Plein aire in the Studio

It was beginning look
like my gallery tripping days of the year
were over
but then I found
this
fun website and realized that
many more remained to be seen.




These large landscapes (48" high)
by Henry Coe
took me on many pleasant trips
out to the countryside.

(which, regretfully, I haven't been
taking much lately)





Everything is alive in his paintings,
so maybe I would rather
just look that them
instead of
drive out to Starved Rock State Park



I like how he gives me
the feeling of a moment
even if it took him
quite a few
to bring such a large work
to completion





and , looking on line,
I'm finding
that he did multiple paintings
from the same source material
(sketches completed on site)

Since the large, finished works
were not really painted on site
you can't really call them plein aire
but they sure feel that way
(as opposed to the paintings
made from photographs
which usually annoy me)


Somehow,
he's been able to preserve
the excitement of being outdoors on a sunny day.

(or what Wilhelm Reich
once called
"orgone energy")