"Kenn Backhaus workshop and mini-tornado"


"Moravian Church at Dusk", Linda Volrath, Oil on Linen, 9"x12"

Linda and I just got back from a plein air painting workshop with Plein Air Painters of America member Kenn Backhaus. Kenn is a great landscape painter, and a wonderful instructor. This was one of the best workshops we've taken, Kenn is an enthusiastic, thoughtful teacher that gave us a great fundamental foundation to improve our plein air painting. If you get the opportunity to take a workshop with Kenn Backhaus you should take it. Thanks to Sandra Corpora President of the Bethlehem Palette Club who organized this workshop. Thanks also to Sandy and Pat for their wonderful hospitality. The weather though cold at the beginning of the week, turned warm and sunny for the remainder of the week. The weather event that none of us had ever experienced while painting occurred on Tuesday afternoon. Kenn was doing a painting demonstration along the banks of the Lehigh River, there was not a cloud in the sky and the wind was calm. Soon a slight breeze picked up, and intensified to the point that we went running to our easels to keep them from blowing over. Things were blowing in all directions and a dust devil came spinning down the path we were all on, it took a right turn about twenty feet before where Kenn was set up and headed down the bank onto the river. Easels and painting supplies were rolling down the banks and into the water. Once over the river the dust devil transformed into a sixty foot tall water spout a mere fifty feet from where we were standing. After fifteen or twenty seconds it moved to the opposite bank and burned itself out over the steel mill buildings. Then all was calm and there was still not a cloud in the sky. We picked ourselves up and resumed the demonstration. As usual there were at least twelve cameras in the group and no one took a picture.