By ELIZABETH RICHARDSON [email protected] For Coweta County's Millie Gosch, plein air painting -- or painting outdoors -- is her passion. This is why Gosch jumped at an invitation to be one of 24 artists from across the United States to participate in Callaway Gardens' Plein Air event which concludes with the Art Show and Sale on Saturday at 7 p.m.
A selection committee picked 75 plein air artists before narrowing the list to 24, according to Gosch. She will be one of 12 artists from Georgia to participate. "They picked me on my merit," said Gosch. "I'm really humbled to be included." The artists will be guests of Callaway Gardens this week as they begin creating the masterpieces that will go on sale at Saturday's art sale. The proceeds will benefit the Ida Carson Callaway Foundation, the non-profit parent organization that owns and operates Callaway Gardens. Today and Wednesday, the artists will capture the beauty of spring on canvas at Callaway Gardens. On Tuesday, Gosch said the artists will be bused to Atlanta and stay with a host family at one of 17 private gardens. That evening, each host family will have a cocktail party and invite their friends and fellow collectors over to view the garden paintings and promote Saturday's art sale. On Thursday, artists will be divided in half and sent to private gardens in either Columbus or LaGrange. Gosch said she will be painting in Columbus. The artists will turn in at least three framed pieces of work on Friday to be sold at the black tie auction Saturday evening. Saturday's event will be held at the Virginia Hand Callaway Discovery Center. Guests will be able to enjoy and purchase the paintings while enjoying cocktails and cuisine prepared by Executive Chef Bill Justus. The menu will feature regionally grown and locally available items such as Callaway Gardens' own shrimp and grits, wild mushroom ravioli, fried oysters with barbecue vinaigrette and more. Edward Callaway -- chairman of the board for the Ida Carson Callaway Foundation -- got the idea for the event while visiting Laguna Beach, Calif. -- a region of the U.S. that has embraced plein air painting. The method of painting was introduced in the early 19th century. The term itself is French for "open air." Modern plein air artists are experiencing a renaissance. Callaway partnered with these artists to promote a greater appreciation of the natural world. "This is a huge thing for the east coast," said Gosch. "This genre of painting is not as popular here as the west coast. Now a wide sweep of people from Atlanta to LaGrange and Columbus will be exposed to this. I'm excited to be a part of the increasing awareness and education of what this really is. I love painting outdoors from life -- God is there at His finest, and it doesn't get any better than that." Gosch is conducting a plein air workshop locally April 19-22 and there's still time to register. Contact Gosch at 770-301-0674. On April 20, Plein Air Painters Larry Moore and Perry Austin are leading a lecture and demonstration at the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts on Lower Fayetteville in Newnan.
