Art and Appetite: Conquering Outdoor Landscape Painting and Making Easy Fish Tacos
Exploring the Joys and Challenges of Plein Air Painting and Sharing a Delicious, Simple Recipe
Plein air painting, or outdoor painting, is challenging. After a winter in the studio, it takes time for me to complete a painting on-site outdoors. It’s all about quick decision-making.
In the studio, I can take my time. If I struggle with a painting, I can set it aside, think about it, and come back to it later. Outdoors, I have to make decisions quickly because the light is changing, and no day is exactly the same. In the course of two to three hours, I need to complete a whole painting. I have to work quickly and with purpose.
I do this by walking away from the painting every 15 minutes or so to see it in the context of the landscape I'm painting. I paint, then walk at least 10 feet away (20 or 30 if there is enough room) and look at the painting. I ask myself a series of questions: What do I need to paint next? Is that color dark, light, warm, or cool enough? Sometimes the questions are, what is that blob? Why is the horizon tipping like that? What is that color, and how do I mix it?
It takes me a few outdoor painting sessions to get back into the quick-thinking painting groove. This painting felt like I was back in plein air form.
Plein air painting is a lot like many other tasks we face in life. Whether it's a work project or a personal goal, we often have to make quick decisions, adapt to changing circumstances, and find ways to keep moving forward. Stepping back to see the bigger picture and asking ourselves the right questions throughout the process can help us stay on track, no matter what challenges come our way. And it only comes with practice.
Fish Tacos
A quick summer meal
Total prep time 25 to 30 min, feeds 4 (including two teens)
Serve with roasted corn or corn salad
Start prepping the crema and slaw (see below) first then cook the fish.
I serve the fish tacos on corn tortillas but do flour if you prefer. I am not an originalist and often I am making this on vacation where some traditional ingredients are hard to find.
Fish
1 pound cod or haddock (or firm white fish of your choice)
1 tablespoon or more Baja Fish Seasoning Mix to coat the fish. (If you can’t find it at your store then you can make your own. Here is a recipe but I would also add dried lime zest)
2 tablespoons oil for pan
Pat the fish dry and cover both sides of the fish fillet with Baja seasoning to your taste. Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into a skillet and bring to high heat. Gently place the fish in the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes and then flip and cook the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. The fish is cooked when it is firm to the touch and the center is opaque.
Meanwhile, warm tortillas in the oven or on a pan on the stove top.
Crema Sauce
2 teaspoons siracha (or 1 teaspoon hot sauce like Cholula)
2 tablespoons sour cream or Tia Angelita Crema
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
Mix together
Slaw Toping
2 cups shredded purple cabbage
1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
1 bunch of scallions thinly sliced (or substitute 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (if you like it) or flat leaf parsley
1 large grated carrot
1 long hot pepper sliced thin (optional)
Juice of two limes
Chop all and place in a bowl. Massage the lime juice into the cabbage and set in the fridge until ready to serve. Will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.
Assemble the tacos: add a little fish, slaw mix and crema sauce to a corn tortilla and enjoy.
As an artist who has mostly painted from photos (and they don't tell the whole truth), I started learning to paint outdoors a few years ago. It's very difficult! I'll try your tip of moving away from the canvas every 15 minutes. I've always had the luxury to be a slow painter in the studio, to agonize over the details. I like plein air because it does force me out of my comfort zone...way out. Love your simplification of the scene and bold color choices!