This is very old information from January 16th, but...
Bernie Rossage, Jr, attended the anniversary celebration at the fort, which "included artillery and infantry demonstration, period music, fort tours,and a living history/plein air demo by yours truly. I have migrated from a soldier to a civilian in my hobby of Civil War reenacting...actually I have taken on the role of a period artist. My impression is based on a combination of two artists...Alfred Waud (probably the most noted period sketch artist) and Winslow Homer who painted scenes from the war." Probably one of the most noted was "Sharpshooter on picket duty.
Rossage said that after the rain, he set up his French easel and painted Shepherd's Battery with the palisade fence in front of it. Pictures were included with him and a reenactor in the battery and several of him painting it.
WHAT IS PLEIN AIR PAINTING?
In case you're wondering, and I was. "The inventor of the metal tube in the mid 1800s made it possible for painters to go outside and pain 'en plein aire' for the first time. A French term meaning 'in plain air."
I don't know if it is sold are not, but he was offering his painting "Shepherd's Battery" a 9 X 12 inch oil on gallery-stretched canvas on e-Bay for a starting bid of $29.95 at the time. He did a great job on it.
http://southernpleinairpainters.blogspot.com
also http://artisticrelease.blogspot.com, Bernie Rossage's own site.
Go to January 16, 2008 of the last blog to see pictures and the full blog entry. I'd like to see that picture of the reenactors and Rossage made into a painting. That would be impressive.
Mighty Impressive Piece of Art Done On Site. If I Had Anywhere to Put It Up, I'd Have Bid on It Myself. --Old B-Runner
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
