Plein Air for Camphill painters!

Nancy Bea Miller "Betsey Batchelor Painting at Beaver Farm" 2012

These two paintings of women in the act of painting are from this year's Plein Air for Camphill, a non-traditional plein air event which benefits Camphill Special School in Kimberton, PA (USA.)

My son attends this school which is the only Waldorf school for kids with special needs in the whole of North America, although there are several other Camphill schools across the globe. Because this is the only one on this continent kids come from all over to attend this special program, and I do mean all over: Henry has had classmates from Kodiak Island, Alaska and from Bermuda!  There is a huge demand for this type of education for certain children and the school has been trying to expand to accommodate more students. They bought a nearby farm where the older students could be housed and food for the school could be raised and when I saw this beautiful place I realized I needed to get my artist friends involved in raising further funds. Hence the concept of Plein Air for Camphill, which is now a popular semi-annual event. This year's exhibition comes down later today but work will continue to be sold from the online gallery for the next several months:

Plein Air for Camphill 2012 Online Gallery

One note, the online gallery has not yet been updated since the show's opening reception where there were lots of sales, so there will be many, many, more "sold" notices appearing tomorrow. If you were interested in purchasing a piece, please don't get your hopes dashed if it is no longer available!

David Lee "Plein Air for Camphill (Molly Bolger Jenssen at work) "  2012

Canvas' Eye View

Alexandra Tyng "Canvas' Eye View"  2005

Contemporary Philadelphia-based painter Alexandra Tyng puts a unique spin on self-portraiture as seen by the canvas about to be painted upon! Tyng is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including First Place in the Portrait Society of America's 2012 International Portrait Competition.  She is represented by several galleries, including Dowling Walsh, Fischbach, Gross McCleaf and gWatson.  Tyng, the daughter of two architects, did not originally intend on a career in the arts but attended Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania where she studied psychology and education.  Tyng still relies on these interests in order to clearly convey a strong sense of place and convey emotion in both her landscapes and portraits.

Alexandra Tyng "Painters on Cadillac Mountain"  2009

 Here Tyng paints her friends and fellow painters Diana Ansley (red hair) and me, Nancy Bea Miller, (blonde ponytail) on a painting trip we took in Maine. The grand vista with the intimate details is a leitmotif of Tyng's beautifully textured work.

Nancy Bea Miller "Alexandra Tyng Painting" 2009

On the same trip I myself whipped off this little (12 x 9 inch) painting of Alex as we painted at Beaver Pond in Acadia National Park. I'd finished my bigger piece but Alex had a little more to do on hers so I grabbed an extra panel and used up the rest of my palette paint. The bigger piece I eventually discarded but this little "extra", roughed out in about thirty minutes, ended up being the keeper!