Amazing art is being made here, right before our very eyes! And it’s not even summer!
Heart O’ the Hills Camp is one of the private properties in the Kerrville area that has opened its gates to outdoor artists for the Annual Plein Air Outdoor Painting Event. “Plein air” is pronounced “plain air” and is the practice of painting outdoors made popular by French impressionists 150 years ago.
It’s very exciting to see these professionals open up their car trunks and haul out tarps and umbrellas, easels and boxes of paint. They have clearly done this before!
For the last several years, the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center has invited the most renowned professional Plein Air artists in the country to gather for the four-day event, under way now.
To me, the most exciting aspects of the event is called the Quick Draw Competition. All the artists gather in a pre-determined spot (this year it’s the Riverside Nature Center), and have 90 minutes to paint a piece compelling enough to sway the judges that their art is the best. Anyone is invited to come and witness.
One painter told the Kerrville Daily Times that this “wet paint show” really separates the men from the boys, the professionals from the amateurs, adding that it is difficult to 
capture a great angle and convey the beauty of the subject so quickly, and responds when people ask how long it takes to paint such a piece of art, “two hours and 45 years.”
Beginning with an artists’ reception on Saturday, Oct. 7, the Arts and Cultural Center will have the works for sale and on display.
I can’t wait to go see the exhibit. There is something so special about seeing a good artist’s interpretations of the area’s iconic views, and get some looks at places that are off the beaten path, too.
And I especially can’t wait to see the paintings made right here at The Heart!
About the Author
