Date: Friday, October 23, 2026
Time: 10:15-11:15 am Pacific time (1:15-2:15 pm Eastern time/ 6:15-7:15 pm UK time)
Level: All levels welcome
Medium: Oil, Acrylic or gouache
Presentation Type: Demo
There are no rules in still life. It does not have to be a carefully composed grouping of beautiful objects under perfect lighting. In this demonstration, I will be discussing my approach to a more spontaneous and unplanned subject, and my thoughts about color, paint application and design.
For years I’ve been going outside to paint the landscape, which is wild and chaotic and demands editing and imagination. When I paint still life, I love to bring that same sense of discovery by foregoing carefully set up and lit arrangements in favor of scenes from around my living space, studio, garage and basement with an eye toward shape, color and composition.
Getting started is the hardest part, so I remove some of the obstacles often imposed by traditional still life painting, garner a what-have-I-got-to-lose attitude, and just dive right in with what is in front of me, which can create some very lively, interesting and personal results.
Free!
Alison Barry is a Southern Maryland-based plein air oil painter who paints the fields, farms, boat yards and waterways around her home near the Chesapeake. She is dedicated to painting from life, but believes in the artist’s power to rearrange, exaggerate or edit reality in furtherance of the painting. She is more interested in creating an interesting arrangement of shapes, values, patterns and textures on her canvas than replicating the scene in front of her. Alison has won awards in numerous exhibitions and plein air competitions, among them Best Architectural at Gloucester Plein Air Invitational 2026, first place in Modern Impressionist Magazine’s October/November 2024 Salon and an award of merit in American Impressionist Society’s 25th Annual National Exhibition, and has been featured in Plein Air Magazine and Modern Impressionist Magazine.
Join Us for Autumn ART IN ACTION
October 22-25, 2026
Autumn ART IN ACTION Festival – Free!
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