Painting in the Adirondacks

 Lower Saint Regis Lake, 18X24, Oil

Last week I traveled with Marian Fortunati to upper state New York, deep in the Adirondack's to paint in the 2015 Publishers Invitational.   The variety of the color green, from the trees to the fields was endless.  Around every bend in the road you didn't know if you would find a pond, waterfall or stream.  Eric Rhoads put the event together and I can't think of a thing that could have been done better.  We were very well taken care of from check in to the final goodbye party.

 At the same time there is a very serious man hunt for the 2 escaped convicts and it's still going on.  Most of the painters stuck together for safety and only a few saw wanted posters tacked up in the forest.  

It was a great week full of painting everyday, singing songs at night to Rick Wilson's guitar and making new friends.  The world of plein air painting is small enough that I am sure my path will cross with some of the wonderful people I met.    The photo below is the whole tribe of painters, about 120 in all.  

If you would like to see more photos from the week, I have an album on my Facebook page you are welcome to view.  

"Summertime" and traveling with oils....

For this painting I experimented with Gamblin's Fastmatte oil paints.  I wanted to see how the paint would work, because I was considering taking Fast Matte paint on my trip to the Adrirondacks, since they dry fast.  Bringing wet paintings home on a plane is always a bit of a concern.   To get wet paintings home safely, I have figured out how to use little beads as spacers, placing the panels face to face and then taping the "bundle" together to prevent any movement.  Finally, taking the bundle and placing it in a plastic trash bag and taping the bag tightly around the bundle, works well.  

Here is a picture of how I pack my paint.  If you are flying with oil paint, NEVER call it paint when speaking with the TSA.  Use the words, "artist pigments", which is what they are.  I print out the MSDS's from each manufacture and place that with a letter to TSA explaining that I am an artist and place these clearly visible on top of my packed suit case.  So far the TSA agents have never removed any of my pigments or gear.  

Each tube is wrapped in plastic kitchen wrap and then wrapped in bubble pack.  This way the sharp tube corners won't bite into any of the other tubes.  Finally, I place all of the tubes in a zip lock bag for extra protection.  There is nothing more frustrating then squeezing a tube of paint in the field and having paint sneak out of a hole in the tube, into your hand.  If a tube or cap does happen to leak, at least the paint will be contained by the plastic wrap.