This summer my wife and I stayed at a B&B (Mountain Meadows) in Keene Valley where we painted right off the back porch. It made it so convienient to leave the easel in place and get right out and paint every day. It was mighty nice when it rained, too. I was told that Constable once defined Plein Air painting as "finding a comfortable place to sit under a tree and when the sun comes up paint what happens" I don't know if that is near to what he actually said but I like it. There is an old Irish folktale where the hero Fionn Macumhail asks his men "What is the greatest music in the world" and the answer is "The Sound of What Happens" Being present and seeing nature unfold and adapting to the constant changes in light, color, shadow is much more challenging than studio painting.
