Place

PLACE (First Plein Air)
 
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 30" × 24"
Year: 2025
Series: "The IN. Place" (Indiana Arts Commission Grant Project)
Status: Available
Investment: $9,500
 
The Story
 
On July 12, 2025, I painted my first plein air piece—ever.
I was participating in the biennial IPAPA/OPAS (Indiana Plein Air Painting Association/Ohio Plein Air Society) Paint Out, hosted by Richmond Art Museum. I chose to paint the Garfield Arch at Hayes Arboretum—a brick portal wrapped in vines, standing at the edge of the forest like a threshold between worlds.
What I didn't know: This painting would unlock everything.
It became the catalyst for my Indiana Arts Commission "Works-in-Progress" grant application. The state of Indiana funded an entire plein air series based on what happened this day.
But the real story isn't the grant. It's what's hidden in the painting—and what happened while I created it.
 
The Hidden Autobiography
Look closely at the opening of the arch. You'll see an old Ford truck driving through, silhouetted against a burning sunrise.
That sunrise? It's the same one from Hana, Maui—the last sunrise we saw before leaving paradise. I've painted it multiple times as a through-line connecting this chapter of my life.
 
The truck? That's us. My wife Erika's grandfather's Ford. We're driving out of the arch, reverse pioneers searching for home across 3,000 miles of American highways.
 
This isn't just a landscape. It's our origin story in Richmond. It's the moment we crossed the threshold from displacement to belonging.
 
The Surreal Day
 
A perfect July day. Full summer green. Me painting at the edge of the Arboretum where the arch is visible from the road.
 
Throughout the day: people slamming on their brakes, shouting praise, asking to buy the unfinished piece.
 
One hour in: I felt eyes on me. I turned and saw a turkey emerging from the woods—a lone sentinel, staking me like a foreigner in its territory.
 
As the day progressed, it crept closer. Watching. Waiting.
Then came the crescendo.
 
The sky darkened. Wind spiked. A flash thunderstorm rolled in. Within seconds: torrential downpour. No shelter. Nowhere to run. Just me, the painting, and the absurdity of the moment.
 
I started laughing.
 
That's when I looked up and saw the turkey walking past me—10 feet away, staring me down the entire time, completely unbothered by the storm.
 
Every second: captured on film.
 
Nature has always responded to me in surreal ways. This was confirmation.
 
The Work
 
PLACE is the first piece in my Indiana Arts Commission grant-funded plein air series. It's also the first piece where I established the conceptual framework that will define this body of work:
Pop-Surrealist Plein Air: Traditional plein air technique meets contemporary narrative disruption. The landscape is real. The portal is metaphorical. The sunrise is memory. The truck is journey. The arch is threshold.
 
The Billboard-to-Library Strategy:
20-foot hook: Bold composition, vivid color, immediate visual impact
6-foot strike: Details emerge—the arch, the truck, the sunrise
1-inch whisper: Hyper-fine brushwork rewards close viewing
This painting functions at every scale—from across a gallery to inches from the canvas.
Technical Notes:
Painted on-site in one 6-hour session
No projector, no sketch, no underpainting
Pure observation and instinct
Thunderstorm baptism included at no extra charge
 
The Series
 
This is the anchor piece for "The IN. Place"—an 8-12 painting series documenting Indiana's landscapes, architecture, and natural environments through my pop-surrealist lens.
 
Future pieces will:
Explore Brown County State Park (Indiana's historic plein air mecca)
Document Richmond's Hayes Arboretum, Whitewater Gorge, Glen Miller Park
Expand to regional Indiana locations with cultural significance
Each piece will contain hidden narratives, portals, and autobiographical elements
 
Every piece will be filmed for a YouTube documentary series launching mid-2026.
 
PLACE is where it all begins.
 
The Validation
This piece directly led to my Indiana Arts Commission Works-in-Progress Grant, which funds the entire plein air series and establishes me as a state-recognized artist documenting Indiana's visual culture.
 
It will be featured in my Richmond Art Museum retrospective (June 2026), alongside 25-30 other works spanning 2008-2026.
This isn't just a painting. It's the piece that opened the door.
Acquisition
 
Investment: $9,500
Payment plans available: 3-6 months, zero interest
Example: $1,583/month × 6 months
Or: $3,167/month × 3 months
Shipping: Professional art logistics, fully insured (included)
Certificate of Authenticity: Included
Why This Piece Matters
This is my first plein air painting. The first piece in a grant-funded series. The anchor for a documentary project. A hidden autobiography. A threshold moment.
 
It contains:
A sunrise from Maui
A truck from family history
A storm I couldn't control
A turkey that stalked me
The moment I became an Indiana artist
If you collect work that has layers—visual, conceptual, emotional, synchronistic—this is it.
Inquiries: yes@justinkaneelder.com