Artists in the “plein air” event in San Juan Bautista painted from Aug. 28 to Sept. 2. Being outside and having to deal with the elements – primarily the moving sun – those artists took varying approaches to the challenge of, as they say, chasing the light.
Kati D’Amore from the Aromas area took a traditional approach on the event’s second day, as she stood on the dirt path outlining the main lawn at Old Mission San Juan Bautista, painting a portion of the iconic church. She had been back a second straight day working on that particular piece, because she paints in specific two-hour windows to capture consistent lighting and she wanted to return at the same time to touch up her work – particularly the architecture.
“It,” she said of the lighting, “affects the colors and the shadows.”
Plein air is the practice of painting outdoors. The Paint San Juan event last week was the third annual gathering put on by the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association. It involved painters disseminating throughout the town – recognizable by the site of easels – with jurors selecting winners for awards and displays going up at Café 15.
D’Amore explained that the plein air approach in San Juan, a tourist spot, adds additional time constraints when people stop to talk. She said one visitor the first day went as far as asking her, “Don’t you have a camera?”
For one of the participants, the answer would have been a simple yes.
Bonnie Tucker was set up right next to JJ Burger along The Alemeda. She was painting the Casa Juan de Anza building, constructed in 1799, across the street.
“I kind of like what’s happening to the building,” she said, pointing to the aging adobe and falling stucco.
But the lighting changes so quickly for Tucker, she stays on track with an iPad. She uses it to snap photos of the building so the colors stay consistent.
“You have to have some kind of a reference,” Tucker said. “This tool is wonderful.
“It also grids. I’m not a super artist like some of these painters are.”
Tucker said she tries to find buildings that are inviting to onlookers.
“I want to make it something you want to see and do,” she said.
San Juan Bautista is a particularly ideal location for an outdoor painting event because it’s “quaint and has a lot of history,” said Hollister’s Maureen Serafini, who had been registering participants but also painting a view of the Plaza Hotel.
She said there were 16 painters signed up as of around noon that day.
“They’re looking for light,” Serafini said of the painters out searching for preferable locations. “What we’re looking for is the play of shadows of the light.”
