February 2001

Marva Hayes Harms
En Plein Air

My oil painting exhibit en plein air is a collaboration of three trips to France painting on location.  My footsteps followed in the paths of the French Impressionists....along the Seine with Pissarro, amongst the water lilies of Monet, & in the wheat fields of Van Gogh.   I dipped my brushes in an atmosphere bathed in sunlight & colour.

Just northwest of Paris my journey begins along the Seine to Giverny.  Straw hat and umbrella shaded my palette as I painted the poppies in Monet's Garden.  His magnificent flowers are indeed impressionistic daubs of a French masterpiece.  Pinks & Reds dominate my textured canvas.

Other scenes of this painting series were done alla prima at the sites of Pissarro; the sunlit path along the river & his house near the aqueduct.  Finding Van Gogh's presence at Auver was the highlight of this northern experience.  Nothing can compare to the emotion I felt painting with Van Gogh in the sun struck wheat fields.  Yellow strokes, thick & juicy, fill my large canvas.

Van Gogh's disillusion with the north brought him to the southern area of France called Provence.  Here he found scenes drenched in yellow sunlight.  Cafe scenes, fields of lavender & the open air seemed to bring him a temporary peace of mind.  It also brought me the same warmth and calmness as I set up my easel among the cadmium yellow umbrellas of the famous Night Cafe.  Van Gogh painted it at night; mine during the day.

Provence is a special place in my heart because of the markets, the people, and its history.  A picnic lunch packed with a baguette, cheese and peaches would send me off into the dotted sunflowers.  I colour it pure lemon yellow with a cobalt blue sky.

I hope that my exhibit will reflect to you my feeling of painting on location in the open air.  It was important to me as it brought the Van Gogh story to me full circle.  Colour it complete.

Marva Hayes Harm