On exhibit in the South Gallery: September 27 - October 29
STATEMENT
In September we held our first multi-day Plein Air event in Rocheport, MO. It was a gorgeous weekend with warm weather (not too hot), a nice breeze, with a couple of dramatic foggy mornings. Over 30 artists gathered in the tiny historic river town of Rocheport to paint and draw in an attempt to capture a little piece of its magic on paper. At the end of the weekend, we hosted an art reception to celebrate our adventurous experiment with much success!
These artworks represent the work of several artists, chosen in part due to skill, medium, and feeling of the weekend. Some of the selected artists participate in Plein Air events throughout the region and others tried it out for the first time. This event really brought home our mission at the Art League which is to support artists at every step of their artistic journey.
One of the ways we support artists is to show their work in our gallery (and hopefully facilitate sales), but we also work with artists in our community to teach classes and workshops. One of our favorite teachers and exhibiting artists, was Richard Dutton who was a brilliant Plein Air painter. Richard was planning on having a show in the South Gallery this month, but sadly he passed away earlier this year.
Richard was an incredibly kind and talented person. He was a wonderful teacher who encouraged the most trepidatious student and provided constructive feedback to the seasoned professional. Richard was humble and unassuming and made people feel at ease by really listening to them when they talked. We were very lucky to get to display his work in many shows at the Art League – always vibrant and full of life, his work was a pleasure to look at. We will miss his easy way and lightness and the way he was able to capture the life force of his subject matter in two dimensions.
We aim to extend our summer art adventure for a few more weeks and to honor our dear friend, we are so glad you’ve come to visit us and see “In Honor of Richard Dutton: Rocheport Plein Air”.
