Perth’s plein air painting community was scattered around Fremantle this week for some art out in the open.

Every Thursday the loosely associated group picks a different spot in (or a little out of) Perth as their inspiration, but artist Alan Pickering says Freo is a favourite spot for him.

“So much of Perth has been bulldozed,” he says as he paints the old cottages along Captain’s Lane. “The great thing about Fremantle is so much of it has been preserved. It’s good inspiration.”

• Alan Pickering and Roger Reading at Arthur Head. Photo by David Bell

Booragoon painter Roger Reading, who has a studio at Heathcote, says “what’s fun about it is everyone has their own style”.

“We paint the same thing, but it can look completely different.”

The group has a lot of retirees and part-timers, coming and going when they have the time, and despite the older demographic it’s all organised through Facebook. They don’t have fees or any rules beyond “show up and paint” and Mr Pickering says they have a load of fun apart from the occasional swarm of flies or bull-ant attacks.

Next Thursday June 4 the group will be back in Fremantle down at Mariner near Kailis Brothers, and you can keep an eye on their travels (or join up) at the Facebook page Perth Plein Air Painters.

by DAVID BELL