The life of a painter can be isolating. But through their shared passion for painting en plein air (outdoors), three Columbus artists have found friendship and creative inspiration. Now an exhibition of their artwork tells the stories of their travels around the world—and their journeys together on the road of life—in living color.
Painterly Perspectives: People, Places, and Plein Air Paintings is on view free and open to the public at the OSU Faculty Club through March 26.
The exhibition presents 36 landscape and figure paintings in oils, watercolors, and gouache. A colorful travelogue of places as far flung as Japan, Turkey, Italy, Greece and Morocco, Painterly Perspectives is, even more importantly, a vivid testament to the artists’ years of mutual admiration, creative inspiration and friendship.
Clelland, Miller and Rudavsky have painted together for more than a decade. They met as students in a local plein air painting class that meets several weeks each spring and autumn. Between those class sessions, the three started meeting up on their own to paint.
“We became friends, and during the off-season, so to speak, we would arrange our own little plein air outings, and we would go out to paint and then have lunch or coffee,” Rudavsky said.
The artists continue those gatherings, which also include critiquing each other’s creations. For Rudavsky, who says painting does not come easily to her, those critiques are invaluable.
“I can look at Shirley’s or Nancy’s work and see all sorts of things that I don’t see in my own work, and vice versa,” Rudavsky said. “When you look at someone else’s work, things will jump out, and it’s been enormously useful. In fact, we even to this day have a text line going, and we’re constantly sending one another photos of our recent paintings, and Nancy (Clelland) will give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. She tells me all the time that my lines aren’t straight.”
For Miller, the critiques also help build creative camaraderie.
“When you paint, it’s a fairly solitary kind of effort,” Miller said. “But when we’re out there together painting, we encourage each other.”
And they gain inspiration from each other’s strengths as artists. Painting together gives Rudavsky a front-row seat to watch Clelland work with watercolors and a chance to learn from Miller’s way of painting the human figure.
“I love Nancy’s watercolors, and so I study her work,” Rudavsky said. “I sometimes will set up standing behind her to watch her and see how she achieves that loose translucence that she gets. (Miller) does a wonderful job with portraits. And so, I’m constantly learning and absorbing from both of my artist mates.”
Today, after more than a decade of painting together and getting to know each other, Rudavsky, Miller and Clelland have shared more than painting techniques. As good friends do, they’ve been there for each other at important milestones and through rough times.
“We’ve shared a lot of life experiences together,” Miller said. “It goes beyond the art. It comes into our own personal lives, the things we’re going through. It really is quite delightful that way.”
Painterly Perspectives is on view free and open to the public at the OSU Faculty Club through March 26, 2026.
