En plein air is a French expression that means “in the open air.” In painting, that translates to painting outdoors with the artist’s subject in full view.
Providence artist Sam Allerton Green is both a landscape and abstract painter whose works take on different sizes and shapes.
He most recently displayed his works in Newport at the Jessica Hagen Fine Art + Design exhibition, which runs through the end of August 2024.
Green’s recent excursion to the I-95 Bridge showed the artist paint en plein air between the highway and the levees. He has a knack for transforming an ordinary, dreary day into something special on his canvas.
Here is a conversation with Green. The full interview can be found in the video below.
Sam Allerton Green says the I-95 bridge is a fun place and very secluded.
“You can kind of exist with your thoughts a little bit more and not get intercepted by passersby being like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” he says. “And they’re like, ‘Oh, let’s see what it looks like.’ And they look at it and they’re like, ‘Oh, nice.’ They get that look on their face of not being so impressed.”
Green is not worried about opinions from random strangers. He is a huge fan of “not what you paint,” but “how you paint.”
“That’s why I’m very comfortable painting next to a highway. Well, I shouldn’t say very comfortable. I don’t know,” he says. “I think I spend most of a painting just sort of clenching my butt cheeks together, hoping it’s going to turn out OK. But one of the reasons I love painting outside so much is because it keeps you really humble.”
Green’s en plein paintings feature the honesty of the actual scene. He does not sugarcoat what he sees.
“My goal isn’t just to make what is present pleasant. I’m looking for something else,” he says. “The gallery director at the Dryden Gallery described my work as the gateway drug into abstraction. What does abstract mean? I think the Latin root of it is to take from, and so I like thinking about it that way.
“There was a long time where I looked at where I am now as ‘it,’ but I really feel that line always moves,” Green adds. “I have a family and that sense of purpose is far greater than that for me as a painter. They’re the driving force behind just making it work, or it’s a verb. It’s not a thing. You never get to the point where I did it. I figured it out. You’re always traveling, whatever that may be.”
