The Plein Air Painters of the Four Corners will be sharing their work at Big Horn Gallery at Dead Horse Point State Park from Sept. 1 through Oct. 30.
The show will feature paintings of the Moab area and the greater Four Corners states.
In 2001, a group of artists met for the purpose of painting with like-minded spirits who were passionate about creating art in the out-of-doors. They created the Plein Air Painters of the Four Corners Area.
Plein air is a French term used by painters since the 19th century to describe painting done outside on location instead of in the studio. The Impressionists believed in the merits of painting in plein air and its popularity quickly spread to the rest of Europe, America and Russia. Mary Cassatt, Georgia O’Keefe, Edward Hopper and Wolf Kahn are a few examples of 20th century painters whose work continued to be influenced by plein air practice and tradition.
Painting in nature allows for direct observation in capturing light, shadow and color on an intimate level.
The group has grown to 40 members representing New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona and represent different types of media, including oils, watercolors and pastels.
The group have bimonthly paint out excursions have led the members to various national parks including Mesa Verde, Arches, Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, Chaco and lesser known scenic spots in the Four Corners region.
Moab artist Carolyn Dailey, one of the Plein Art Painters of the Four Corners Area, will be featured in the show at Dead Horse Point State Park that will display the work of 35 artists.
Dailey has been a professional painter since 1983 and a full-time artist since 1987. Winning awards in art as a child, she studied art and oil painting while earning her college degrees. However, her plein air tradition painting style was most influenced by workshop study with Mark Daily, Michael Lynch and Ned Jacobs at the Fechin Institute of Taos, NM in the early 1990’s.
She has exhibited in numerous one-woman and group shows in the United States and Guatemala. Early in her career a painting of “Antelope Canyon” was accepted in the 1984 Juried Invitational Show of the famous Salamungundi Club in New York City.
In 1999 she had a one woman exhibition at the national Ixchel Museum in Guatemala City.
Her paintings are in the permanent collection of the Grand County Public Library in Moab as well as decorate the San Buenaventura Hotel in Panajachel, Guatemala.
A reception for the artists will be held from 3 to 5 p.m., Saturday, October 5 at the Big Horn Gallery.
