Door County Plein Air Festival 2011 @ Peninsula School of Art

How does an artist survive a five-day international outdoor art competition in Wisconsin's  95-degree heat? When the 160 paintings from the week long Door County Plein Air Festival 2011 (June 18-June 23) were finally unveiled in the Peninsula School of Art's Guenzel Gallery on Friday morning, the efforts belied the uncomfortable weather conditions. Over 460 paintings were submitted to the competition and the gallery will be rehung after the celebratory auction on Friday evening, July 22, to replace any sold paintings that have found a exultant owner.

Each of the 40 invited artists (including Pfister Artist In Residence Shelby Keefe) first presents their four best paintings from the intense outdoor experience completed during the past week (Some artists finish up to ten paintings during the competition) that Friday morning at the gallery. Then the rush occurs. labeling and leveling, to assure the participants their work will look stunning after painting for hours 'en plein air.' For the uninitiated or casual onlooker, en plein air means “in the open air.” The process became significant when the late 19^th century and first 20^th century Impressionists began carrying their brushes and easels to the outdoors to capture the diffuse color, changing light and grayed reflections or shadows from a singular viewpoint within particular moments during a day's specific time. 

The entire Door Peninsula may be accessed for this opportunity and each painting expresses the unique artistic style and vision from an individual artist. The multifarious variety to activities, historic buildings, fields, forests, nature, people, pets, recreation, wildlife and waterways consistently challenges artists to stretch their accomplished skills. Working outdoors through any immediate circumstances often involves overcoming brisk breezes, burning sunlight or the menacing Wisconsin mosquito, as when painting from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m  while dusk falls over the peninsula's shorelines. With all these variables affecting the week's creativity, an artist still chooses from acrylics, oils, pastel, and watercolor to recreate the Door County ambiance on canvas and paper.

While most Festival artists call numerous American states their home, Ulrich Gleiter traveled from Munich, Germany to attend the festival after participating in the Telluride (Colorado) Plein Air Paint Out last week. After the intense days painting on the peninsula rendering Gill's Rock, Porcupine Bay, Sister Bay and Ephraim in the Morning, Glieter sighs and lets the exhaustion and exhilaration settle in before joining the other participants for Fish and Chips lunch in nearby Bailey's Harbor.

The full time artist spends two months in the states over the summer and the Door County experience involves his second venture to Wisconsin. Gleiter studied at the Ilya Repin Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg (Russia) where his inspiration for Russian Impressionism flourished. Although the painter reluctantly admits that his colleagues claim the German Expressionism from his undergraduate studies at the Dresden Academy of Fine Art remains evident in his oil paintings. (www.ulrichgleiter.com)

At 1:00 p.m. that Friday afternoon the artists' selections were finished, framed and mounted on the gallery walls. Along with Gleiter, any remaining artists and staff were ushered outside while the single judge entered the gallery to make his decisions before the fundraising event that will being at 5:00 p.m. Friday evening. Every painting will be for auction with a portion of the proceeds from the  sales benefiting the Door County Peninsula School of Art. Awards will be announced at 7:00 p.m on July 23, while the highly anticipated Plein Air Festival Gala Auction begins in full force for that initial viewing to the week's incredible artwork. Visit Art Talk all weekend for impressions on the Gala evening, interviews with artists, insight into the judge's decision, and the excitement of the Dock Side Quick Paint, which begins at 9:00 a.m Saturday morning in Fish Creek. Anyone may enter the Saturday competition and the Festival offers a special division for children. The adult winner to the final two-hour morning paint receives an award at the Open Door Celebration from 6:00-8:00 Saturday evening, a free and open to the public event, where the artworks will be replaced as they are sold as the evening goes on into the night. 

Wisconsin Artists invited to the Door County Plein Air Festival 2011 include Andy Fletcher, James Hempel, Shelby Keefe, Liz Maltman, Tom Nachreiner, William Suys, and Chuck Weber. Awards will be announced Friday evening.)