Welcome to the Montana Painters' Alliance web site.
The mission of the Montana Painters Alliance (MPA) is to hone our skills as professional artists by getting together twice a year to paint en plein air on different locations around the state. Sharing painting ideas and technique happens naturally as artists paint together. Doing so in beautiful locations around the state is the icing on the cake.
Plein Air painting is like boot camp for artists, as one is constantly challenged by the rigors of outdoor painting – the changing light, rain, heat or cold, bugs in your paint, the Montana wind. One must decipher the essence of the subject, simplify and paint quickly – all great exercise and inherent lessons for the working artist.
Let it also be said that there is much camaraderie around the campfire in the evenings, with good food and drink and good music (by our illustrious Chuck Fulcher and sometimes others as well). Of course there are many tall tales shared!
As a result of our paint outs, the MPA then organizes shows in museums and galleries across the state. Individual name recognition is a by-product of these shows, related magazine articles, workshops and group advertising.
Plein Air painting is like boot camp for artists, as one is constantly challenged by the rigors of outdoor painting – the changing light, rain, heat or cold, bugs in your paint, the Montana wind. One must decipher the essence of the subject, simplify and paint quickly – all great exercise and inherent lessons for the working artist.
Let it also be said that there is much camaraderie around the campfire in the evenings, with good food and drink and good music (by our illustrious Chuck Fulcher and sometimes others as well). Of course there are many tall tales shared!
As a result of our paint outs, the MPA then organizes shows in museums and galleries across the state. Individual name recognition is a by-product of these shows, related magazine articles, workshops and group advertising.
 Painting at Jake Hoover's Cabin on the Sonny Trask Ranch near
Utica, MT
Plein Air Painting
En plein air: French for outdoors, (or plein air painting) is the act of painting outdoors. Plein air is an adjective pertaining to a manner or style of painting developed chiefly in France in the mid-19th century, characterized by the representation of the luminous effects of natural light and atmosphere as contrasted with the artificial light and absence of the sense of air or atmosphere associated with paintings produced in the studio. |