AboutPLACE
A Conversation with Sue Walters
The editors of The Preserve Magazine caught up with plein air painter Sue Walters to talk about her art practice at The Preserve and beyond.
there’s wind, lots and lots of sun. And then there are the curious onlookers who won’t stop talking to you. But none of that bothers me anymore. When you’re painting, you’re trying to concentrate, and you only have a very short time to nail it because the colors and shadows change. Once you start, you’ve really got to invest yourself and get it done as quickly as possible.
I also do abstract work. There’s one painting I did two summers ago called Desert Fire. There were some really bad fires in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs. My house at the time looked out over the fires and every night I would watch the flames. The scene just screamed abstraction. Sometimes the subject matter dictates what the painting should be.
PM You are a plein air painter, meaning that you set up your easel and paint outside in the landscape. How did you get into that way of working?
PM Plein Air painting started with the Impressionists. Do you connect yourself with Impressionism?
SW I lived in the desert for 35 years and I used to do a lot of hiking. The desert landscape is very dramatic and very raw. The only way you can paint it is to be outside in it. If you take a photograph, all the colors change. I fell in love with plein air because I could do two things at once: be outside where I wanted to be, and also paint the landscape.
SW Absolutely. But every artist takes his or her own path. When I was studying under other artists, I would paint like them. But then I got into my own groove. Some people say that I’m more of a Realist than an Impressionist. I’ve got my own signature, as every artist does. Does my work look like the French painters? No. It looks like my work.
PM You describe the concentration and the short time frame of plein air painting. It strikes me that it must be a very mindful and moment-to-moment process.
PM Is it challenging to paint outside?
Plein air has become more and more popular because it’s fun to be outside and paint the real colors. Everyone still does studio work because you can’t be outside every day.
SW There are lots of challenges to painting outside! There are flies, 42
santa lucia preserve.com
SW You have to put your ego away. It’s not about you. It’s about the painting. It’s about all your senses being totally alive. So you’ve got to put you away. It’s an interesting meditative experience. And then when you do something well, you can’t believe it. It’s like, “Where did that come from? Who did that?” It’s very weird. It’s uplifting. That’s what I mean about putting yourself away. You have to open yourself up to everything and let it come in.