Up to now traveling with a full compliment of art and painting supplies has been limited to car travel. In a little over a week I’ll be taking my painting supplies on a commercial airline for the first time. How to pack these supplies to stay in compliance with airline rules is cause for concern. Knowing which supplies should not be packed is also important to know. Fortunately, a recent article on just this subject is written by Lori Putman for Oil Painters of America. You can view the complete article here: Click here It is very helpful especially for artists new to traveling with painting supplies and gives valuable insights for what to do, and potential pitfalls.
Using the above mentioned article as guidance for packing painting supplies, off I go with Karen to a warm place in the Caribbean, Barbados. Our first trip there, and only our second to the Caribbean, we intend to combine a time of seeing as much of the island as possible while soaking up the tropical beauty and all it has to offer. And the plein air sessions to be inserted here and there whenever it’s possible.
Post to come regarding how the traveling with painting supplies worked out, and more details about the trip (during and/or after).
02/03/2014 All went perfect with painting supplies on our trip to the island. All supplies made the trip without any leakage, and since all the supplies I packed are permitted by airlines – no supplies were confiscated. The week went by quickly, but I did manage one painting – a dawn beach painting which will be posted soon.
OK, here it is. A bit of finishing work to be done as yet.
It was quite a place to paint. I arrived at the spot slightly before sunrise. Mid 70’s, air still and few shore birds about, and even a small sand crab. After a time, a steady flow of beach walkers came by – many stopped for a short talk, each with a different accent. I spent about 2 hours painting. Hoping to get the painting to dry as quick as possible so it would pack it easily, I placed the painting laying down on a table outside on a covered balcony at our hotel room. It was a perfect spot to be protected from a rain shower and still be outdoors to dry quicker in the tropical air. Well, it was a surprise when I checked on it later that day and found there were spots all over it – footprints from a bird! It seems he wanted to put his mark on it. By this time it was pretty dry, but I was able to smear most of them off. You can still see a few of them if you know where to look (just above the lighted area from the sun for example) – the finish work I’m planning will take care of it. Possible leave one small one for fun……
