The Plein Air Adventure

Traveling as an Artist is extremely informative to your understanding of not only the world but to your painting process. I fell under the spell of Plein Air painting in the late 1990’s. Due to a back injury I was only able to paint my watercolors standing upright at an easel. A Dr. who wanted me to use my painting as a distraction from the pain suggested that I take a plein air painting workshop. The first day I realized that there were colors in the shadows that I had never seen in a photograph. I saw how the light fell around objects and created color bounces. I was hooked.

Last year, 24 years later, July 23^rd, I participated and competed in Europe’s largest plein air event, “Art in the Open” in County Wexford, Ireland a nine day event. I registered the first day you could clear back in January. Bought my flight, arranged for a rental car and booked my places to stay. I flew over to Ireland a week early so that I could “get my feet under me” before the event. I went out sketching and drawing every day in order to get my hand, eye and brain communication fired up and ready. I drove to locations that we would be painting and scouted out views, bathrooms and places to eat. This helped me feel confident in getting around during the event. The first day of the event, it rained. I am a watercolor artist and luckily, I am used to painting in the rain. I used the rainwater instead of my water container. Yes, it was raining that hard. As a matter of fact that first “rainwater” painting is one I entered into the competition gallery show! Plein Air and travel painting offers a variety of subjects to paint. Every day we were in a different location around the county. I painted harbor scenes, street scenes, castle and lake scene, a river and mountain scene, a seashore, a dock with boats, a lighthouse, fields and stormy skies, a fountain and last but not least we had a quick draw where in the city of Wexford we had two hours to finish a painting.

This year, in June, I will be participating and competing in the Dublin Plein Air Painting Festival!! If you are in Ireland June 19th to 25th, look to see where we will be painting and come watch us paint the views.

Happy Painting, Kim Caldwell

I have long said that everyone can sketch or paint while traveling. Whether it is at home, around your own town or abroad.

Yes, it takes practice. No, it does Not have to be perfect! And Yes, it should always be fun!

The reason for taking anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours to sketch or paint what is in front of you is that you will remember that moment so much better than if you took a few seconds to take a photo. Sketching or painting requires your brain, eye and hand to have a conversation. This helps embed that moment more clearly into your memory. During the conversation that is happening your other senses are also taking in information. Your hears are hearing the sounds around you and your nose is smelling, your skin is feeling the sun/rain/wind and all of this along with the image you are creating is being settled that much more firmly into your brain. 

Later, when you look at this sketch or painting, you will remember that moment and all that was going on around you.

Try it! You will really like it. Do not be afraid. This is only for you. A keepsake that you are creating just for yourself. It does not have to be perfect in any way. If you can make a squiggly line, you can make a sketch impression of your view.

Join me in a fun 2 day Online via Zoom workshop where I will teach you how to have fun sketching and painting. You will be in the comfort of your own place. You only need limited supplies and a sense of adventure. This is for all of you who have said "I wish I could do that." or "I can't draw a stick figure". 

Go to Cole Art Studio website to sign up for "Painting Your Journey - at home, around town or abroad!"

https://coleartstudio.com/painting-your-journey-at-home-around-town-or-abroad-kim-caldwell

I realized when looking back at my blog posts.... I began to share my Ireland and beyond painting vacation. You read my first post and then... nothing!

Well, on the 3rd day of the painting vacation I broke my leg.

Needless to say, our trip turned out to be much more low key than planned, but awesome just the same. I kept painting as much as I was able. Allen hiked and played disc golf in the Wicklow mountains. He returned home on 2nd Sept and I had to stay another month more with friends until the Dr. released me to fly home.

Just another adventure in which "going with the flow" is a great motto to have!

Hello From Hook Head!!!

We spent Sunday at Tintern Abbey and gardens. A beautiful Abbey to explore including walking paths through the forest. I found a great view to paint from a bridge along the paths. After am excellent lunch at the cafe, we were told musicians were coming to play traditional Irish music on Irish pipes and a fiddle. I did a quick sketch of the opposite of the earlier view. This one of the bridge. The music was lively and beautiful to listen to in such a setting.

I am so excited that my next painting trip is about to begin! 

I will be writing to you from Ireland and Scotland sharing sites I see and paint. The first leg of my trip is with my awesome travel partner and husband Allen. We will be visiting Wicklow, Wexford and Waterford counties and finishing up in Dublin. 

I will then be heading off on my solo painting adventure mainly in Counties Roscommon, Mayo, Offaly and concluding with Dublin.

Mid September will see me flying to Edinburgh to meet fellow artist Kathie Bliss for a painting vacation in Ireland for 25 days

 We will be visiting and painting all over Scotland in the Lowlands, Midlands, and the Isle of Skye.

Stay tuned for posts here with some beautiful photos and fun adventures.

Kind Regards, Kim

I am a professional artist and I am an artist tour guide. I love to paint, I love to paint on location, I love to travel!!! I get a lot of comments from artists stating that they would love to travel, but cannot afford it. So many replies come to mind at this statement. I work hard, I save money so that I can travel and paint. It is a priority for me and it fulfills my dream and my passion for painting on location.

How bad do you want to travel, paint, sketch and explore? It is always possible to save money to travel if that is your dream and a priority.

Start by opening a savings account and name it Travel Savings! Here are the things that I did to begin saving.  Every paycheck I transferred $20 into savings as soon as my paycheck was deposited (to start and you can do $5 if that is what your budget allows). When the next paycheck was deposited, any $ left in the account from the paycheck before that was not allocated for a bill or a payment that had not cleared yet, was also transferred into the Travel Savings account.

