![Joan Vienot will demonstrate plein air painting techniques with oils during the Santa Rosa Art Association’s April 22 meeting. [Special to the Press Gazette]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-4d499a79-c32a-2d0c-e053-0100007f2a3f-e689d9f6.jpeg)
MILTON — Plein air painter Joan Vienot will be the guest artist for the Santa Rosa Art Association’s April 22 meeting, set 9 a.m. in Building 4900 at Pensacola State College’s Milton campus.
Vienot will present how to use effective shape making to start a plein air painting in a way that will offer a higher likelihood of success. Plein air, French for “open air,” painting involves creating art outdoors. The guest artist will demonstrate the technique with oils, but her concepts will apply regardless of medium.
There is a $10 tuition fee for guests. The workshop is always free for members. Call 995-7056 for more information.
The 2016 Bagdad Milton Plein Air Paint-Out and 2015 Lynn Haven Local Color Plein Air Festival Paint-Out winner is a realist landscape artist.
“The greatest pleasure for me as an artist is the capture of the present moment, a little piece of now,” Vienot said. “Plein air painting requires me to focus intensely and to be completely in the moment, in order to execute a scene before the light changes radically.
“I portray the subject in fairly general terms, with only enough detail to lend unique identity and a bit of atmosphere. I rarely do anything more than minimal correcting, or perhaps heightening of contrast, when I get back to my studio, preferring to let my interpretation of the moment stand on its own.”
The Santa Rosa Beach resident was born and raised in Colorado; she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art from the University of Northern Colorado, with a certification in public school teaching. She taught art in a Colorado high school for three years before moving to Northwest Florida in 1980.
An avid paddle boarder, canoeist, nature photographer and outdoor enthusiast, she said she finds inspiration anywhere there is light. Her adventures often lead her to return to scenic areas, brushes and palette in hand.
Vienot’s work is displayed at Bohlert-Massey Interiors in Seacrest Beach, On the Waterfront Gallery in Apalachicola and the Bungalow Gallery in Miramar Beach.
Her recent works are in her Point Washington, Florida, studio, viewable by appointment.
Call 259-8394 for details.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Guest artist to discuss outdoor painting techniques