Editor's Note

Staying in the moment can be more of a challenge than one might suspect. The objective when writing “En Plein Air,” is to allow the perception of the five senses to be channeled through poetry or prose. But each moment is processed through an accrual of lifetime experience, filtering like impressions through an extraordinary and unique lens.

In an age when we are constantly pinged with voicemail and text message buzzing, calendar alerts on our phones and Internet access in our pockets, an exercise such as this one can be somewhat meditative in practice. Some writers in this year’s event chose to draw directly on a physical observation, while others crafted a scenario from a particular sensation. Either way, the result is a reflection drawn from an inspiring natural environment, something to consider incorporating more often into our daily lives.

While painters may have a variety of brushes and colors at their disposal, Plein Air writers have the seemingly inexhaustible resource of language with which to illustrate. And since this type of artwork is not limited to a visual study, it becomes an incorporation of the sensory elements that make us human.

I want to extend many thanks to all of the participants in the sixth annual Plein Air event at Columbia Center for the Arts, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading the 2010 anthology, Between Two Mountains.

—Andrea Golts, program coordinator and editor