I rarely see anyone when I am on location by the river or out in the high desert, or remote coastline. So, I was surprised when a Texas trout fisherman on his way upstream snapped this shot of me painting on location. He said noticed the scent of oil paint before he saw me. Such interesting odor can also bring charming and unwanted wildlife around. I have seen copperheads, Diamondback rattlers, racoons, opposum, coyotes and deer. Some of my painter friends up North ventured into bear, rams, cougars and moose country. So, I am sure that's coming.

Plein Air is a French term, "open air." In painting it relates to the practice of painting outdoors on site, directly from the subject, as opposed to in the studio. Typically the result is a painting that is more, abbreviated, in attempting to capture natural light, local color, air, and atmosphere of the moment. Most of the Impressionists painted Plein Air.

In my case the painting outdoors leads to a freer more fluid application of paint and I become more of a colorist. I tend towards Expressionism and even inspired by California Fauvists. The Fauvists (Wild Beasts) style was a development originally based on Van Gogh and Gauguin's Post-impressionism, by painters of the 20th Century, such as Henri Matisse in France, and later, some Bay Area, California location painters.

Back in my early days in Bay Area, those of us starting out, with our early mentors, Millard Sheets, Jade Fon, and George Post, just called it location painting. It is how we learned to paint – how we learned to interpret from the source of nature. We didn't start with a style, we developed our style by painting solely on location – PleinAir. It requires good draftsmanship and depending on the weather and location can be physically taxing.

The whole location theory reminds me of the 70s, when to my dismay I watched the contemporary art world, photo realists, discover the camera, and suddenly everyone thought they could draw and paint. And the 1980s and 90s watching people painting what they think a painting should look like, rather than going to the source and letting nature speak to you, and thus learning discovering style as a natural development through the act of painting. And many of these camera artists, having never struggled, anchoring down a canvas with both feet while attempting to paint in heavy winds, (Once a gust of air lifted the canvas overhead as I watched it nose dive off the pier and into the surf. I fished it out, and sold it to a boat owner on the spot), did not develop a style as much as borrowed an existing style. I was reassured on my first trip to Santa Fe, when I encountered Walt Gonske freezing on location painting in the snow with a 30x36 canvas. He later had a van specially made to paint in inclement weather. Those of us that paint on location have a silent bond.

Having said that, studio paintings are important for the artist. The time and thoughtfulness of the studio produces a different quality, equally rewarding, and a more finished painting. So I agree with the idea of studio paintings made from location work. I think of Manet, Cezanne, they all did that; even John Singer Sargent. I also like the practice of doing a series of paintings on a theme, both Plein Air and in the studio.