I'm excited to share our Eric En Plein Air YouTube Channel!  We will have extra content, bonus art videos and more available to watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/@ericenpleinair

  I want to revisit a post that I made nearly 3 years ago all about Coming Out of a Slump.  I was thinking about this post today because I've had some frustration with my work this summer.  It was September of 2022 that I wrote the last post so I think it's time to see what I can do about my current slump.
  As I said in my previous post, I think slumps are a natural part of the creative process.  I can't deny that I have periods where I feel less enthusiastic and almost unable to paint.  My own standards are very high as a professional painter so I often feel frustrated when I can't meet my own expectations.
  After many years, I've learned that the only way to break through these periods is to simply keep painting.  I set up today at our local cemetery because it's one of my favorite places to paint; it may sound spooky, but our local cemetery is beautiful and very peaceful.  I feel like I can really focus here while thinking about my painting process.  The weather was also perfect as summer is winding down and I can feel the cooler days of autumn creeping in.
  I picked an intentionally unimpressive subject matter which was a pile of earth.  I've actually walked by this scene before and always wondered if it would make for an interesting painting.  I set up my watercolors and started off, as always, with an accurate pencil drawing.  The light was coming in at an interesting angle and I liked the composition.  I didn't change the scene and decided to capture what I saw before me.  I fell into a nice flow state and the time, pressure and frustrations drifted away.
  After an hour or so, the sun began to shift too much so I looked at my work and decided to stop.  My painting has a nice sense of light, color and atmosphere.  It felt good and I am happy that I went out today.  I know that there will be more slumps in the future and I will face more ups and downs.  The painting journey is a journey of self reflection and growing pains are to be expected.

  I hope you all are enjoying the end of summer and these days before the sun sets earlier and cooler weather moves in.  I wanted to share an article that I wrote for Oil Painters of America.  This article was recently published and revolves around the exploratory nature of artists, specifically plein air painters.
  I hope you enjoy the article and it gives you inspiration and ideas to take into your own practices - https://www.oilpaintersofamerica.com/2026/08/painters-are-explorers

  I missed a few days of updates because I was super busy here in Easton, but I wanted to write a final wrap-up post to summarize the week.
  All I can say is that Plein Air Easton was amazing from beginning to end.  It really is like the major leagues of plein air events with so many great artists, a fantastic staff behind-the-scenes and beautiful locations to paint.  Another thing that sets PAE apart from other events are the generous hosts who house the artists during the week.  I was staying at the beautiful Sandaway, which is a boutique hotel and then I moved for the last couple days to a charming cottage on a private estate.  Many thanks to my hosts who have become friends to me.
  Today and yesterday, I also linked up with the Vasari team at Troika Gallery in Easton.  I've been connected with Vasari for a little while now and it was great to see them in Easton, sharing their excellent paint with so many artists.
  I will end this post by sharing a story that I feel is a good metaphor for life.  When I first arrived, I planned to paint a boat painting.  I was thinking of all those great John Singer Sargent boat paintings that I love.  So I arrived and thought to myself, "I have all week to paint those boats, good thing there's plenty of time!"  Today, I woke up and realized that I'm leaving tomorrow and sure enough, I hadn't painted any boats!  It wasn't that I didn't want to paint the boats--I wanted to, but it seemed like I had all the time in the world.  Inevitably, life goes by whether I achieve my goals or not.  But as I'm getting a little older, I don't want to let anything slip by.
  Side note: I'm planning to be back at Sandaway in September to teach a workshop.  If you'd like to stay updated, check out my WORKSHOPS PAGE for more info!