Celebrating the Art of Plein Air Painting

As the warm weather approaches and the color of summer begins, it seems like a dream to take your easel and painting supplies outdoors to experience creating on location. It takes a certain kind of adventurer to get out there, travel about and find that special scene that will inspire you to capture the light, color and atmosphere of a moment, a place, in time. 

Fred Holman has been taking that challenge and creating on the spot paintings that capture his scenes in oil.

Join us Saturday, June 6 from 10 - 4 for a day of plein air painting in the courtyard of The Shirt Factory in Glens Falls, NY.  We will celebrate painting outdoors in this historical, creative setting.

If it rains, you can set up inside the historical halls.

There will be a reception for Fred to follow, in the gallery at 4pm. Suite 105

Artist’s Statement

Plein air painting is the most challenging for me.  The conditions are continually changing and the image that you are trying to capture is only part of the vast view that is before you.  I consider my plein air work as a sketch in time.  I try to finish in about 2 hours so that light and atmospheric conditions are somewhat the same.

There are two aspects of my work I try to focus on.  The first is creating a sense of space or the third dimension on a two–dimensional plane.   As a Landscape Architect, I designed spaces in the real world.  Now I want to represent that feeling on canvas.  I have tried to accomplish this with value and color.

The second aspect of my work is light.  Living on the Adirondacks, the overcast days are not conducive to painting light.  This continues to be a challenge that keeps me exploring new palettes and my expanding use of color as means of defining both space and light.

Fred Holman started painting in 2005.  What began as an interest in refining his drawing skills turned into a passion for exploring the joys of nature and the challenge of the inanimate object through painting.  He is a Landscape Architect and Planner by profession, so the outdoors and creating beautiful, functional spaces have been part of his life for over 40 years.   A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design Painting and Drawing Certificate Program in 2007, Fred obtained the knowledge needed to use his natural talent in his paintings.  He has explored many mediums, but today oil is his preferred medium to paint still life’s, portraits or landscapes. Fred’s studio is located on the Schroon River in Brant Lake, New York.  

Fred currently sits on the Board of Directors of the North Country Arts Center and is a member of the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council and the Saratoga Arts Council.  

His work has been shown at these venues and in the juried art shows in the southern Adirondack region.  

In 2012 he won the “Artists Guild Award” at the Adirondack Plein Air Festival in Saranac Lake, New York

Coming in July!

"The Paintings of Ken Wilson"

Ken Explores the local landscape as well as the love of the horse 

and race track in oils.

"Solace"