On a February day when the air is chilled and the ground is adrift with snow, most folks long to hunker down indoors. Howard Park and Lisa Miceli venture out. Both are artists, and they gather accoutrements from their studio inside Stonington’s Velvet Mill and tromp off in search of a captivating place to paint. On this day, it was to Stonington Meadows, but their scenic sites have included the likes of Haley Farm and Denison Homestead. Plein air painting may have become a more popular avocation over the past year — creating art while socially distanced and in the great outdoors is pandemic-friendly, after all — but Park and Miceli were enthusiasts long before COVID-19 existed. That said, they recognize the value of this method of painting during this time.