Moab en Plein Air: Paintings by Mary Pusey

Art Reception

Exhibit runs Mar 12–Apr 13

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Artist's Statement
I love painting the outdoors. As I travel, I make quick sketches or paintings. If I am riding my Harley, I try to memorize certain vistas and paint them later in the room. I take these sketches and studies into my studio to work into larger paintings. I take photos, but the freshness of the plein air paintings allows me to remember the wonderful colors and light that no photograph can show. As a result, my paintings are representations of what I see and feel, not necessarily of what is actually there.

The second week in October is Moab’s Red Rock Festival. Included in this festival is a plein air competition.  I have attended this fun event for the past two years.  This year the weather was challenging to say the least!!! We painted in rain almost every day.  It snowed during the night and left the La Sal Mountains gleaming white in the sunshine the next morning. We painted a nocturne painting with only city lights to show the way. The day sixty-plus artists were to paint in Arches National Park was predicted to be sunny. There was fog to the ground.  Painting in the fog was a first-time event for me. It was cold, it was gloomy, and it was fun! Needless to say, we painted under bridges, in our cars, and under umbrellas to get as much painting in as we could. I had a blast! The paintings in this show are a combination of the Red Rock en plein air event and paintings finished in my studio from photos taken during the weeklong festival. Enjoy!