A Day at the Elephant Sanctuary
I am simply without words. I'll try my best to write out what I can about our day spent among the elephants - but I know whatever words I pick will not do the animals justice.
We visited an elephant sanctuary today. No riding, no performing, just a slow walk back from the river. These elephants have been rescued from dire situations around the countryside and brought to the refuge to live out their days in peace, and it was hard to speak in anything more than a whisper around them - everything just felt so sacred and soft.
We walked with them on their daily trek from the river to their sleeping quarters, feeding them bananas, sugar cane and bundles of grass along the way. They were so much larger than I was expecting, just absolutely gargantuan creatures - but so, so gentle.
We learned about each elephant individually as we walked the trail, it's history and it's temperament, favorite foods and funny moments. I just can't get over how incredible their presence was, how anyone could hurt them is a baffling, sickening mystery to me.
At the end of the day I was more tired than I think I've been in years. The walk wasn't strenuous, but every nerve alert, every sense trained on soaking in the time we had with these gentle giants.
It will take me a bit to process the day, but I already have a few sketches going to help. When words fail me, colors usually pick up the slack.
As always, thanks for following along <3
Refuge / 18 x 24
Travel Art Supplies :: Japan/Thailand
I’m an over packer by nature.
As a little kid I would stuff virtually every CD I owned, at least 3 books and as many colored pencils/sketchbooks as would physically fit inside my backpack just to go on relatively short road trips. (Sorry Mom and Dad!)
It’s not that I fear being be bored, or have to be occupied at all times, — I actually really enjoy the feeling of “nothing” to do, I’ve just always felt a supreme need to be prepared. What if the car breaks down in a beautiful field and I want to draw? Better have my pencils. What if rains all day and our hiking plans are cancelled? Better have my sketchbooks.
These over-packing tendencies begged to be carried over into my international trips - but baggage requirements and the realistic weight of what I can actually carry have dictated otherwise. Over the last 3 or 4 adventures abroad I’ve whittled down what I consider necessary and have ended up with a pretty good list for creating the art I want to create while away. I’ve been asked a few times on instagram to share what I bring, so here is my complete list of art supplies for this 2017 Asia trip.
Art Supplies - Japan/Thailand 2017
Document tube + a few sheets of paper from home.
Tube acrylics
Acrylic brushes + plastic palette
Passport-sized Moleskine sketchbook (generally kept with my passport)
4 x 6 watercolor book (cold pressed)
Sennelier watercolor travel palette
9 x 12 Fredrix watercolor canvas pad
9 x 12 watercolor block (hot pressed)
Watercolor brushes (Escoda, Golden)
Washi tape
9 x 5 watercolor sketchbook
All of this fits into my carryon backpack except the document tube, which gets carabiner-ed onto my checked luggage. True it doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for non-art items, but with my phone and iPad I’m pretty well set for the flights. At the end of the trip I’m sure re-evaluate what I used the most/least and tweak my list again - but I think out of all the trips we’ve gone in the last 2-3 years, this has been my most successful packing list. What about you, how do you pack for art-inclined vacations?
Problem Solving with Fredrix Pro-Series Dixie Canvas Kit
I love working on commissions. Creativity, problem-solving, getting to speak with clients; the process combines some of my favorite parts of being a working artist. As much as I try to make sure everything is ready, planned and budgeted correctly, as with any long-term project— issues can arise that could possibly derail the progress.
In this case I’m excited to share an issue that came up in the initial planning stage -- which I can happily report is solved.
Staying within a budget for a project is incredibly important to me. I value my clients time and information and do everything I can to make sure the finished version aligns with the initial projected cost. On this project, the canvas was large enough (40 x 60) that it wouldn’t leave a lot wiggle room for the shipping. Well, not any in truth, and thus made the project less than feasible. We didn’t want to break the sketch into two pieces for cheaper shipping, and moving to paper to roll it up wouldn’t work with our sketch either. Feeling really dismayed that I wouldn’t be able to make this project fit in the budget, I tried one last option.
The Fredrix Dixie-Pro rollup canvas kit.
The kit is a rolled, pre-gessoed length (multiple sizes to pick from) of Fredrix’s Dixie Pro canvas. It’s stapled on one side with a sturdy cardboard tube in the middle to support the canvas and is packaged with all the appropriate sized stretcher bars and their patent-pending stretching tool. By using the kit I can stretch it in my studio, paint the work, undo the canvas and repackage in it's original long, thin box to send out. With this arrangement shipping is far, far less of a concern and makes the project 100% feasible.
What I needed:
-Electric drill
-Staples/Staple gun
((Everything else is included in the kit.))
To put it together, I simply unrolled the canvas on my vacuumed studio floor, and aligned the stretcher bars. From there I screwed in the cross pieces at 90 degree angles and added the crossbeams. Once the frame was together I used the provided tool system to stretch the canvas and staple down.
I usually stretch my canvases by hand, or by using a set of metal stretcher clamps --- but I was seriously so impressed with the Fredrix kit stretching system. It was incredibly easy to get a perfect tautness in the canvas, and even easier to staple down. If I was stretching the kit without the disassembly I’d cut the extra canvas off and fold the corners - but since my client will be re-stretching on her end I left the extra.
The canvas was easy to build, and will be just as easy to take apart to save on transit fees. I’m ridiculously thrilled that it solved the shipping problem and made this project possible --- and can’t wait to start the painting phase!
Stockist Spotlight: Thistle and Bess
I’m pretty particular about the places that stock my work.
It’s got to be a shop that you feel good walking into, with people who care about their community and give back to the area that supports them. A shop that sparks a bit of joy.
(Patterned wallpaper is always plus too)
Which is why I’m so thrilled to have work available for purchase in Ann Arbor’s Thistle and Bess.
The shop is near literally the cutest thing on the planet.
Each carefully curated and displayed item has a story to share, a tale to tell. And it's all just so. cool. I could spend hours looking everything, discovering makers, artists and all sorts of products that just make my heart sing.
The shop is located in the Kerrytown area of Ann Arbor, which is filled with fun little spaces to explore and lots of restaurants/cafes. It's one of my favorite locals for a brainstorm-lunch, or a coffee-fueled sketching session outdoors.
AND! On October 27th right there in the heart of Kerrytown I'll be at Thistle and Bess for a Meet the Artist event. I'll have originals, limited edition prints and a few new pieces to share - so make sure to stop by if you're in the area.
Vestige of Summer; Painting Outside
The sun was just starting to dip beyond the treeline casting deep golden beams across our back lawn. A slightly confused cricket was already chirping away. The vestiges of summer.
I had to paint outside.
I knew I didn't have an abundance of daylight left, so I gathered what I could quickly. A dropcloth pinned down by a plant, a few basic paints and what was left from last night's mixings, and the first brushes I could get my hands on.
I love working in the backyard of our rental home (moving into the new place in October!). The squirrels are super vocal, birds gather in all the trees overhead and it's impossible for me not to feel at least the slightest bit at peace.
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Also, 80% of the 'lawn' in our backyard is mostly very tiny strawberries. If that doesn't put you in a mood to create, well, nothing will.
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Even managed to catch a bit of lens flare.
There's something so wonderful about being outside and working; soaking up the birdsong and scent of green growing things and translating that to paper is magical.
Vestige of Summer will be up in the shop for the next update, planned for Friday, Aug 25th.
We'll be on the road for the weekend - heading out to California to visit friends and take some time off. Well, sort of 'off'... I'll still be painting, but not answering as many emails :)