A Painters Journey

With hurricane Irene moving steadily up the East Coast, Plein Air Curacao got off to a  difficult start. Flights out of Newark, NYC and Charlotte, NC were cancelled and flights from the DC area were either cancelled or delayed. As a result some of us scrambled for earlier flights and left a full 24 hours in advance, and others opted to ride out the storm and were delayed a day or two. The last artist, Jim Carson, finally arrived with his wife Wednesday evening, just in time to catch the tail end of the Governors Kick-off Reception. It was a testiment to his good intentions to even come at all, as he had to turn around and leave on his scheduled return flight on Saturday!

Spending our last 24 hours at home rehanging our South Street Art Gallery for it's monthly gallery walk (which was to happen while we were gone) and preparing our home for the big storm, we arrived in Curacao Saturday evening a day early and  just hoping that we hadn't forgot anything really important (we hadn't...unless you consider a pair of shorts and a beach cover-up important).  After a much needed day resting and getting acclimated, we were off and running with  our first workshop at 8 AM on Monday morning.

In order to allow as many artists as possible a little spending money, we set up the workhop with a different instructor each day so it was really more an overview of approaches to plein air than an intensive week with one instructor. I knew that we all taught enough of the same pinciples that the students would get the basics, and that each instructor brought different strengths and some different approaches. The hours were 8 - 1 PM because no one really wanted to paint in the intense sun of the afternoon and we all wanted to sample the delights of this island nation in the afternoon and evenings!

First Day

The photo is Roger Dale Brown doing a demo for his students and in the far distance is Larry Moore with his group. The groups were divided up between US and Curacao students. Most of the US students had much experience painting plein air. For many of the Curacao artists, this was their first time painting outdoors!

That's  Stewart White Painting at Caracas Baii

Thomas Kitts paints the colorful fishing boats.

Hai Ou Hou also painting the fishing boats.

Day Two

Arriving late Monday night because of the hurricane and being in the tropics for the first time , Tim Bell underestimated the strength of the  sun and set up his group in full sun. Here they are next to the water canal that divided Punda ( business part of the city of Wilmenstad)  from Scharloo which is the old section where the Maritime Museum is located.

Unfortunately, Stewart White also chose the same location just a bit to the left, right by a picturesque boat. Also unfortunately, the boat started up it's engine while Stewart was doing his demo and the diesal fumes made short work of that lesson! Such are the unexpected hazards of plein air painting. Students from both groups eventually retreated to the shady courtyards of the museum where most painted contentedly until end of class for the day at 1 PM.

Day Three

Wednesday the group met at Santa Cruz beach, a lovely crecent shaped beach surrounded by peaked hills, located about an hour west of the city. Instructors for the day were Ed Cooper and Kirk Larsen.  Ed taught a lesson on "on site perspective" and demonstrated by painting an orange storage container and Kirk painted a view of the sea  from  under a cabanna. Students were very comfortable that day as there was generous shade in the area as well as beautiful breezes. It was great to get away from the congested areas of Wilmenstad and the eastern suburbs and see the beautiful countryside of the western part of the island.

Between painting the gorgeous scenery and taking frequent dips in the salty sea, I forgot to take photos! If anyone has any, send them to me and I'll post them.

That evening we assembled at the Marietime Museum for the Governor's kick-off reception.

In this photo are plein air artists, workshop artists, art-lovers and the Governor's aide.

Paintings were displayed  all over the musem and there was much excitement among the large crowd. The Plein Air Caracao committee had done a great job getting the press to the event. A highlight of the evening was when Talbot County resident Clarissa White present a key to the town of Easton ( a gift from Mayor Bob Willey) to Governor Frits Goedgedrag. "Chrissy" is decended from 14 generations Talbot County natives. She spoke about how Curacao and Talbot county both share a love of the sea and art and wished  Plein Air Curacao much sucess with their venture.

After the reception a large group of us enjoyed a Cuban meal at one of the restaurants who had helped to provide some of the delicious food. It was especially enjoyable as we had beautfiful music to accompany our meal. A good time was had by all though we knew we had to get up early to be at the Hyatt the next day.

Day Four

Our workshops were located at the new Hyatt Resort, about a 30 minute drive from our villas, and located among some stunning scenery.

Shade was scarce however, and Thomas Kitt held his class under a large pavillion overlooking the sea. Valerie Craig and her group made do with the shade of some palm trees. The Hyatt graciously offered use of the resort amenities so many breaks were taken in the air conditioned dining rooms and in the pool and beach. They also gave the plein air artists the use of a room and shower so that we could be fresh for the late afternoon exhibit.

An informal exhibit was held on the outdoor patio and Hyatt guests enjoyed viewing the results of the days painting, both that of the professional artists and the workshop students.