I stopped buying fancy cups of coffee and made my coffee at home. I chose to invest in a great coffee maker and by the end of the month it had paid for itself And left $ to put into my savings. I made meals on the weekend that would create leftovers to heat up during the week so I would not be tempted to eat out. I made and took sack lunches. It is amazing how much more $$ is left over at the end of a pay period or month if you are not eating out or buying fancy coffee/drinks/sodas. It is exciting to see that savings grow. It becomes a thrill each month when you see your balance growing. I only bought clothes or shoes when my old ones were worn out. If you wash in cold and hang to dry, your clothes last longer. You can purchase new inserts for your shoes that cost less than a new pair, but make them feel new. If I do need a new piece of clothing, I save for it in my budget and purchase clothing that will travel well and dry fast.

I use my library card to borrow books (e-books too), borrow movies or watch free streaming videos from the library service. I borrow books and videos on traveling in the places I want to go visit too. I put up a map of the place I want to visit where I will see it everyday.

Every purchase is proceeded by the question "Do I need this item more than I want to travel?".

I love painting on location. I love painting and traveling around Ireland.

I am in the process of the final packing for my Ireland 2017 Research trip and two back to back artist tour guiding trips for my company, Artist Painting Vacations.  A total of 50 days traveling.

What do I pack for a 50 day trip in Ireland and painting too?

I am always asked and thought I would share here my extreme light packing list.

I use travel clothing that can be hand washed and dries very quickly. I dress in layers. This is just the way I travel.

What I wear on the plane:

Travel socks – I like the kind made by Tilley, *Underwear- travel ones that dry fast mine are by ExOfficio, *Bra

*Money Belt, *Travel Pants, *Travel shirt, *Fleece vest, *DriClime Windshirt (by Marmot )folds up teeny tiny, *Waterproof Rain shell also folds down very small, *Walking Shoes – should be waterproof or resistant, very comfortable, good traction for wet surfaces.

*Money belt with passport, cash, credit cards, driver’s license, Insurance Details

*Documents: Print out of airline eticket, (me – car rental voucher), List of places I am staying with contact information.

My suitcase is a 16 inch “rolling underseat bag” but this will go in the overhead

Two pair of underwear – travel that dry fast

Two pair of travel socks – dries fast

Two Bra

Sleepwear that folds up tiny

One pair Travel Pants – fabric that hand washes easily and dries fast

Two Travel shirts – fabric that hand washes easily and dries fast

Baseball cap – for rain, I am using the hood on my waterproof rain shell. If you don’t like hoods, maybe the waterproof Seattle Sombrero from O.R. with the wide brim and chin strap

Scarf if you want for your neck, *I usually buy one there.

Toiletries: remember to go small/travel size, you can always purchase items there if you run out.

Medicines and a papercopy of your prescriptions, vitamins, small first aid kit, Glasses, and/or contacts, (with a prescriptions) just in case of breakage or loss.

Tiny packets of laundry soap, an elastic travel clothesline, a camping style towel that I can twist my clothes in to get the water out and that will dry fast.

Camera & related gear, some people are using their phone camera now, make sure you have lots of memory on either. I always bring an extra memory card.

Mobile phone and charger I also use my phone as my alarm clock.

And whatever other electronics you wish to bring, make sure you bring a charger for them.

Power Plug adapter for Ireland.

Ear Plugs – try some out now to find the ones you like that are comfortable

Empty water bottle

Paint bag (I don’t carry a purse, so my paint bag doubles as purse/personal item)

When on the plane, this is what I carry in my “Paint” bag:

Travel paint kit: small sections of Daniel Smith watercolor sticks, Niji Waterbrush Mini round, Niji Waterbrush Flat, Pentallic Watercolor Notebook Large (5”x8” 60 pgs), pencil, eraser, sharpener, Elegant Writer in black by speedballart, business cards. I fit all the items except the book into a small clear zippered bag.

A Ziploc bag with my medicines I must have, eye drops, motion sickeness meds, AirBorne,

These are just what I bring, please adjust your pack list to yourself, and your medium. Remember that small is better, Do Not be tempted to try to bring your studio.

I have been painting for 26 years now and painting plein aire for about 14 of those years. Painting "en plein aire" means painting outside on location. In 2005, after years of hauling so much gear, I was considering a pack mule named Pepe! My search began for a less cumbersome set of equipment. I tried many variations of lightening my load as well as reducing the amount of time it takes me to complete a painting on site. I now have two versions of a Plein Aire set of equipment. The Main one is a black Travel Bag with an adjustable wide strap for ease of wearing it across my body and roomy enough to carry a minimal amount painting supplies. I have carried this on many painting trips and love it. This bag and contents have been to Amsterdam, Prague, all over Ireland (twice) and of course my beloved Northwest. The 3"x5" size of paper I now use means the painting can be completed in an average of 30-45 minutes. If time is a crunch, I sketch the scene quickly and make notes on the back of the colors in the shadows for future reference. Missing from the photo is my small camera that I usually carry in my pocket. I take a reference photo of the scene chosen and then get right to painting.

Supplies include: 1 small squirt bottle of water, 1 each, 1/4", 1/2" and 1 " flat brush, a size 3 and 6 round travel brush, pencil, and 2 waterproof pens brown and black. 2 palettes loaded with my favorite watercolors, a kneeded eraser, a pencil sharpener, 3"x5" watercolor paper, a plastic 4 x 6 index card holder, a collapsible water container, business cards, and napkins or a couple paper towels.

I have discovered that if I paint or sketch something every day for 30 days prior to a trip I can get into the "zone" a lot quicker on location. It makes it easier to get the hand, eye, brain communication going on a moments notice.

Stay tuned for the ziplock quart size freezer bag plein aire paint kit.....  Happy Painting!