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Oil painter Tommy Thompson has been named one of ten featured artists at the Gadsden (AL) Museum of Art's Southeastern Plein Air Festival during April 27-May 1, 2009. Other artists from throughout the southeast will also be participating in this open air painting event at scenic Gadsen, the Queen City of the Coosa River, located in northeastern Alabama.

During the week-long outdoor painting festival, artists from Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and elsewhere will capture on canvas such sights as the mountaintop waterfall, Noccalula Falls; views of the Coosa River; downtown street scenes; cotton fields; log cabins; elegant historic homes; scenic overlooks; and private and public botanical gardens. The festival will conclude with a wet paint auction and month-long exhibition in galleries and online (http://www.gadsdenmuseum.com).

The artists will be treated to a variety of picnics, dinners, entertainment, and parties sponsored by the Gadsden Museum of Art Foundation, the Gadsden Art Association, Gadsden Parks and Recreation Department, Gadsden Chamber of Commerce, and others. The Alabama State Council on the Arts will also provide funding for the week-long festival.

Because the Festival will announce the painting locations each day via the Museum's web site and the local media, interested art appreciators and collectors will be able to watch the Festival artists in action as they create their works of art. The Museum will conduct tours of the painting sites for the interested public. Every day the plein air paintings will be posted on the Museum's web site in an online auction. The public will vote for the People's Choice Award online and in person at the auction. The Foundation Board will select the recipient of a Museum Purchase Award.

For more information, please log onto the Gadsden Museum of Art's web site at http://www.gadsdenmuseum.com .

 

 

In September 2008 I was invited to paint with the Atlanta Plein Air Painters in Monteagle, TN. We painted there for three enjoyable days. While there I met several older artists who had trouble getting to the more remote areas, so I shot photos of places like the "Fiery Gizzard" canyon in the South Cumberland State Park. Later I sent a CD of the photos to some of the Atlanta painters. The response was so positive that I decided to develop a web site for artists who need reference photos to inspire paintings. The canyon is very narrow, with tall stands of pine forming a thicket overhead. The thicket and several cool streams give the place a climate surprisingly different from the surrounding plateau. Even on the hottest summer day, the Gizzard is pleasantly cool. The canyon is famous for its huge hemlock trees.

After traveling to paint for more than 6 years, I now have a treasure trove of thousands of digital photographs, which are now featured on the easily searchable web site, http://www.aphototopaint.com. I am now offering 10-inch, 300-dpi versions of these photos, to be transmitted via email, at $10 each for purchase by other artists. Now artists can paint while referring to an inspiring photo displayed on their computer monitors. Artists do not have to worry about copyright infringement because anyone who purchases a photograph from me receives a license to paint from the photo. I have categorized my photos according to such subjects as landscapes, flowers, barns, figures, cows, birds, cats, dogs, clouds, churches, hay bales, gardens, rivers and creeks, architecture, and location, etc. I shot the digital photos in Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Wyoming, plus Canada. A free 10-inch 300 dpi photo of an image is available on the web site's front page. More photos are being added to the web site almost every day.

It is always best to paint onsite when possible, but sometimes the weather does not cooperate. If any artists do not have photographs that are suitable to inspire paintings. I hope that we have some that will provide that inspiration for them. If you know any artists who may need this service, please pass this link to them: http://www.aphototopaint.com. If you teach painting and need postcards to distribute to your students, just send an email to us, and we will gladly ship as many as you need.