Stephen Gerard Dietemann

Watercolor ‘Pleine Aire’ Painting

I’ve long focused on the interconnection between art and architecture.  As a practicing artist and architect for over 50 years, I’ve used my understanding of each to enhance the other discipline in ways not possible without a long-term practice of each. The solitude of creating art is a useful counterpoint to the shared experience of creating architecture and vice versa.

While I’ve pursued many paths as an artist, as is evident on this webpage, a constant has been ‘pleine aire’ painting, which I’ve done since I started painting at age 15.  The act of seeing is critical for both the architect and the artist and nothing requires the focus of seeing completely as does ‘pleine aire’ watercolor.  My favorite place to paint is at the intersection of water and land; in the woods of the Berkshires — and the surrounding region — or along any shore.  Inspired by Homer, Sargeant and Marin among others, I use watercolor with gouache, as they all did, to create as complete a representation of the place, and the feeling of the place, as is possible for me with paint.  However, equally inspired by the Sumi-E work I first saw at the Johnson Museum at Cornell, I also paint using black ink only sometimes, when the spirit of sumi-e moves me!