Laurelines

Art supplies for Italy, that age-old question

It's the eternal question for us traveling artists. Which art supplies to take? On my upcoming trip to Italy to attend the TBDI 2014, I'll be taking only a carry-on bag, so the lack of space makes the question even more agonizing. 

I am usually a quick decider, but on this question, I waffle with the worst of them.

 The truth of this hit me hard recently as I was choosing some of my sketches to be published in Cathy Johnson's upcoming book, provisionally titled, "Sketching on the Spot.'  The first decision, then as now, boiled down to which would be the default sketching tool: pens or pencils?

I most often sketch with pens, such as my Pentel Pocket brush pen, which feels like an extension of my fingertips. Being a painter, I love the brushiness of those lines. They do robust, they do atmospheric, they play well with color or on their own. 

Bouziès, France

 

Copenhagen, Denmark
 

Bergen, Norway

Other times I want a crisp line, so I use a fine-tipped pen like the Ecco Pigment pen... again, with or without color:

 

Fontaine de l'Observatoire, Paris

But lately, my heart is leading me back to pencil, that most sensuous of drawing tools. There is NOTHING like the skidmarks, the fractured trails of a big, fat, soft pencil on good paper. With or without color added.

 

 

 Brittany, Presqu'ile de Rhuys

 

Middleton Place, Charleston, SC  Northern Norway

And then there is the matter of the which and the how of taking watercolors! I think this time, I'll take a few squeezed-out blobs from my paint tubes in a very lightweight plastic travel palette.

So here's the plan for now: two pens (one brush pen, one hard tip), a couple of pencils, limited watercolors and, if I have space, 4 or 5 watercolor crayons. And did I mention which sketchbook to take? I did not. That's a thought, alas, for another day. My decider synapses, now exhausted, have taken to their beds.

Italy, here I come... again!

In the midst of trying to get everything ready for my art show (it opened last Saturday! See below), I found an email in my inbox inviting me to come to Rimini, Italy this October to participate in a three-day conference sponsored by TTG Italia, designed to connect people passionate about travel (in particular bloggers who tell their travel stories and influence others with their enthusiasm and trip narratives) with the people in Italy whose business is travel.

The conference organizers appointed four specialists in the field of fashion, food and wine, culture, and travel to  choose the 'top 100 bloggers' from around the world in these fields and offer to pay their way to come and participate. My group is the Culture one and I'm the only practicing artist in that group, though there are lots of visual arts, architecture, and museum devotées/specialists as well as photographers, to mention a few.

It is SO exciting! Our Culture Cluster, as it is called, is already getting to know each other through our group on Facebook and we have the most delightful leader in Lorenzo Bonoldi, art historian of Mantua!

 I have two other trips slated for this fall, one back to Portland (to be with my daughter while she is having non-emergency surgery) and one to Santa Fe in November. So, as usual, I'm on the go!

My art opening was thrilling and gratifying.  LOTS of people came, in spite of the fact that it was Labor Day weekend, and a football Saturday (thus no parking) here in Chapel Hill. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who came.

 

Here are some peeks, before the opening and during! 

 This is very early in the opening, with Ippy Patterson on the left, with the writer Elizabeth Spencer, and me on the right talking to my friend Karen.