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Not Plein Aire Painting...Thin Air Painting With Mountaineer Joe Arnold

Melodie Edwards

There’s a long tradition of what’s called plein aire art in the West. That’s when an artist paints right there in the great outdoors. But for 40 years, one Laramie artist has taken this technique to new heights…literally. You could almost call his work thin air painting. Joe Arnold has painted from the tops of some of the world’s most majestic mountains. Wyoming Public Radio’s Melodie Edwards decided to scale a Wyoming mountain with Arnold to see it through his eyes.

Credit Melodie Edwards
The Medicine Bow pastel Arnold painted for the radio story.
Credit Melodie Edwards
Mountaineer Painter Joe Arnold at work on Medicine Bow Peak.

Melodie Edwards is the host and producer of WPM's award-winning podcast The Modern West. Her Ghost Town(ing) series looks at rural despair and resilience through the lens of her hometown of Walden, Colorado. She has been a radio reporter at WPM since 2013, covering topics from wildlife to Native American issues to agriculture.
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