I’ve been a plein air painter most of my life. Painting in the outdoors in the fresh air, sunlight with nature, clouds, and living things around me. Mt. Diablo, East Bay hills, the river and Delta, small towns around the bay, a wonderful place for a painter to try and capture his excitement on canvas, with brush and paint. I moved to Benicia a couple of years ago and was looking for others to share this with me. I went out with a few people and we had such fun. They all asked their friends and so and on.

We go out every week or so, to an agreed upon place to paint. We paint there all day and at the end of the day prop our work up and have a friendly critique of the day’s work. Someone always has a bottle of red or white and snacks to share. When around Benicia often we would come back to my studio and have a little critique party.

Our group has grown, starting out at a dozen or so, it’s now around 100 hardy souls. Some are more active than others but we encourage anyone to join us. Beginners or pros. Anyone’s welcome to paint or just gawk and smooze. All mediums, oil, acrylics, watercolor, drawings are used.

We are really just out to have fun and share and be with each other. But when the occasion arises for a chance to show our work, we send out the word and a couple of dozen painters will put their work together for a show.

Recently we participated in Mare Island Heritage Preserve’s Flyway Festival ... which matched our passion to save open historical places and paintouts. We look forward to more shows on the island ... and to others in the area.

Jerrold Turner