Michele Byrne – Plein Air Painting Artist share her story and her experience in Cuba.
Memberships and Affiliations:
Signature Member of The American Impressionist Society, Oil Painters of American, Artists’ Fellowship, Inc., Laguna Plein Air Painters, California Art Club, Salmagundi Club, Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association, Rehoboth Art League, Berks Art Alliance.
Artist Statement:
On Plein Air Painting
My recent trip to Cuba (February 2016) sparked a whole new energy in my work. The vibrancy of the city, the vintage cars, the people, and the music helped to create a frenzy in my work that I am truly loving! And, my recent use of thicker paint, applied with palette knife, also creates a more dynamic visual. I’m now coupling this enhanced energy with my preference to painting outdoors directly on site.
I feel that it is the best way to capture the immediacy of what I am feeling in the moment. It allows me to immerse myself in the subject. Whether standing next to a busy café, a crowded street or inside a jazz club, I know that it is not just the visual information that becomes a part of the painting. The sounds, the smells, the mood and the environment all become integral to the finished image.
My plein air paintings are intended to capture all of this and be mirrors of our lives. There is something magical and mystical about standing with your feet firmly planted on the earth, absorbing all the sounds, smells and conversations, as well as the visual information, and letting it all flow out onto the canvas. I become a part of the scene and the paintings seem to flow out of me.
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