St. Charles is laced with a decidedly French artistic flair this week as the St. Charles Arts Council holds its second outdoor art festival.
The seven-day event which began Monday is dubbed “plein air” – a French term meaning “in the open air” – and runs through Sunday, Aug. 24. It has drawn 60 artists from across the country who are creating oil and watercolor paintings outdoors in the city which will then be presented at the end of the week for viewing and sale.
Kathy Hill, executive director of the Arts Council, said this year’s show increased significantly from the 40 artists a year ago. Hill said that everything about last year’s inaugural program went beyond expectations.
“Not always do things work 100%, but there was nothing that went wrong last year. It went so beautifully,” she said. “We had a welcome party at an old house here that was catered and there were all our events. The final one – the reveal party – we sold 40% of the artwork which is an indication of a successful week.”
Artists this year include representatives from California, Montana, New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio as well as Illinois, a cross-section of the country organizers say they “are thrilled with.”
“Obviously our goal is to have this become a national event. So far, we haven’t had to advertise it nationally because just our advertising on our website and word-of-mouth has led to this growth,” Hill said. “We didn’t want to grow to 100 artists yet and not be able to manage it well.”
Numerous outdoor painting events have been scheduled throughout the week in St. Charles including artists in the downtown area Tuesday and a morning session held at Pottawatomie Park from 9 to 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
“On Saturday, artists can drop off three pieces of work that they did this week and these will be judged,” Hill said. “We are giving away over $5,000 in prizes and the awards will be announced on Saturday. We also have a grand reveal party that is catered and it’s just a beautiful evening when all the artwork is on display.”
On Wednesday morning, cool temperatures and partly cloudy skies seemed to create the perfect backdrop for artists who were painting along the Fox River in the city and other park locations.
Dick Cholke of Pecatonica was creating a painting featuring a small brick guard house and a pillar on Wednesday and said he had participated recently in another plein air event.
“I just got done painting at Mineral Point, Wisconsin, but this is my first time here,” Cholke said on Wednesday. “I’m here doing a one-day quick paint. I’m just here for today. I like to do a variety of things, mostly Americana kind of stuff and I like to tell a story many times. I usually take a lot of reference photos before I paint and usually combine them to get a painting.”
Andrea Slupik of Geneva was admiring Cholke’s work on Wednesday and said she found out about the event “while sitting in a restaurant in downtown St. Charles.”
“As far as art goes I’m an interior designer who is now retired and I’m looking at taking painting classes here at the fine arts studio in St. Charles or other places,” Slupik said. “I’m not nearly as good but I’m also here to see various painting styles. I think the open-air thing is wonderful. It kind of touches the soul and brings out a joy and being out in nature.”
John Paul Marcelo of Santa Rosa, California, was creating a painting showing a boat in the Fox River on Wednesday and said that while he was quite a way from home, his parents live in Geneva.
“I’ve been painting since 2001. I was painting for fun and finishing up in college and studying graphic design and advertising and it was at a crossroads where things were being done on a computer,” he said. “I just made the assessment that the computer is not for me. People were pretty receptive to what I was doing panting outdoors and I just stuck with that.”
Cindy Shaw from West Hartford, Connecticut, came to take part in the festival in St. Charles and said she has family in the area and had been doing plein air painting “for about eight years.”
“I used to be an architect. I like painting nature but I’m leading towards abstraction but I also like a little bit of structure,” she said. “I’m getting also into classic, oil landscapes. I’ve done five or six plein air events each year during the season for about the past eight years. This is different from the studio. It’s challenging but it pushes you to be a better artist. When you go home to your studio, this is a reminder what you can accomplish in two hours and making quick decisions.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.