Your Ah Haa Moment: painter Jeanne Mackenzie leads June intensive

10 May Your Ah Haa Moment: painter Jeanne Mackenzie leads June intensive

[click “Play” to listen to Susan’s conversation with Jeanne Mackenzie]

Artistic immersions continue at Telluride’s Ah Haa School for the Arts with guest instructor Jeanne Mackenzie. Her class, Plein Air Landscape Painting, takes place Monday – Thursday, June 20 – June 23, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Jeanne Mackenzie lives in a rural setting near Fort Collins, Colorado, where she is a founding members of the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters group. Jeanne holds a BA in art and teaching credential from San Diego State University. Her work has been featured in Southwest Art Magazine’s Best of the West, American Artist Workshop magazine and International Artist Magazine-Master Artists. Jeanne is on the staff of the Denver Art Museum, where she teaches color theory, composition and painting.

Jeanne’s passion is painting in oils on location, “en plein air.” Her subject matter includes her local rural surroundings, favorite found objects, and scenes from her travels, including backpacking trips with llamas.

Jeanne Mackenzie owes her life’s work  – indirectly –  to a 19th-century painter named Eugene Boudin.

Boudin was one of the more adventurous artists of his day, known primary for his beach scenes and seascapes of northern France and luminous skies. When Boudin taught his young student, Claude Monet, the importance of painting a scene directly from nature in the light, in the air, just as it was, painting en plein air was born. In the stroke of a brush, the dark palette of Realism (and the Barbizon School) gave way to the brighter highlights of plein air painting.

“Painting on location and from life really hones your powers of observation and helps to create your own style of interpreting nature. Nature keeps me honest and the skills learned are invaluable tools to bring back into the studio.”

Jeanne’s workshop is designed to teach students how to  loosen up outdoors, to focus on the big picture, rather than minute details and breathe life into their landscapes by working tone and color.

All levels welcome.

To learn more, click the “play” button and listen Jeanne Mackenzie’s interview.