Who are we?
The Plein Air Painters of Mendocino is an informal group of regional artists who share a love of painting "en plein air" or, in plain English, “in the open air.”  They meet regularly on Thursdays and can be found painting together anywhere from Westport to Elk and from the headlands to the inland valleys.

Although the membership changes, the Plein Air Painters of Mendocino have been sharing painting experiences and inspirations for at least forty years since the North Coast became a creative magnet for artists from all over the country and abroad.  Many of the area’s most well-known and respected artists have been members over the years.

 The long historic tradition of painting “en plein air” originated in the 17th Century in England, and flowered in the 1870s in France when the painters of the soon-to-be “Impressionist movement” sought to use pure light and color to describe the subjects of their pictures.  At the same time they were abandoning traditional mythological and genre subjects for the reality of life and nature around them.  Plein air painting forever changed the way we see the world.  Plein air paintings express a sense of spontaneity, energy, and participation in life which rarely occur in studio works. 

In recent years there has been a burgeoning interest in plein air painting throughout the Western world among artists and art lovers.  The Plein Air Painters of Mendocino are delighted to share their joy of painting on California’s north coast with visitors and
neighbors at exhibits in local galleries and at the Mendocino Art Center and
as they paint in the open air.