Manitowoc man has become a plein air extraordinaire

Jason Prigge considers himself the luckiest man in the world.

The Manitowoc artist just opened a studio on South Eighth Street, his paintings are winning accolades and awards, not to mention sales, and he's making a living doing something for which he has a burning passion.

But the former grocery-store worker and restaurant owner doesn't take his success for granted.

"I've never ever wanted to be anything except for an artist," he said. "It's taken a long time. I'm 40 years old. I'll never retire, but I'll never go back and work in a grocery store. No matter how much money is or is not associated with it, no matter how many awards I get or don't get, I'm never going to stop painting. And I'm never going to stop doing it with passion and with my whole entire being, because doing it less that that would be an insult to the art."

Prigge specializes in art executed "en plein air," which is a French expression meaning "in the open air," and is used to describe the act of painting outdoors from start to finish.

Contests are often held for plein-air artists, and Prigge, who's been painting this way since high school, estimates that he takes part in 15 to 20 competitions each year. Sometimes, the artists are given two or three weeks to complete their paintings. Others are quick-paint competitions, which give participants a set —and relatively short — time to complete their paintings.

It was in a quick-paint competition that Prigge recently won what he considers one of the most important contests in his professional career — first place in the Dockside Quick Paint contest at the Door County Plein Air Festival, which is one of the top-three contests of its kind in the country.

The win did not result in a cash award. Instead, Prigge will automatically be eligible to participate in next year's Door County Plein Air Festival, a juried contest that otherwise only accepts 39 of the 1,600 to 1,700 artists who apply for consideration each year.

"I wouldn't trade that prize for all the cash prizes that I won," Prigge said. "The person who wins the quick-paint prize becomes a featured artist next year. That was my award, so now I get to paint with 39 of the best painters from around the world. It is very cool to get my name on that level."

Not bad for a kid from Sheboygan who started painting primarily as a way to hang out with his older brothers.

He credits art teachers in middle and high school who helped him to develop his skills during a time in his life where, in his own words, he "started to shine."

In particular, his high school art teacher, Julie Johnson, fostered his burgeoning talents.

"By my junior year I was taking three periods of art. I had a key so I could use any material I wanted, and I had the instruction of one of the kindest and most intelligent people I have ever known in my life," said Prigge, who still keeps in touch with the long-retired Johnson.

Prigge's education continued, but in a non-traditional way.

"I never had any interest in conventional school," Prigge said. "Socrates said 'true learning comes from observing the world around you,' so that kind of falls into what I do now," he said.

He spent the first decade after high school traveling the country, living in the Pacific Northwest and working a lot of odd jobs.

"I'd go to rock concerts and do people's portraits and caricatures on the back of beer cartons," he said.

In 2000, Prigge came back to Sheboygan and started working at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center as a gallery assistant. He also nurtured his other love, theatre, by taking part in local shows. He met his future wife, Tina, while performing at the Victorian Village in Elkhart Lake and eventually moved to Manitowoc to be closer to her and has remained here ever since.

It would be several more years before Prigge's art could support his family, which eventually included now 9-year old son, Teak. He was a chef at several restaurants, opened and closed his own Two Rivers restaurant and managed grocery store delis until three years ago.

"When the restaurant closed, I decided I was going to be an artist … I wanted to be a painter. In my head I was already at that level, but to be a professional painter it takes a long time to establish a name, be on the scene and cut your teeth," he said.

To that end, Prigge started entering plein-air competitions, such as the one in Door County. In the past four years he has won Best in Show at both the Wauwatosa Plein Aire Festival as well as the Lake Moon Festival at Concordia University, and he has placed or been recognized in more than 15 other competitions. And while he enjoys that recognition, he also has a more practical viewpoint.

"The best award a guy can get is a sale," he said.

And he's had plenty of those. His works are available at several galleries and businesses around the area including the Manitowoc Trading Company, Riverwalk Art Center in Fond du Lac and Bay Gallery in Sister Bay.

Plein air, while definitely Prigge's favorite way to paint, is just one aspect of what he does, as he also does a fair amount of studio paintings. Up until this September, Prigge had been painting out of his home.

"We were stumbling over my art and getting paint on the walls and doorknobs, so I wanted to be kinder to my wife," he said.

That's a good thing, because Tina Prigge is her husband's biggest supporter.

"He has this passion from within. It's not even a choice to do it … he has to do it. It's like breathing," Tina Prigge said. "His contributions to the world are so beautiful, I feel it is my responsibility to support and promote that."

His studio, located at 826A S. Eighth St., is decorated with Prigge's artwork, and visitors are always welcome. A sandwich board announcing "artist is in" is left in full view in front of the studio when he is working and is an open invitation for interested parties to see the artist at work.

"All the other jobs that I've had have been a means to buy paint," he said. "I am married to a beautiful woman, I have a wonderful child and I can come down and paint at my own studio."

Ann Grote-Pirrung can be reached at pirrung@tds.net.