Stephanie Schlatter began her career as a hairdresser, but once she picked up a paintbrush, she couldn’t stop painting. She took art classes at Grand Rapids Community College and then traveled to Mexico, Italy, and Spain to study with native artists. In Mexico, she learned to paint what she felt. In Italy, it was more about keeping the painting true to reality. “Different cultures value different things about art,” Schlatter explains.
Other early sources of inspiration include the Fauvists and Picasso. “I’m attracted to audacity in art when an artist might leave a small amount of canvas showing or not correct themselves or blend colors,” she says. “Boldness attracts me.”
When it comes to her thoughts on plein air painting, artist Stephen Duren, who was the first artist she knew who painted on location, came to mind. “A little seed was planted, but my preference to paint plein air is about the lifestyle,” she says. While she finds her style most closely aligned with modern Impressionism, she says she doesn’t like to be defined by a category. Rather, the bold artists who have gone before her inspire her to continue searching, hoping she never fully arrives.
Loyal to landscapes, the oil painter can regularly be found near her home in Glen Arbor. Schlatter grew up in Grand Rapids but regularly traveled up north, craving the beauty of nature and the solitude that it offers. After many years of quick visits, she decided to put down roots in her favorite place, and settling in Glen Arbor has provided near-immediate access to all the beauty the Leelanau Peninsula has to offer — including Sleeping Bear Dunes and Lake Michigan, both daily sources of inspiration.
In northwest Michigan, an artistic haven, plein air painting sessions are regularly offered through local art centers.
“Each art center does a plein air weekend or day-long competition annually, just once a year. I also belong to two plein air groups that meet weekly at different locations throughout the season,” she says. Although this gives artists like Schlatter access to private properties and plenty of inspiration, she finds opportunities on her own, as well.
“I’ve been in the dunes endlessly. I love the rolling hills, I love to tailgate-paint out the back side of my car — these gorgeous vistas and roads lead to lakes that just lead to beautifulness.”
As enticing as it may sound, however, painting plein air isn’t for the indecisive.
Due to the rapidly-changing light and weather, Schlatter’s outdoor paintings must be completed in three and a half hours or less. “That’s the longest I paint one painting. Sometimes I work on them later in the studio, but during a competition they must be completed on location that day. You’ve just got you and that one canvas having a dialogue, and you’ve only got so long to do it,” she says.
Photo Courtesy of Stephanie Schlatter.
Plein air painting in autumn in northern Michigan is both rigorous and rewarding. The symphony of colors that fall provides is a painter’s dream. Like Monet painting haystacks in different light, artists like Schlatter often paint the same subject throughout different seasons and in different types of light. She says she returns to favorite trees, roads, and the dunes in the fall, motivated by the sharp color contrast the autumnal light provides.
Schlatter says a hush falls over the Leelanau Peninsula come autumn. There are fewer people and events, opening up her soul to a more contemplative experience. “It’s like painting the grand finale of a fireworks display,” she says. 
More Information
Stephanie Schlatter’s artwork can be found at Arbor Gallery (of which she is a co-owner), in Glen Arbor. You can follow along with her artistic adventures on Instagram:
@stephanieschlatter or visit her website: stephanieschlatterfineart.com.
