CLARKSVILLE, TN.- The Customs House Museum brings the “Outdoors In” with an exhibit of plein air paintings by noted artist Lori Putnam, opening May 22nd. Lori says of her work “Like a candid snapshot, I strive to record my first impression, to capture a moment in time or everyday life. I express the effects of light and atmosphere, translated so that viewers can experience the beauty in something ordinary, something they may never have seen that way before”.

Putnam has studied with many of the nation’s best painters, among them, Dawn Whitelaw, Quang Ho, Scott Christensen, and Kim English. In 2008 and 2009, she traveled to Italy for more than seven months with the sole intention of study, and growth. During this time she painted almost 200 pieces from the southeastern Adriatic coastline to the northeastern Italian Riviera and many towns in between. Her intense work during this period brought a greater maturity to the paintings she creates today.

Lori is a member of, and has exhibited with, many respected organizations including the Salmagundi Club in New York City, the Oil Painters of America, the California Art Club, Plein Air Artists of Colorado, and the American Impressionists Society, and served as Show Chair for AIS in 2011. Her work is in the permanent collection at The Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland, the Jack Warner Collection, the collection of Plein Air Magazine and in private and corporate collections, and galleries worldwide. Featured in numerous issues of American Art Collector Magazine, and most recently, Plein Air Magazine, Lori is recognized as one of the finest American Impressionists of our time. She served as a mentor for Plein Air Magazine’s 1st Annual Plein Air Convention in Red Rocks near Las Vegas in April 2012.

In conjunction with her exhibit, Lori will be doing a demonstration at the Customs House as part of their monthly Art & Lunch programs on June 7th. The event is free and guests are encouraged to bring a brown-bagged lunch. Outdoors In will run through July 8th.

Located at the corner of Second and Commerce Streets, the Customs House Museum is the second largest general museum in Tennessee.