Vermillion artist invited to join exclusive group

Vermillion watercolor artist Andy Evansen continues to earn high praise for his paintings.

The biggest news for Evansen came two weeks ago, when he was informed by the Plein Air Painters of America that he was invited to become a signature member of the group. He is just the 35th person to become a member, and is one of only a handful of watercolor painters. The rest are oil or pastel painters. The organization was started in the 1980s.

“After all these years, I’m No. 35,” he said. “There’s not that many artists who have been invited to be a signature member of PAPA. It includes most of the top names in the country.”

There are no applications to join the group, and no forms to fill out. You are simply contacted by the group when they want you to be a member.

Plein air is a French expression that means “in the open air.” When it comes time for Evansen to paint, in other words, he sets up outside with an easel and gets to work.

Several years ago, during a painting trip to China, Evansen got to know a few members of PAPA, including Kevin Macpherson.

Later, Evansen met a longtime member of PAPA who teaches classes in St. Paul, and they got to know one another. Years later, during a return trip to China, he met four more members.

Those friendships helped Evansen’s work get before PAPA’s eyes. They obviously liked what they saw and extended him the invitation a few weeks ago.

“It was a big surprise,” he said. “I was hoping about five years down the road it would happen, after being invited to a few more events with them.”

He will now be in two big shows by PAPA, including one this summer on Catalina Island off the shores of southern California.

That trip, though, isn’t the only big one of the year for Evansen. He travels to Puerto Rico in February to paint with friends.

In October, he was at Acadia National Park in Maine with several plein air painters, too.

He returned in November from his third trip to China to paint. He likes traveling to China to paint for several reasons, he said.

“Everything there is a painting,” he said. “It is so cool. The people are so unique. As an artist, it’s just real easy to fall into a rut. Everything starts to look the same. Anytime you can travel, it sparks the imagination. Over there, everything is new. Different looking buildings. Different looking people. The scene is different.”

Evansen has made fast friends with a few Chinese residents, and they go out of their way to treat him well when he arrives.

“When you are over there, just one-on-one, the people are fantastic,” he said. “They couldn’t be nicer to us. They want to feed us. They want to watch. They’re laughing with us, even though they don’t know what we are talking about half the time. They’re so excited to have us there. They roll out the red carpet for us.”

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