Southport Magazine

And lasting impressions
En plein air is a French expression which means “in the open air” and is used when needed to describe the act of painting outdoors, which is also called peinture sur le motif (“painting what the eye actually sees”) in French. Artists have painted outdoors for centuries.  The popularity of painting en plein air started in the 19th century and continued to increase with the introduction of paints in tubes and the “Box Easel” or field easel. It is not certain exactly who invented it but because of its portability it made it easy to carry about and as a result, painting in the woods or on a hillside was made possible. You might recall scenes in movies or images in books of high society daughters traveling abroad to learn to paint or study light while strolling in gardens and picnicking in parks.

French Impressionist painters such as Monet, Pissarro and Renoir advocated en plein air painting, and much of their work was done outdoors. This resulted in many of the beautiful paintings we know today such as Sunflowers or Water Lilies. And thankfully the popularity of outdoor painting has endured throughout the centuries. It is so popular in fact, that on Saturday, September 12 th from 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM the public of Southport can stroll the streets and escape back in time when area artists would set up their easels and capture the beauty that is our seaside community on canvas.

This event, The Southport Plein Air paint-out, is sponsored by the City of Southport. You may be familiar with it because we are fortunate to experience it in the spring as well as in the fall of each year.  It supports artists in our community. The chance to watch as an original piece is created from nothing is priceless! The public is invited to observe as each artist turns a blank canvas into a “one of a kind” piece of art. Later in the afternoon, a Wet Paint Sale will be held at the tennis courts behind Fort Johnston from 4:00 until 5:00 at the Southport Museum and Visitors’ Center located at 203 E. Bay, behind the NC Maritime Museum. This gives each of us a unique opportunity to own an original piece of Southport art!