In the summer of 2023, my sister, Diana, and I went traveling together for the first time. As we're both painters, we thought it would great to do a plein air painting road trip together, and we were right - it was fantastic!
When we left the Sunshine Coast, it had just started raining, so we were on a mission to find sunshine and found ourselves in the Okanagan. It was an epic 3-day trip of painting on the Kettle Valley Trail on the Princeton-Summerland Road, and in the vineyards and valleys of the Okanagan. (Yes, there was wine tasting involved, too!).
We each came home with 3-4 paintings, (and yes, a few bottles of wine), and felt rejuvenated and inspired to continue painting en plein air, and to do our best to make it an annual road trip together, exploring different parts of B.C.
Painting en plein air is such a different way to paint from studio painting. Transferring a three-dimensional scene onto a two-dimensional surface opens up possibilities that just don't happen when I'm in my studio, painting from my photos. Deciding how much of the scene to include, letting go of the idea of perfection, and allowing myself the freedom to simplify the landscape and just go with the flow, are aspects of plein air painting that I love.
If you're an artist yourself, or if you're giving painting a go for the first time, and you haven't experienced plein air painting yet, I encourage you to get out there and give it a try! You may just find a new passion.
