I ❤ Plein Air 2025: Artistic Intent

The event begins with Turner and Constable – Sublime, Picturesque, and Beautiful, a lecture by Art Institute research associate, Jeff Nigro.

The event follows with painting demonstrations by oil painter Amanda Stenlund and watercolorist Richard Sheppard, giving us insights into their methods and intentions. We see two paintings come to fruition as the artists discuss the process.

After lunch at the Cliff Dwellers, Chicago artist Frankie Johnson shares her thoughts on How Can I Give This Scene More Impact?
Between the original reference and the finished painting, there is a path and process that includes eliminating, editing, rearranging, and delving more deeply into the focus and intention of the chosen subject. Frankie shares her thoughts and processes on the creation of one of her award-winning paintings.

A panel discussion concludes the event as Chicago plein air painters Don Yang, Frankie Johnson, Amanda Stenlund and Richard Sheppard present their personal and varied opinions on Artistic Intention – Why Do I Paint What I Paint?

Tickets are $75 for members and $95 for non-members. Tickets include morning coffee/muffins, catered lunch with cash bar, and goody bag. Tickets go on sale March 25th for PAPC members; April 5th for the general public.

Parking

Cliff Dwellers has an affiliation with 17 East Adams, Adams and Wabash self park.

Discount stickers are available at the bar and reduce the parking price to $18.

Speakers

Jeff Nigro

Jeffrey Nigro has had a professional relationship with the Art Institute of Chicago for over 30 years, beginning as Director of Adult Programs in the Department of Museum Education. Jeff is currently a research associate in the arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium and an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Interpretation. In his capacity as research associate, he assisted the co-curators of the current exhibition Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection. Jeff leads seminars at the Newberry Library and is a frequent speaker for the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA), for which was also the regional coordinator of the Greater Chicago region. His essay “Georgian Fangirls: Women and Castrati in Eighteenth-Century London” appears in Women and Music in the Age of Austen(Bucknell University Press, 2023).

Amanda Stenlund

Amanda Stenlund is a traditional, realistic painter with oils, using brushes and palette knives to make paintings that show her hand in the process, as well as her curiosity and happiness. This summer you can find her artwork at the Bucktown Art Festival and Lakeview East Festival of the Arts. When not painting outside with PAPC, she’s working out of her Avondale studio. She is also a member of Oil Painters of America. See her work online at amandabrodiestenlund.com and instagram.com/imabrodie.

Don Yang

Artist and teacher Don Yang received his education with BFA and MFA from American Academy of Art where he also taught painting and drawing for over 22 years. An avid plein air painter, he currently teaches painting and drawing at Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts and in his studio at the historic Fine Arts Building in Chicago. https://www.donyang.com/

Frankie Johnson

Frankie Johnson has over fifty years of oil painting experience in figurative, portrait, landscape and still life work. She is a Signature member of the American Impressionist Society and a member of the Portrait Society of America and Oil Painters of America.

Frankie is the Owner/Director of the Mainstreet Art Center, a school of fine art, and the Mainstreet Gallery, both in Lake Zurich, Illinois. The Art Center holds classes for over 300 students weekly and conducts various workshops led by world-renowned artists. Frankie also directs workshops at the Art Center and throughout the Midwest.

Frankie’s paintings are included in private and corporate collections throughout the country. Her and her work is represented in the Fine Line Designs Gallery in Ellison Bay, Wisconsin and the Mainstreet Gallery in Lake Zurich. https://mainstreetartcenter.com/

Richard Sheppard

Richard Sheppard is relative newcomer to Chicago, having relocated four years ago from Northern California. An illustrator by profession, Richard has created over a hundred theater posters, and illustrated countless books, magazines and wine labels. Though new to Chicago, he’s no stranger to Plein Air painting, having begun painting watercolors out-of-doors fifteen years ago.

Richard believes the best souvenirs are not the things you buy or the photos you take while traveling, but paintings you create while on the road. Plein air painting allows the artist to slow down enough to get acquainted with surroundings that are so often overlooked while framing the world through a lens. Through his loose and vibrant watercolors, Richard is loving discovering this new place he calls home, neighborhood by neighborhood, by painting up the town.

Schedule

Lecture

Turner and Constable – Sublime, Picturesque, and Beautiful

During the Romantic era, British landscape painting truly came into its own, producing two towering, rival artists: J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), and John Constable (1776-1837).

Although Turner began his career painting exquisitely rendered topographical watercolors, his style became increasingly freer and almost abstract, attempting to capture the essence of nature. Turner’s work was inspired by loving observation of the world, but transformed through his extensive travels as well as by the power of his imagination.

By contrast, Constable spent virtually his entire career painting the landscapes of his home area, the Valley of the Stour River, straddling the counties of Essex and Suffolk, known even in his own lifetime as “Constable’s Country”. These atmospheric but unpretentious landscapes, rendered by Constable with a sensitive and thoughtful touch, only gradually reveal their quiet magic.

This richly illustrated presentation will include some of Turner’s and Constable’s most celebrated works, including paintings in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Sponsors

Plein Air Painters Chicago would like to thank our generous sponsors who helped make this event possible.

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