One week from today...

our trip begins. The time is moving quickly, but we are pacing ourselves and getting a ton of things checked off our “to do” list. I can’t believe how much I can get accomplished in 16 hour work days!

Our main focus right now is on our exciting two-person show in Bernardsville, New Jersey on

November 4^th - November 30^th at Highlands Art Gallery. We are putting our final tweaks to our paintings, photographing, varnishing, framing and making lots of trips to Fed Ex. We will be going from China to New Jersey for the Reception on November 8^th.  We will be there from  6 to 9pm and at an open house on Sunday from 10am to 5pm.

At the other end of our studio, our China packing is also moving right along.  Our painting equipment is all gathered together; even the ordered “stuff” has arrived. Last big item on the list is preparing 40 canvas panels 16 x 20 (20 for each of us).  So far, we have cut 3/16^th inch gator board panels and the canvas pieces (Clausens #13 oil primed Belgium linen). Tomorrow we will do the gluing and Friday, the trimming. (If you want to read how to do this read Howard’s article HERE . We have one suitcase dedicated just to the panels. It is a hard sided Pelican case, perfect size for 16 x 20’s.

 

I know that you are curious, so here is my painting set up.

It is centered around a 11 x 14 Open Box M pochade box on a Gitzo tripod with some fun attachments. The neat looking foldable wastebasket is something I found at EasyL.  (Looks a lot better than my typical recycled grocery sack that blows in the wind )  All that is missing in this photo is my Easy L umbrella that attaches to my tripod.

The lightweight-folding stool has a back to it, ahhhh. Laying on the seat is my iPad, a great plein air tool…just in case an interesting water buffalo should wander past and I want to include it in my painting. Oh and the cute little fluffy white guy is Mack and, no, he is not going, even though his ancestors were Temple dogs in China!

Tomorrow morning we get our last shot…. Hepatitis… ouch. 

Thanks for joining my site and “coming along” with us! Stay tuned!

Are you ready for another adventure?

Well, hand on to your hat! Howard­­­­ and I are in the midst of preparing to paint in China! 

Yes, I said CHINA!!!!

I thought getting ready for France was a lot of work, but this takes the cake!

Okay, so now that I have your attention, I will give you a bit of information on the trip. We have been invited by artist Zhiwei Tu to be the guests of the Chinese Government.

You can see Zhiwei Tu's work at the links below: 

http://www.tuartgallery.com

http://www.tuartgallery.com/TU-ART-MUSEUM/tu-art-museum.html 

The trip will be 20 days in the province of  Guangzhou. During this time we will be painting 16 x 20 oil paintings in a different village each day and there will be two shows of our work while we are there.  From models to landscape, we hope to capture the spirit of China and I plan to share these images with you on my blog as they are happening.  Keep your fingers crossed that all cyber space systems are working.

Preparation has been everything from shots, mosquito medicine and visas- to bigger pochade boxes in order to accommodated the 16 x 20 canvas panels. We decided to order the 11 x 14 Open Box M Pochade boxes and they should be arriving any day.  Our wet box had to be bigger too. Since we are hoping to each paint at least 20 of these larger paintings, we will be bringing greater quantities of canvas panels and paint, than we have ever taken on our previous trips. Fortunately we have the perfect hard case for carrying 45 – 16 x 20 panels and it has wheels!

Trying to keep our amount of gear to a minimum because of the airline restrictions and penalties. we also both opted to get IPad 2’s rather than carry our heavy lap tops and several books to read. These new mini miracles will do all that and more and be easy to tote around.  Thankfully, the weather will be in the low 80’s, so we can pack lighter clothes.

Oh, and in return, the Chinese Government is asking that each of us bring one painting for their museum. This is the painting that I am giving to them.

Wen-di         18 x 14 Oil

So, stay tuned as our journey begins October 12^th.

Do you journal?

Many of us write when we travel. I do, sometimes. It is a great way to record, not only the events, but also my feelings as I experience new people, new land and new cultures from New York to Nepal. As an artist, I also record expressions in drawings and paint. I love to chronicle those unspoken pings, pokes and thrills from my heart. My senses come alive when I visit a new environment and I interpret that into the way that I paint.

Coming home from France last Saturday, I brought not only memories, but a few treasures. I also locked into my consciousness a deeper sensitivity to life. It happens every day to all of us, but when I travel, the awareness is so much stronger and deeper. Once I am home, I paint and allow those fresh feelings of travel translate into a work of art.

On Sunday (with my luggage still missing and our friend Dorothy bringing us flowers from her garden) the mood was set for swinging my brushes on home turf!

This is the result, full of feelings and joy.

on the street in France

Painting on the streets and vineyards anytime, daytime or nighttime, is always a challenge, no matter where you are in the world. It always helps to have an admirer or two or four to cheer you on.

Here I am in France with some darling young eager artists watching me! It turns out that their father is a chef for the Prince of Monaco and cooked for his wedding! When I travel , I always meet the most wonderful people in all sizes.

