Open Our Eyes: Plein Air Painting

I painted this with a palette knife one morning in my backyard when the light was warm and yellow, filtering through the trees. Morning Light, Oil on Birchwood Panel, 9 x 12 inches, by Susan E. Brooks

Open Our Eyes

Most probably we are in Eden still. It is only our eyes that have changed.  

 —G. K. Chesterton, the Defendant

A couple of years ago, I started going out to paint weekly with a group of plein air painters. We all love to sit and observe the beauty in nature, in the changing lights, the patterns and chaos of the plants and trees and streams.

As I paint, I take photos, but the photos never reveal the light and the colors as I see them. The intensity of colors and the way the light penetrates the leaves from behind, for example—I can never see that in a photograph.

When we need inspiration, we can venture out into nature and ask God to open our eyes. If I can walk and pray in the fresh morning air, my mind opens up to new ideas and the guidance of the Spirit.

The world may seem to be falling apart, but in nature we see tremulous beauty all around us, whispering that God is real, loving, and attentive to our needs. When the ascending sunlight filters through the delicate leaves, we need to be still and listen. In the changing colors of sunsets and sunrises, we experience the creativity of God, his gifts to us, abundant and new every morning and evening.

 “Morning Light” will be on display as part of my solo show from March 3 until April 4 at Kore Art Gallery, 942 E. Kentucky St., Louisville, Kentucky 40204. Open Wednesday thru Saturday 11:00 to 6:00, Sunday 12:00 to 4:00. A percentage of sales from the show will go to Kentucky Refugee Ministries.