Group goes outside for open air art

A NEW outdoor painting, or en plein air, group has been formed from members of the Ballarat Society of Artists.

The group held their first meeting recently near Pipers by the Lake, and was organised by outgoing BSA president John Canham and vice-president Jon Lam.

Canham said the impetus was in response to a renewed interest in en plein air from their members.

“When I first joined the Society, we’d have a few of us who’d go out regularly for this sort of thing,” he said.

“We’ve had people interested in doing this for a while and we’ve been talking about it since the end of last year. Our aim is to keep it going on a regular basis.

“Plein air is immediate and you’re painting what you look at. You’ve got to capture the moment you’re looking at because with shadows it’s changing all the time.”

The meetups are set to take place monthly on Fridays, with the location to be decided closer to the date.

Lam was one of 10 artists to attend the first meeting, and chose the Pipers venue itself as his en plein air subject.

He said it’s been a nice way to socialise with his colleagues.

“There’s a certain camaraderie to this as a social event,” he said. “I like plein air because it’s a natural perspective. When you take a photo, trees in the back will be all black, but with your eye you can see so many different shades of green.”