Bon Jour!

flowers in Vence

Here I am in Vence! France is ablaze with flowers. Summer is alive and well here in Southern France. Everywhere that I turn, there are paintings waiting to be put on canvas.
No wonder the impressionists were so in love with the light and subject matter here. Even though I have traveled to France more than 14 times, this country still has the ability to take my breath away. It is more than the light and the flowers, it is the gentle joy that history has laced through every village.

On my first painting day, a lovely couple from the Lake District in England fell in love with the painting that I was doing in St. Paul de Vence..... and bought it! Now that is a nice way to start the trip!

Today we were in Villefranche, a charming little port, full of boats and lively colored buildings. Visiting the nearby Rothchild Massion, put "the icing on the cake" to a spectacular day!

The sun has been following us around, but tomorrow it may rain. That will make for a perfect day to stay inside and touch up our paintings. Several of us have been creating nocturnal paintings under the moonlit skies. It has been a challenge to start as the sky is still light, guessing and anticipating what our subject will look like as the night turns quickly to dark. Then adjusting as we finish our paintings. Great fun! My eager students are painting flowers and cities by day and the villages with stars and moon at night. Wonderful!!

Fountain in Vence at night

Painting on the Go

Starting in 1969, I started traveling the world. At first I thought that traveling to Europe was something to do and “get the wanderlust out of my system”. However, after 7 weeks in 9 countries in Europe and England, all that trip did was wet my appetite for new cultures and wonderful countries all over England and Europe, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, New Caladonia, Tahiti, and more. In 1994, I decided to share these trips with artists that wanted to paint in excellent locations. First I ventured with my students to the Bahamas, next trip was Tucson ( it really is exotic and a great place to visit ), soon I ventured over the ocean to teach in England, France and Italy…. Many times. In 1997, my husband, Howard Friedland, started traveling, teaching and painting with me!

So, summer is here and I am once again on a painting adventure. This time I am in France with my dear friend, Sunny Reeves, for 12 days of painting and teaching in the villages of Provence. She has designed and organized a knock out trip for 16 lucky people, artists and non-artists.

Many artists have asked me what supplies I bring to paint and draw when I travel. Here are two photos showing the minimum equipment that I recommend. Personally, I usually expand this a bit, more colors, more panels, larger panels, a tripod, artist’s umbrella, etc., but this is the bare bones for travel. With the little 6 x 8 pochade box, I still can paint 8 x 10 or 10 x 12 paintings.

This is the minimum equipment for sketching and watercolors.

For those that want to also use oils, the following photo has shows the minimum equipment that you would need:

All of this fits into a rolling backpack that doubles as my carry on when I fly. Just don’t plan to have your tubes of paint, palette knife, palette scraper, Murphy’s oil soap, vasaline, or brushes in your carry-on luggage when you fly. Pack those things in your main suitcase that you check in.

Do NOT bring solvent of any kind. Once you arrive at your destination, if you are near an art store, you can purchase your solvent then. If there isn’t an art store near by, you can purchase mineral spirits at any hardware store. One other idea is to switch to walnut oil, olive oil or sesame seed oil. But that is another blog for sometime…

From Tucson to New York, Montana to Florida, Europe to China, I hope this helps all of you artists out there that are wanting to travel with your paints, but are completely baffled as to what to pack. Yes, I know, many times you pack your equipment, and hardly have time to touch it. But, bring them anyway, you never know when the moment appears and you will be ready to swing those brushes!

I have always felt that the best souvenir that you can ever bring home from your travels is a sketch or painting that you have done right there, locking in your memories. Quietly painting in some corner of this glorious world, listening to the sounds of the village, smelling the food cooking, listening to the laughter of the children coming home from school… all of it becomes captured in your heart as you paint.

Now, Go pack a travel painting kit and keep it ready for the next time you venture far from home. While you are at it…. Get a passport, too! If you have it, you just might start using it!

Hope of Spring

Me and My Shadow

20x20 oil

Okay, so spring is happening all over the northern hemisphere…. Here in the northern mountains, we have a very special kind of spring and I love it. It snows huge, wet, heavy flakes ( yes we are still getting snow). The snow piles up 20 inches or more. Then it all melts off to a bright and beautiful day like today. Then the cycle starts all over again. Each time the sun comes out, the air gets a little warmer and then we, in turn, get more and more excited about the coming warm weather.

Spring is a time of rebirth. Time to let new growth happen in my life and in my paintings.

The past week in my studio I worked on a self-portrait. The painting was inspired by a tiny old black and white photo of me when I was almost three years old. I took the liberty to make some changes, adjusted some values and added our cat Rocky. Because of the high key nature of this painting, it feels full of the hope of spring.

No matter what age, we are like little children, we all have a fresh start each spring, each year, and each day. Looking back on myself, at that tender age, I realize that my nature was already developing into who I am today. If I could… What would I say to that little one from the past? “Love everyone and every moment and know that you have a wonderful life ahead full of creativity and joy, because, with the help of God, you will make it so!"