Plein Air Painters - To Paint the Land is to Save the Land

Courthouse Butte trail maker, showing the way to one of the Sedona Art Hike locations.

I originally wrote this article for my Sedona Art Hikes website blog. I think it is also appropriate for my art notes. As an artist concerned about the safety and well being of our environment, I think that by standing on the land in appreciation enough to put paint to canvas in celebration of that land is to save the land. Read on for more of my thoughts on this subject.

To Paint the Land is to Save the Land.

To stand on the land, our glorious, magnificent natural wondrous land in appreciation, is to save the land in that moment in time. As artists who paint it, we do what we can to preserve it on our canvas. While standing in nature while painting, something happens deep within us. The beauty captures something inside, our eyes take note with visual memory. I have to believe that a symbiotic relationship develops between us and the land. Could we move that experience forward? Could we acknowledge that we must, at that moment, take full responsibility for its protection, to save the land?

To paint something from life, we look deeper into it. We find something that moves us, pulls us forward into fuller appreciation. It is this full appreciation that has the power of possibility to heal both the artist and the land. Sure, the land is fine without us. The land will remain the land, if we can just leave her alone. Can we stop the destructive tendencies that some humans seem to be bent on doing in the name of expansion and growth to their corporation? Can we find something in the land that is more important than profits?

Sedona Art Hikes logo

At Sedona Art Hikes, it is our mission to do our small part in land conservation as a part of doing business. As we bring clients out onto the land, more and more people become aware of the intrinsic nature to nurture. It is our wish that each client who visits the Sedona landscape will honor the land upon which they stand. By painting what they are seeing and / or feeling, they are moving us forward to greater and greater awareness of the treasure that we must protect. We must protect the sacred, our natural resources. If we fail to do this, our very nature will cease to exist. We and nature help each other. What would a world be like if there were no more natural land to stand upon, only manmade structures? I shudder to think of such a horrid possibility.

“For those of us who paint [the landscape]… there is a visual memory quite different than those who snap a quick pic on their phones and hike on. We stand, in the moments, recording that space and time in a much deeper and more meaningful way. There is a part of our souls that opens up and spills out while simultaneously drinking in the world around us. We become partners with the land, and when we leave a piece of it remains inside of us.” – Lori Putnam

Joan Carra, a private painting client, is having fun with paint, honoring the land as she paints.

Each client who paints during our art hikes takes home a piece of divinity in the creation that they have made while here. Most of our clients are tourists who have come to experience the grandeur of our landscape. I imagine that their experience in painting on the U. S. Forest Service trails here in Sedona will impact them when they return. I hope it opens up a channel within them that when they return home, they will honor the land in which they live in new ways. And just perhaps, they will become new stewards with a newfound sense of a mission to save the land around them.

Links to mentions in this article:

Sedona Art Hikes

Psychic Joan Carra

About the Author

Mary Rae Rush (Mary Gravelle) is an artist, author, and creativity catalyst and consultant. She resides in Sedona, Arizona with her loving and efficient assistant, Sir Kitty. Her other services are Sedona Art Hikes and Wisdom Painting.

Contact her today with painting commissions, requests for creative work, consultations, or one on one coaching sessions. She is happy to paint something just for you. Or she can help you delve into your creativity and come out with your own unique expression.

Inquiries

Inquiries can be made through the contact page.

And, as always, I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below. 

Until Next Week

• Appreciate art
• Buy art
• Create art

The Visual Artist is a Unique Breed

Number 1: The All One.
24 x 24 inches, acrylic on wood,
Copyright 2009 Mary Rush Gravelle

I have changed my mind and thinking lately about artists being like any other professional such as a plumber or a lawyer.

I have made statements in the past that lean toward fighting for fair payment to the artist. I have written blog articles, see below, on the plight of the artist. They are serving humanity just as much as any other profession, right? Shouldn't they be fairly compensated for this service? Yes and...

Visual Artists Vs. Performing Artists

Visual artists are a different breed. I separate them from performing artists who get paid for performing their art. Yes, I do realize that they practice their art and on their own time.

On Their Own Dime and Time

The visual artist practices and makes their art all on their own dime and their own time. If they have prepared themselves well in the marketing aspects, they will succeed in possibly selling their work. They have to build up an inventory in order to have something available to be shown to someone who might want to buy it. They have to create first. And then, they can think about the sale. This is what separates visual artists from other professionals who get paid for the work they perform as they perform it. This is what makes visual artists a unique breed.

Number 4: Four Squared
24 x 24 inches, mixed-media on RayMar panel.
Copyright 2009 Mary Rush Gravelle. All rights reserved.

Need Alternative Ways to Get Paid

Unless the visual artist has built up an art patron relationship that pays them a monthly stipend for creating, they are not getting paid to do their art. Until they grow their reputation as an artist, they most times will need to perform other work for pay. Art materials are costly. It costs money to create art. The bills still need to get paid. The artist needs to eat. Costs for transportation need to be met.

Unique Space

Yes, visual artists inhabit a unique space in the world. They are creating from ideas and curiosities. They are following their hearts. They are creating beauty. They are helping us see our world in new ways.

They Have to Create

Most visual artists have not made the choice to be an artist. It is something that is innate. There is a driving inner force to create. If they do not heed the call, they pay for it in their depleted spirit.

Me

I am a visual artist. I am a unique breed in this world. I feel so much happier when I create. I have to do it. And, I would really love for my art to prosper me.

Other blog articles I have written on this subject.
Will Sell Art for Money
Give the Gift of Art
Is Everyone an Artist

I want to hear from you!

Please leave a comment below.

If you are an artist

Do you consider yourself a unique breed to humanity? Have you figured out how your art can prosper you? Do you work a job so you can pay for your art supplies? What are your thoughts on this idea?

If you are an art collector

Are you supporting a visual artist to create, to live their dream? Would you consider it?

Me, Mary Rush

Until Next Week

Sir Kitty

• Create art
• Appreciate art
• Buy art

About the author: Mary Rush Gravelle is an artist who resides in Sedona, Arizona with her beloved cat, Sir Kitty.