Day Five

The final day of the workshop was held downtown at the Kura Hulanda Hotel. This is a unique hotel which was built out of structures that were part of the old city but had fallen into disrepair. Now it is an elegant area with restored buildings, shady courtyards, restaurants and a beautiful pool with waterfall. This was my day to teach and I was teaching how to capture a figure quickly in sunlight. My wonderful model Virginia was very obliging although I was careful to make sure most of her was in the shade!

Hiu Lai Chong took her group into the shaded garden of the Eco-Pool and painted the waterfall.

The hotel treated the artists to a free lunch in the courtyard!

Again, the work painted that day was displayed in an informal exhibit for the benefit of the hotel guests and interested on-lookers. This exhibit was over by 3 as Friday night was the start of the North Seas Jazz Festival and many students, members of the PAC committee and plein air artists were eager to get ready for that huge event!

Headliners that night were Chic; Earth,Wind and Fire; Branford Marsalis; and Sting. This was a first class jazz festival and my only regret was that we were so tired from the week of getting up early for workshops that we arrived late and missed some of the early acts. Also, arriving home at 3:30 AM we were less than excited at the propect of getting up for Paint-Out in Punda, which was to start at 8AM. Still it was worth staying to the end to see Sting up close and to see Branford Marsalis join Sting for several numbers in a surprise appearance. Totally cool!

Paint Out in  Punda

For the culminating event of Plein Air Curacao, the paint-out and competition in Punday, the organizers brought together all the many parts of the festival for a final exhibit in the downtown park Wilhelminaplein. Present were the Plein Air Easton painters, the workshops students, the Curacao professional artists, the teens and the children, all displaying their work under several tents. Artists and volunteers wore bright red t-shirts supplied by  a sponsor, Digicel, to identify them as part of the festival. Awards were chosen in four categories: teen; international artists, plein air artists, and workshops artists. Roger Dale Brown, Stewart White, and Thomas Kitts graciously volunteered to chose the winners in three categories; one of the workshop students chose the winner in the plein air artist category. You'll have to check the PAC website to see the names of all the winners, but I can tell you that Thomas Kitts won in the plein air artist category with his painting of the floating market in Punda. The award was $1000 guilders (about $670)  and helped much to cover the costs of his trip. Congrats Thomas!

Oh yes, I did manage to drag myself to town by 9:00 but missed my model Virginia (I had been looking forward to doing a portrait of her) and ended up painting the courtyard restaurant in Kura Hulanda. Standing on the cobbled stones in the shade of the main building, who knew I would be attacked by miniscule biting ants! Made it hard to concentrate on my painting - Still it was fun to converse with the passing guests, many of them in town for the Jazz Festival and some of them from the USA!

At 3 PM we picked up our work from the Maritime Museum and our part in Plein Air Curacao was officially over. Many artists were already leaving on the afternoon plane with others scheduled for Sunday departures and some not leaving until Tuesday.

Now that this inaurgural event is over we have much to reflect upon. There were many wonderful things about our week in Curacao. That the landscape is beautiful is indisputable.  Snorkeing and diving are incredible. The restaurants are plentiful, good and varied. The Curacao people are warm and generous and there are many stories of natives going out of their way to aid the American artists. Artists who opted to stay with host families got to see an inside view of the culture which enriched their experience and many friendships were formed. Artists who treated it as a vacation where they could paint, and who got their own accomodations and got their own cars probably had a different experience than the artists who saw themselves as a part of a plein air event.

As a fledgling organization,  Plein Air Curacao did a wonderful job getting the press on-board and making successful contacts among the business community.  Communications were difficult and many of the problems could have been avoided with more timely written information. Key items such as contact information,  detailed schedule of events  and PAC expectations of the artists would have made events run more smoothly. 

Running a workshop in the middle of such an event was hard with my attention divided between the workshops and the plein air festival. I would not do that again. However, I very much liked the Curacao students who were in the workshop and hope that they will band together and form an active plein air group. There is plenty of talent there, just not a great deal of plein air experience. I hope the workshops helped to better equip them for the challenges of painting in the great outdoors.

I would return to Curacao to paint, and I would always be open to such international adventures that may come my way. That's what we plein air painters are about! Didn't a well-known plein air painter say that "Plein Air is my passport to see the world."

The gardens between our villas at the Livingstone Resort.

View looking east towards the more populous part of the island.

Looking west towards the less settled part.

I hope you've enjoyed this blog about  the Plein Air Curacao Adventure. Now it's time for me to get back in the studio and put in some good painting time. Fall is in the air and thoughts turn towards more indoor pastimes. However, Hai Ou and I are getting in some plein air time tomorrow...once a week is the goal.

Ayo! (Good-by in Papiamentu)