Plein Air

Perhaps when you were out and about during that first glorious weather week of October, you might have noticed white umbrellas, sunhats, and easels sprouting up all over the Litchfield area.  Then maybe you noticed that, under those hats and umbrellas and in front of those easels, there were artists at work wielding paint brushes.  Perhaps you stopped for a closer inspection of their canvasses.  Certainly, you compared their developing paintings to the scenes that the artists were painting.

If you were walking about Topsmead that week, you may have realized that--with Miss Edith Morton Chase's oh-so-paintable house, gardens, and expanse of fields and stone walls--it was a favorite painting location.  As I walked around the property that week, I marveled at the different styles of painting and the variety of views chosen by the painters.  I even found a painter who had carried her equipment--tripod, multi- level paintbox, an assortment of brushes and paint application tools, a water bottle, and some snacks--all the way out to the Butterfly Garden.

So what the heck was going on?  If you hadn't heard, it was the second annual Litchfield Plein Air Festival drawing artists from as far away as California, Minnesota, and Florida, along with local New England artists.  At the end of the week, the artists displayed their finished work at a Gala open to the public.  The paintings of Topsmead drew much acclaim.

Just as the natural beauty of Topsmead and the Litchfield area provided inspiration for the Litchfield Plein Air painters, so did it inspire Adelaide Deming (1864-1956), one of Litchfield's own.  Known for her impressionist and bucolic oil landscapes, she taught art at New York's Pratt Institute for eight years and was a member of multiple local and national art associations, including the Kent Art Association, the American Watercolor Society, and the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors.

Even though Ms. Deming was twenty-seven years older than Miss Edith, I feel sure that they knew each other because both women were part of the fabric of life in Litchfield as well as staunch supporters of the suffragette movement.  In addition, Miss Edith appreciated and supported local women artists.  In fact, hanging in her bedroom at Topsmead is an Adelaide Deming watercolor of Miss Edith's beloved rustic cottage that predated her Topsmead house.
While we may not all be painters, thanks to Miss Edith, we can all enjoy Topsmead's plein air, each in our own way!


Margaret Hunt
BlogMistress