PLEIN AIR PAINTERS CAROLINA
2023 Year in Review

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We are excited to recap the inaugural year of Plein Air Painters Carolina, from planning and
launching our website mid-February 2023, to initiating educational programs, scheduling
monthly paint-outs, growing a social media presence, and culminating in showcases and sales

with the FALL ART EXPO 2023!

The Plein Air Painters Carolina has had an enormous amount of growth during this past year.

Since the transition from Plein Air Painters of the Upstate (84 MeetUp members), we have
increased our total number of Plein Air Painters Carolina MeetUp members to 260; our website
has profiled 32 artists along with their submitted artwork; associated website artists and
subscribers total 172; and Instagram followers number 356 since our first post in late February.
This growth has created an increase of artists and followers by over 900% as of January 2024.

The Plein Air Painters Carolina initiated and hosted five (5) educational programs and
demonstrations during 2023. These were held during February (2), June (1), September (1)
and October (1) . These educational programs were taught by Russell Jewell, Chris Grove,
Drake Powell, Jim and Annie Hames, Matt Andrews, Justin Donaldson and Donna O’Hara.

 

Our thanks goes out to each of you for donating your time, as well as to our host sites: the
Greenville Center for Creative Arts, the Greenville County Museum of Art and our Tractor Shed
Studio. These educational programs and demonstrations totaled approximately 400 in

attendance.

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The Plein Air Painters Carolina initiated and hosted 14 one day Paint-Outs. These events were
held in diverse locations, offering a wide variety of opportunities. In addition, several of our
members are hosting small impromptu groups of artists on various days of the week.

Attendance at these events totaled approximately 200 painters. We encourage each of you to

get out and paint every chance you get.

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The Plein Air Painters Carolina hosted our inaugural Fall Art Expo 2023 at the GCCA. It
featured 40 Plein Air and Studio Artists... from the upstate to the low country! Over 120 original
pieces of art were shown and offered for sale.

 

During the Expo, a Quick Paint Demonstration
featured artists Russell Jewell (watercolor), Donna O’Hara (pastels), Matt Andrews (acrylics)
and Justin Donaldson (oil). Two Peoples’ Choice Awards were presented to Chris Grove and
Linda Bearden. The Art Expo was open to the general public for viewing and sales during the
afternoon. Sixteen (16) pieces of art were sold for a sell-through rate of 14%. Our thanks to all
of you who joined us for the show. We anticipate an expanded show in November 2024 with

more vigorous sales. Onward and Upward!

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Plein Air Painters Carolina member artists not only participated in state and national events and
competitions but many were award winners. Keep up the good work! In addition to
competitions, we have multiple members who exhibit their work at various showcases and

galleries, both nationally and statewide. We are fortunate to have a creative group of artists
who have blessed us with their abilities and their passion. Thanks to each of you.

Plein Air Painters Carolina has grown and evolved. In January of 2023, we were virtually
unknown and many folks had no clue as to what “en plein air” meant. Our goals were to
broaden the scope of plein air painting, to educate our community on the beauty of painting
outdoors and to support and showcase individual artists, hence the decision to procure a
domain name, to develop and launch our website, to offer educational programs, to schedule
monthly paint-outs, to develop and market a Fall Art Expo and to grow our charter membership.

Our outreach through website email campaigns, Instagram and Facebook posts, our members'
views, likes and re-posts, as well as word of mouth, has made us a clearing-house for all things en plein air!

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We are truly humbled by the excitement, support and kindness exhibited by our members.

We look forward to 2024. Let's ALL Go Get ‘Em!

BRUSHES UP!

Jim and Annie Hames