* En plein aire painting (n.)  From the French, painting done on site as opposed to studio work.

En plein aire painting is often only partially understood. Contrary to current market abuse of the word, it is not synonymous with Impressionism and quick sketching. It is finished painting done by a painter who paints from life, on-site, from start to finish with only minor work being done in the studio. The artist, however is doing more than painting outdoors. She is capturing a moment in time of some transitory aspect of the landscape, seascape or figurative work. A vanishing mist on the land, a shadow cast from a passing cloud, the movement of wheat in the wind, the moment of a fisherman casting a line or raking in a catch or a wave rolling into surf. It can also be the extended development of a painting over a period of days or weeks at the same location and at similar times in order to develop a larger scene or more detailed piece. In either case it is impossible for an artist to claim she is painting en plein aire without the recognition of nature's transitory aspect. The combination of the elusive qualities of light, the battling of wind and weather changes, cloud movements, wave movements, trees rustling. All this demands that the artist capture a subject's essence and hence requires that the artist know a great deal about the subject. All these things work against the artist if she has not already mastered the medium.

...Chapin   

Fine Art enriches one's life and soul. Add to your collection with work by Janet Everitt-Forte, en plein aire artist.