My Adventure Plein Air
Beauty is where you find it. And sometimes it’s found by climbing over a few fences to get to an unusual subject. That’s part of what makes outdoor painting (plein air) so interesting to me. There are always new and interesting things to be discovered and painted.
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I want to share an old blog that a friend Kath Hoelzhammer had posted on my FaceBook page back in 2015 and I just found it again on FB memories.
I want to share with y’all these great nuggets by Lori McKee Artist:
Tips For Marketing To Strangers While Painting En Plein Air
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Artist who work en plein air must deal with natural and self-imposed burdens every time we go out paint – including the possibility of marketing to strangers.
We load our packs (paints, thinner, brushes, palette, canvas panel, towels, garbage bags, clamps, bungee cords, sunscreen, hat, collapsible umbrella, water and power bars) carry our easels, set up and stand for hours at a time. We are at the mercy of the weather, the land and the ever-changing light.
Lori backpacking with her plein air gear in Yellowstone National Park
If these obstacles weren’t enough, people interrupt us to talk while we are painting! It’s a wonder we get anything done, much less create a body of work to sell.
WAIT…that’s all wrong! We plein air artists have it made – we have a unique marketing and sales advantage over studio artists. We can talk to strangers, and turn them into collectors!
All artists who sell their work need people to buy it. Family, friends and acquaintances may be interested in our art, and they may purchase it. But, it is the people we don’t know who are key to sustaining sales and having an art career.
Steven Adams and Shanna Kunz look on as John Horejs paints
So, what about those strangers who “interrupt” us? They are interested, potential collectors with whom we have a marketing opportunity to create a relationship.