When plein air painter Sylvia Carlton looks out across the landscape, she sees things with a painter’s eye.

“When I’m driving down the road I see a beauty and richness that others just go past,” she said. For those who love to paint in the great outdoors, “Your head is constantly painting.”

It seems that once an artist has painted outdoors, there’s no going back into the studio.

“When you’re painting outdoors you can really take it all in. You experience the birds singing, feel the air moving; the colors become embedded in your brain and soul,” she said.

Carlton and a group of more than two dozen plein air artists are inviting the public to observe their painting process this weekend at the Second Annual Days of Wine and Permanent Rose three-day “gala paintout,” at Bainbridge Island Vineyards and Winery.

“A lot of people may appreciate artists and their work, but they don’t get to see it done,” Carlton said. “To see artists standing outside working is different.”

Spectators will also have the opportunity to purchase the work they have seen created literally before their eyes at a reception and art show held 5-8 p.m. July 22 at the Bainbridge Winery, with wine, appetizers and musical entertainment. And of course art.

Carlton said last year’s inaugural event was very successful, with probably several hundred people stopping by the vineyard on Day Road to watch the artists at work, and to ask questions.

Artist Jane Wallis said artists attending the event tended to ask technical questions, while the general public seemed more content to just watch the work in progress.

Carlton said the comments were mostly in the “I could never do that — I can’t even draw a straight line,” category.

It takes the artists about two hours to complete a plein air painting, and it’s not without its challenges.

Wallis, who also leads a three-day plein air workshop leading up to the paintout, said the artists have to contend with everything from fickle sun to blustery winds and even rain. On a recent plein air trip to New Mexico, Wallis related that the wind blew her work off the easel and face down into the sand, adding an unintended texture to her work.

Plein air painters have about a two-hour window in which to work before light conditions change too much and the scene is entirely different from when they started.

“But the glorious part is being out and being able to observe the color changes when the light falls on the ground, and the way the vegetation affects the colors around it,” Wallis said.

Plein air, perhaps more than any other type of painting, is all about the interplay of color and light. The artists work in a variety of media, from oil to watercolor and pastels, but many prefer an impressionistic style. It just seems to work with the subject.

Impressionism means “using light and light patterns to give the impression or sense of emotion of what you’re looking at,” Wallis explained. Monet and Van Gogh, both impressionists, are probably the most famous plein air painters.

Europe is a mecca for plein air painters, and Wallis, along with her husband Mel and business partner Donna Trent, has led trips to Provence, France for the last two years. This fall they are renting a villa at a working winery in the Chianti hills of Tuscany, just outside of Florence. They will spend their days painting landscapes, but Wallis said they’ll also take a trip into Florence.

While not everyone has the opportunity pack up their easel and head for Europe, Carlson said the Kitsap Peninsula is rich in subject matter, from farms, barns and flowers to the mountain backdrop, quaint towns and water scenes. The painters agreed the Bainbridge Vineyards was an ideal place to work, with picturesque possibilities everywhere you looked. And, of course, no two artists see a scene the same way. There are as many ways to paint a picture as there are ways to appreciate it.

Days of Wine and Permanent Rose takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 21 and 22 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 23 at the Bainbridge Island Vineyards and Winery, 8989 Day Road E, Bainbridge Island.

The reception and art show will be held from 5-8 p.m. July 22 at the winery.