“En Plein Air”

Description

The theory of ‘En plein air’ painting is credited to Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes (1750–1819). He developed the concept of landscape portraiture by which the artist paints directly onto the canvas in situ within the landscape.

This landscape painting has taken on the title of, En plein air, to describe what the tiny people in the landscape are doing. A very textural painting with 22 Karat gold leaf and sand elements. The sand was collected from Surfers Paradise beach and applied to the painting. The tiny people are 3D models attached to the canvas, achieving a sense of scale and realism. I have been including small model people in paintings from time to time from the early eighties. The box frame was hand-made by the artist.