Returning for its fifth year, Snowmass Village's Plein Air Festival invites Colorado artists to leave their studios this weekend and paint outdoors.
Plein air is the art of painting outdoors instead of in a studio or workshop.
Jamie Wall’s day job is as an events producer for Snowmass Village, but one of her passions is painting the beauty in the Roaring Fork Valley.
“There isn't a day where I don’t take a look at the lighting and the shadows and the colors,” she said. “It's a beautiful area to paint.”
Artists were invited by the Snowmass Art Advisory Board to create a portfolio of paintings in one week to display this weekend at the Plein Air Festival and Art Sale this weekend.
“August is one of the most vibrant times of year in Snowmass, with an incredible variety of events that reflect the community’s creativity, outdoor spirit and mountain culture,” said Julia Theisen, tourism director at Snowmass Tourism.
She got back into painting when she moved to Snowmass nine years ago. She said there are several ways to see something that is always there, like the looming peaks of the Maroon Bells.
Wall was apprehensive about painting outdoors at first — where anybody could be watching — but she quickly got over it.
“I was at Woody Creek painting when this family came by. The daughter watched me paint, and she said, ‘Wow!’ That told me I'm not the worst painter. It's nice when somebody likes it,” Wall added.
This year marks Wall’s second time participating in the festival. She said this time around, she wanted to paint more objects, rather than popular spots in the valley, like Capitol Peak and the ski resorts.
“When you pull into Aspen, there's a yellow house with white Aspens, and I love the contrast,” she said. “So it's just like a classic little Aspen house.”
Another favorite piece of Wall’s is from a scene she found downvalley.
“There is a fun pink Vespa that I found in Carbondale that I painted, and I just thought that was like the coolest thing,” she said. “It was sitting up against a teal building, so I love those two colors together.”
This week, she also went on an early morning excursion to the Maroon Bells and a Thursday night concert in Snowmass Village. She also painted landscapes from the Watson Divide and Independence Pass.
Artists were invited by the Snowmass Art Advisory Board to create a portfolio of paintings in one week to display at the Plein Air Festival and Art Sale this weekend.
The board chose the thirty artists depending on size, subject and style, like watercolor and oil painting. Their final products are typically not seen until the opening day of the event.
“I mean, you don't really see any of the work beforehand. It kind of gets unveiled over the weekend,” Wall said.
“There will be seven new artists, which I'm excited to see. It's kind of cool to mix it up every year,” she added.
Other local artists include Amy Beidleman, Doug Graybeal and Nika Meyers.
The Plein Air Festival and Art Sale runs Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Snowmass’ Base Village.
