Bluebells and the Plein Air Posse
A story about the inaugural outdoor plein air painting session of the new Prince William Art Society group called the Plein Air Posse which had their first meeting and outing at the Merrimac Farm in Nokesville, Virginia on Sunday, April 7, 2024. The Bluebell Festival at this historic location made for a wonderful subject and feature for the group's artwork: Bluebells.
Bluebells and the Plein Air Posse
by Tom Payne
A crisp Sunday morning dawned on Merrimac Farm as members of the PWAS Plein Air Posse rode into Nokesville, Va. The sun was shining, the wind had died down from the previous day, and five PWAS artists were ready for a perfect day of painting among blooming bluebell flowers.
down the trail that runs along Cedar Creek until each one found a suitable location to set up shop and begin their individual plein air painting experience.
Elizabeth Stathis and Donna Liguria held down the fort at the PWAS table. Lots of folks stopped by, admired the artwork, and inquired about joining our illustrious art society. We hope to see them again at an upcoming membership meeting.
One exciting highlight occurred when a photojournalist from Voice of America stopped to photograph and interview Doreen Dauer as she worked on her oil painting along the bluebell trail.
He also stopped and photographed me as I was photographing Jeff Holman. Who knows? With a little luck, maybe PWAS will go worldwide as part of the story being done by VOA about the Bluebell Festival.
In case you didn’t know (I
didn’t), Voice of America is the state-owned news network and
international radio broadcaster of the USA! It is the largest and oldest
of the U.S. funded international broadcasters, producing digital, TV,
and radio content in 49 languages, distributed around the world. Its
targeted and primary audience is non-American. As of November 2022, its
reporting reached 326 million adults per week across all platforms. Very
cool!
During the day, I wandered down the trail and captured photographs of each PWAS
artist
hard at work and enjoying the zen magic of the glorious day. Stay tuned
and keep an eye out as members of the Posse begin to share their
artwork on Facebook, the PWAS website, and the PWAS blog - Artistry
Spin. They don’t know it yet but I’m going to encourage the plein air
artists to share their experience and insights at a future membership
meeting. The Plein Air Posse is always ready to ride, in search looking
for more awesome painters and painting opportunities. Enjoy today!
For Further Reading: https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/2024/03/post-447-pwas-plein-air-posse.html
Tell us what you think in the comments below! We love hearing your feedback. Want to learn more about Plein Air Painting? Come by a Prince William Art Society meeting and join the group(s)! The Plein Air Posse is a part of PWAS. The next PWAS meeting is Monday, April 22, 2024 at 7:30pm at the Tall Oaks Community Center 12298 Cotton Mill Drive, Woodbridge, VA.
Artistry Spin Blogmaster and an artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Donna's Esty site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.
Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
