Portfolio | The Great Outdoors

Where do you live and work?I live in North Idaho on 10 acres in the mountains, southwest of Sandpoint. I work primarily from my home, when not “plein air painting.”

What interests you in plein air painting, how does it inform your studio work and what is your creative process?The light and mood of any location is best captured in real life, plein air painting. Photographs will never capture the full depth and mood of any location. Ninety-five percent of all my landscape painting are done only in plein air…Still life is done also from real life, from setups in the studio. And all figurative that involves landscapes is from my personal photo reference and using my plein air captures to work the landscapes from.

Where did you study art?El Camino Junior College, in Torrance California, and over two years at the Art Center College of Design, when it was on 3rd Street in LA and when 95 percent of the instructors were professionals in the art field who taught perhaps one day a week. Later years, instructors were artists who were primarily teachers, with or without actual experience. I also studied with Don Putt Putman, Dan McCaw and Bill Reese.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?Promoting Plein Air Painters of America from 1987 through 1996 that eventually created the “plein air movement” known today in the USA; creating a 16-foot mural for Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, California, that was captured 80 percent “en plein air”; working on the Toppenish murals; writing and having published a plein air book that showed six to eight steps for the creation of 10 plein air paintings; and paying 85 percent of my home on 10 acres in the mountains of North Idaho with my plein air paintings.

Contact informationbettybillups.com

Where do you live and work?My studio/gallery is located in downtown Ralston, Nebraska.  

What interests you in plein air painting, and how does it inform your studio work?Painting is such a spiritual experience for me. Nothing inspires me more than being out on location, capturing the subtle nuances of color, light and atmosphere that can only be achieved by painting from nature…I believe in order to paint landscapes in the studio convincingly, it’s necessary to study from life, in plein air. I often use my plein air studies as reference for my studio work, particularly for accurate color.

What is your creative process?When I’m searching for a subject to paint, especially outdoors, I’m usually drawn to subjects that have dramatic light and/or mood. Often I will set out on a painting adventure with a certain scene in mind to paint, only to find something else on the way that calls me to stop and capture it.

Where did you study art?I received my BFA in 1978 from Bellevue College, at the time a small private college in Bellevue, Nebraska. Beginning in 1996, when I went back to my art full time, I started taking workshops from a number of artists I admire, including Kevin Macpherson, Scott Christensen, Tom Browning, John Cosby, Kenn Backhaus and Jessica Zemsky.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?Oh wow…I have so many things I’m grateful for in my career that I’m not sure I can choose just one! Probably the biggest opportunity I’ve had in my career has been serving as president of the American Impressionist Society since 2013 and CEO since 2015. It is such an honor and privilege to serve our members and know that we have a small part in helping artists along in their careers.

Contact informationdebrajoygroesser.com

RepresentationDebra Joy Groesser Fine Art, Ralston, NE, debrajoygroesserfineart.comMary Williams Fine Art, Boulder, CO, marywilliamsfineart.comMontgomery-Lee Fine Art, Park City, UT, montgomeryleefineart.com

Where do you live and work?Brookings, South Dakota.

What interests you in plein air painting, and how does it inform your studio work?When I was young, I drew and painted outside all the time and it didn’t have a special name or significance. It was just fun. But after spending a couple decades as a studio painter, getting back outside about four years ago was hard! I do it because I feel like I’m really seeing and experiencing the subject of my paintings, and that must have a good effect on my artwork.

What is your creative process?I like to have several paintings in-progress at a time, so if I need to stop and think about one painting, I can work on a different one. I like to work in series, so I can investigate the things I paint over the course of several paintings. I generally have one aspect of painting that I’m most focused on, and right now it is texture. You’ll see thick paint over thin paint, and a lot of interesting marks in my current paintings.

Where did you study art?I went to the Pacific Northwest College of Art for two years, and later got a bachelor’s degree in psychology from University of Oregon. Since then, I’ve taken painting, drawing and other art classes and workshops from artists I admire as often as possible. And for the last three years I’ve been teaching online art workshops, which I absolutely love! That has developed into a wonderful community of enthusiastic painters.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?Painting with great artists at the American Impressionist Society national show a couple years ago in Omaha, and then winning the “Best of Quarry” purchase award for my painting OPENING at the wet wall event was an absolute plein air highlight. Building and showing a cohesive series of 30 paintings, many quite large, and turning it into a traveling solo exhibition titled The Spirit of Prairie Life that showed at four gorgeous venues was a huge highlight. I’ve just started a new series (and looking for exhibition venues), so I can do that again.

Contact informationjessierasche.com

RepresentationShain Gallery, Charlotte, NC, shaingallery.comArt Resources Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, artresourcesgallery.com

This story appeared in the October/November 2023 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Subscribe today to read every issue in its entirety.

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