NCF’s Visual Arts Workshop Takes The Studio Into The Outdoors

The National Cultural Foundation’s (NCF’s) En Plein Air Workshop takes artists from the studio into the outdoors, painting landscapes and structures across these beautiful fields and hills.
En Plein Air is a French expression which means “in the open air” and is mainly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.  In contrast to painting in studio or as some say by academic rules these impressionists capture the spirit and essence of their subjects by incorporating natural light, color and movement into their works.
This fourth season of the outdoor painting workshop follows the success of the programme over the last three years and comes on the heels of the recognition of two young visual artists being selected to exhibit in international biennials, continuing the conversation on the growth of the local Visual Arts discipline and its practitioners.

The NCF’s Cultural Officer for Visual Arts, Rodney Ifill said that the workshop currently has approximately sixteen participants who will be traversing the island to paint over the next 8-9 weeks.

He continued, “Each week the sessions will have some specific element of art as the primary focus like shape, form, value, line, colour, space and texture; and on the final day the Foundation will host an Artnic (Art picnic) with a public display of the work completed during the programme by the participants.  The aim, as with previous workshops, is to encourage a culture of outdoor painting and take the creative process to the people of Barbados.”

One of the participants Ardyce Bolden, a cosmetologist by trade and principal of a school of cosmetology remarked that painting is something she always wanted to do and on approaching retirement, she opted to occupy her new found time with the thing that she enjoyed, but just couldn’t find a place for it in her busy schedule.

The En Plein Air workshop, which officially began on Saturday, April 25th at the Bay Street Esplanade, targets practicing and newly trained artists, and persons with some artistic skill who have always had an interest in taking their talent to another level.  It is tutored by Omowale Stewart and will feature veteran guest artists like Fielding Babb, Mark Maynard and Neville Legal to further stimulate and enlighten the participants.  Each of these veteran artists will bring a different approach to En Plein Air Painting for example Fielding Babb with the use of the Palette Knife, Neville Legall with his water colour approach and Mark Maynard will demonstrate versatility incorporating his wealth of experience in graphic design and multi-media.