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Tag Archives: Augusta
Augusta Missouri Plein Air Event
Hi All, just got back from the beautiful rolling wine country of Augusta, MO. It’s about 40 miles West of St Louis and is a welcome retreat from Springtime weather weirdness here in Colorado. Although it rained a good portion of the time I was there, I still managed to get some painting in. I cower under the hatchback of my Exterra when it’s raining, so I manage to stay somewhat dry. The problem with this is that I sometimes cant get to the ideal vantage point, and the hatchback is about one and half inches too short, so by the end of the session I need a chiropractor on deck!!
I took a first place at the “Paint the Katy Trail Waterholes” day. I painted the painting below entitled, “Missouri Greens” of the old car. The light broke out this day in the afternoon and turned in to a very nice day. I went through 2 small tubes and one large tube of Cad Yellow Lemon on the trip as the greens were Spring INTENSE!!
After the event I taught two 3 day workshops which were a lot of fun. Luckily the weather cooperated the whole time and I didn’t have to break out the contingency plan for rain during a plein air workshop. If any of ya’ll students get on this, list your comments below!!
Anyway, below is the body of work from the trip, in no particular order. If interested in purchasing any, please browse to the Available Landscape Painting section with the navigation bar above.
Augusta MO Plein Air Event
The Augusta Plein Air Event is a 10 day festival held in Missouri’s rolling wine country. This year it was held from April 22-May3. Every day had a 
special “paint out” event and was very well organized. The people seem to be very interested, hospitable, and genuinely proud of their community. A scenic drive in any direction yeilded countless artists at
their easels from 5 different states and even a Canadian oil painter came down for the event.
Missouri in Spring is absolutely gorgeous. I pulled in 
to the state Wednesday April 22, and the leaves were just starting to bud with some dogwood trees dotting the chapparal with their white sheet-like canopies. From Wednesday to the following Friday(10 days) I witnessed a remarkable transformation. The trees went to FULL bloom and there are millions of variations in the green harmony.
Augusta is situated along the Missouri River just an hour West of St. Luis. It’s a
place where time seemed to slow down while Middle American charm seemed to permeate the rolling 
hills. I didn’t know whether to paint pleasantly weathered barns, rusty old tractors, lakes, vineyards, distant views of the Missouri River, or one of my staple subjects, creek 
beds complete with rooted sycamore trees and fallen brick and brack, so I just painted all of them and numerous times!!
I was met with enormous hospitality. 
I stayed with Karen Kelley in the lovely Washington, MO, a short 10 minute drive from downto
wn Augusta. I say downtown like someone not in the know would expect some bustling metropolis. Not so, downtown Augusta consisted of a church or two, several bed and breakfasts, a couple of unique antique shops, a gallery, a 
two pump gas station, a couple of stop signs, a winery, and 
the artist’s meeting place which was an old restored VFW
…PERFECT.
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