River Art Gallery Plein Air show

We paint, chat, have lunch, mix colors, bundle up or hide in the shade from March to October. A plein air painter is a traveler, observer and recorder of what they see. The pleasure of painting is compounded by sharing our work with the communities we paint. This year's art exhibition filled two light filled rooms in  the lovely River Art Gallery in North Tonawanda.

Bond's Lake in the Fall

Diane and Anne take a short break

Early Fall at Bonds Lake Park, what could be better? Brilliant light, no wind and a few fluffy clouds floating by make a wonderful day to be a painter.

Roy Fink with his watercolor

Joan Shaw perched on the rocks by the glassy lake

Riverworks and LaBatt's Blue

Diane Goupil, the LaBatt Six Pack. 

The history of Buffalo evolved along the Buffalo River. At the turn of the 20th century, industry and the Erie Canal made the 'gateway to the west' a bustling metropolis. Today, along the river, Entrepreneurs are recapturing those days with adaptive reuse of the grain mills and factory space. Riverworks is an enormous entertainment and restaurant space and a great spot for painting. It was chilly with a small turnout on this day but the choices for painting were numerous.

More camp kids painting

Crowding under the shade of a park tree.

The park fountain attracts lots of our young painters.

Private Painting

On the south tip of Grand Island is a large state park. At the edge of the original Beaver Island park is a canoe launch and a lovely curving walk into the Niagara River. A hot day required some shade, but the sounds of nature, lapping water, birds and an occasional boater made for an amazing paintout.

Carol Vacanti

Diane Goupil

Jean MacDonald

Martha Rogala and Dexter

Roy Fink

Kath Schifano's quick sketch across the river

Amazing resilience of plein air painters

The postal service may deliver in all weather, but our intrepid painters do too. These hardy artists gather for lunch after painting the morning away. Umbrellas work for more than rain, we bring them out for shade on sunny days, too.

Our artist campers’ showcase