Painters gather in Amana Colonies

AMANA COLONIES - Beginner and professional painters shared tradition, camaraderie and artwork on Saturday for the Iowa Plein Air event in the Amana Colonies.

Artists from around Iowa and the Midwest gather each Labor Day weekend to paint outdoor scenes from the Amana Colonies. The event ends Sunday with a daylong community celebration.

Rebecca Butler, from Mendon, Ill., started coming to the event with her father. When he passed away in 2010, she took his spot for the following year and has been coming back since.

'This is completely out of my element,” she said. 'I'm an in-the-studio kind of person. But my dad was an outdoor painter - in the snow, in the rain, in the heat. This is the one weekend I come paint outdoors in his honor.”

While other painters gathered in clusters around iconic parts of the colonies, Butler painted away from the crowds, like the front of a residential home at 701 220th Trail. She said a woma told her a woman named Lena used to own the house, and lived there until her 90s.

'In competitions like this, you want something that not everyone else is doing,” she said. 'I'm always looking for off-the-beaten-path kind of stuff.”

On the other hand, John Preston, an artist from Fairfield, Iowa, painted near four other artists.

'It's nice to see other people's take on the same subject,” he said.

Preston said he goes to plein air art festivals in Missouri and Corning and Malvern, Iowa, but said he most enjoys the Amana event.

'It's fun to connect with people because painting is normally a very solitary activity,” he said. ' ... It's like hooking up with your own tribe, with other artists. This is the one time of year you catch up with them.”

The annual tradition started in 2007 with just 6 participants, but grew to its largest attendance yet this year with 35 artists.

'We felt like Amana was the perfect place for Iowa to have a plein air event because of the historic buildings and beautiful landscapes,” said Jenise Catiri, organizer of the restival and owner of Catiri's Art Oasis.

Catiri added that the area already had a history of plein air painting by artists Grant Wood and Carl Flick.

She said she loves the event for the versatility in people it attracts each year.

'There are fresh young painters starting and seasoned artists and they're all judged under the same roof,” Catiri said. 'That's really fun and encouraging.”

IF YOU GO

' 2:00-4:00 p.m. artist paint-off at the Catiri's Art Oasis

' 4:30-7:30 p.m. live music by Awful Purdies from Cedar Rapids

' 5 p.m. dinner party starts

' 6 p.m. dinner and artwork viewing

' 7:30 p.m. awards