My Hand Painted Plein Art Bag

Hello friends I wanted to wish you all a great and wonderful week.

As the weather is configuring to look and feel more like spring I wanted to share my Plein Air Bag with you. I went trawling a few goodwill [charity] shops to find a sturdy , leather based bag with good quality straps. I grabbed this beauty for £5.00 in Clapham Common. The photo with the green bag shows it's original state, which I knew would be beautifully transformed once painted and sealed. I went ahead and painted it white with gesso, then later added colour once I had drawn a few basic shapes of flowers and a bird. It has developed greatly since these photos with doodles and an owl to add more texture and background. I will do an updated post on the progress of this bag with a video [by request] to show 'What's in my Plein Art bag!' and will tag other artist to do the same.

As spring is here and the weather improves ...I vow to be outdoors capturing all the beauty as our local landscape transforms. As I have mentioned.. much of my work is inspired by nature so I cannot wait to get stuck in. I will also share any work I have done in plein air with you all.

Plein air, a French word, literally translates as 'open air', and is defined as painting or drawing done outside, in the open air. The equivalent term in Italian would be alfresco. These works were taken directly from nature, and infused with a feeling of the open air.source-Ask Art.com The term is largely associated with the Impressionist artists of the late 1800's, a time when artists began to paint subject matter not normally seen: real people doing real, everyday things, and they came out of their studios into the open air to create their works. Impressionist artists were particularly interested in the influence of changing light outdoors on colour. The popularity of plein air painting was aided by the development of easily portable painting equipment and materials, including paints sold in tubes. source as above. Until next time....take care and enjoy the outdoors!! Chelsea