Hartley, a painter-potter who grew up in Wichita and now lives in Saffordville, has grown to love the rolling Kansas prairie and joins other plein air artists nearly every week in setting up their portable easels and paint boxes in an attempt to capture the horizon-filling landscape.

"It takes your mind off everything else," she said.

Judith Mackey began painting the Flint Hills on location in 1966. That year she moved to Topeka with her husband, Kenneth, who was stationed with the military in the capital city. By 1972, they had purchased land near Cottonwood Falls and four years later built a home on that property.

"I can look out my front door and see prairie fires at night," she said, adding wildflowers grow outside her front door and creeks cut through their land. "I rarely go outside of Chase County (to paint). I don't need to."

Mackey recalls one day, during a snow shower at sunset, she watched five eagles playing in the wind currents over the Cottonwood River. She translated what she had seen into an oil painting that hangs in her Flint Hills Gallery, which opened in 1987 in downtown Cottonwood Falls.

"When you're out there and hear the birds, smell the flowers and feel the heat, and hear the wind blowing through the grasses, it's more inspirational," she said.

Dana Hassett, of Auburn, met Mackey at a ranch near Burns a few years ago and began joining her on plein air excursions in the Flint Hills.

Hassett and her husband showed quarterhorses throughout the United States for 38 years. After suffering a head injury, Hassett, who earned a degree in design from The University of Kansas, switched her interests to painting.

Being on location "teaches you to see," Hassett said. The panoramic view of the prairie must be edited to a segment that will fit a canvas. Colors must be analyzed to determine their subtleties, and the light must be documented before it changes.

"It's never the same day to day," she said. "You have no luck coming back the next day to recapture the scene you were painting."

Hassett said the greatest challenge to a plein air painter in the Flint Hills in the environment.

"It's your glory and your albatross at the same time," she said.

In addition to the heat, the wind can tip over the tripods holding the easels. Varmints -- snakes, bugs and reptiles -- can be unnerving.

"When you come to paint, it's extremely intellectual and takes a lot of energy," she said. "You have to stay hydrated and be healthy."

Debbie Schroer, of Strong City, hauls her portable paint box, packed with brushes and oil paints, and tripod easel to the Flint Hills up to four times a week. If the temperature is too cold, she'll paint from the cab of her truck.

During a plein air trip, the artists will paint from 7:30 a.m. to about 6 p.m., with about an hour to 1 1/2-hour break for lunch.

"The light is perfect in the morning and evening -- that's the best time to paint," she said.

Schroer's favorite thing to paint is prairie fires. This spring, she rode on the hood of a truck so she'd have a close look at the flames and smoke as ranchers burned the old vegetation off their pasture land.

"It was so hot and sparks were flying," she said. "I love the play of color and the shapes it gets and how it takes on a life of its own. I love to paint the smoke because there's so many colors in it."

Mackey said she can tell the difference between a plein air painting of the Flint Hills and one that's based on a photograph of the landscape because a plein air painting's color values are more correct.

She also sees a difference in paintings finished on location and those started there but then brought indoors to finish. Those painted indoors end up "darker than they should be," she said.

Mackey says painting the Flint Hills is a "spiritual thing" for her.

"I love being there. It's like where I'm supposed to be," she said. "It's kind of mystical."