Brian Keeler sat on the sidewalk near the top of a hill in downtown Towanda. He wore a wide-brimmed hat to block Wednesday’s hot sun. A tray of oil paint in a rainbow of colors hung from an easel.
“I’m painting this view right here of Poplar Street looking towards the Bradford County Courthouse, and it’s reminding me of other hill towns, like San Francisco,” he said.
Keeler’s canvas had an outline of the courthouse, Lady Justice and her scales on top, and other downtown buildings and the mountains. He filled in the sky with white paint.
Keeler is a founder of the Susquehanna Solstice Fest, which features plein air painting.
“It just means open air, painting out in the open like the impressionist did in the 19th century, painting directly from the another French word, the motif or the subject or the scene and it’s a great way to paint,” he said.
Deep valleys, historic architecture and interesting trees called to the 30 artists who practiced the French technique this week in Bradford County. It’s the third year local and painters from around the East Coast and beyond have interpreted the region through art during the festival.
Keeler was born and raised in the region. He wanted to bring other artists to the area he’s been painting his whole life.
“It’s very special to me,” he said.
On Main Street in the borough, Michelle Tulumello found a shady spot. She sketched the red-press brick Towanda Public Library.
“I think it’s Flemish Gothic or something like that … I just found it really interesting,” she said. “There’s a lot of really neat looking libraries out there and I have fun drawing things like that.”
Tulumello is an illustrator from New York who fills in her drawings with water color.
“I like the opportunity to be able to sit down outside and draw the built environment like architecture,” she said.
She painted Wyalusing on Monday and drove throughout the countryside on Tuesday. The artists are encouraged to explore the region.
Steve Duprey, also from New York, painted on the side of the road between Towanda and Wyalusing.
“Every once in a while you get into ‘I like this thing and my brushes like this thing and it doesn’t like anything else,’ so I spent some time looking for a nice tree like that,” he said.
The busy route turned into a curvy country road on his canvas.
“What we do is interpret, for instance I’m painting this little scene over here. And that little gray barn is no longer gray. It’s red, because I wanted some focus to go back to that,” he said.
Duprey likes the spontaneity and the search that comes with plein air.
“I heard an expression the other day, you’ve got to find reality and turn it into a painting,” he said.
During the interview, a woman across the street stopped us to check in on him.
“This is the other thing I like about about plein air … the folks who live here stopped and talked to me for a while and gave me some suggestions. It’s 99% of the time it’s sweet and the other 1% is ‘get off my land’,” he said.
Mitchell Saler and his canvas and oil paints were under an umbrella, under a tree at the Marie Antionette Lookout along Route 6. The scenic stop is high above the Susquehanna River and the farmlands the river wraps around.
“I just love the magnificent view of the river and I love painting the atmosphere and vastness,” he said.
The 30 artists began painting outdoors on Monday. They are typically done with their work by the end of the week.
“That’s kind of the essence of plein air. It’s kind of direct spontaneous and a quick study,” said Keeler.
The plein air painting culminates in a juried art show and awards ceremony on Friday evening at the French Azilum Historic Site, 469 Queens Road, Towanda. Live music and other events also begin on Friday.
The Azilum was founded in the late 1790s for monarchists fleeing the French Revolution.
For more details, visit susquehannasolstice.com.
