This recently inaugurated plein air show is somewhat unique as the artists have the entire year of 2008 to come up with two plein air paintings. From their web site:
It is the goal of NÏŒmadas del Arte to bring together two hundred of the best nomad artists working en plein air today to exhibit in one show. Nomadas Del Arte is unique in that artists may complete their paintings at any time during the paint out year in six southwestern states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas or Utah. Four hundred paintings created for NÏŒmadas del Arte will be exhibited for sale in the spring of the next year at a different gallery each year.
The exhibit for the show will be at the Southwest Gallery in Dallas, Texas in April of 2009. Nothing like planning ahead!
The year long ‘paint-out’ really takes the pressure off of doing a good painting in a short period of time which is what most plein air shows require, however, I sometimes work best under pressure! Of course, since I live in California, I will have to travel to complete the paintings. I have immediate family in both Colorado and Texas, plus Nevada is not too far away, so I don’t think that will be much of a chore! I think the trick here will be avoiding procrastinating and waiting until the last minute to do the paintings!
I always like to put some kind of image in each of my blog posts, so below is a painting from the last plein air event I was in, The Seasons of Martis, which won the “Peoples Choice Award”.