Regional Art Events Span Plein-Air, Bird Watercolors

A beginner watercolor painter describes taking a community plein-air class, where an instructor encourages bolder work and demonstrates how paint behaves on a wet surface. At Omaha’s inaugural Heartland Plein Air Festival, artist Robin Weiss says the event pushed artists to paint in unfamiliar locations and challenging weather, including a thunderstorm. Weiss’s festival paintings included a sunset scene that sold at the gala and “Sunny Side,” which received an honorable mention. The posts emphasize how plein-air painting turns attention to light, place and the conditions artists encounter outdoors.