Episode 251: Travel Tips for Artists

The ideas and energy gained from travel are important to many artists, and when you travel, you seldom leave your art self behind. The stimulation of travel and new experiences tends to create strong impressions and bring on the urge to create while you’re away from home, no matter the overall reason for your trip. This means bringing along at least some art supplies, and lots more if the focus of your trip is a residency or workshop. It's hard to know ahead of time what environments or situations you will encounter, and what you will want to respond to. So, this makes planning your materials a challenge. But you can make some general decisions about the type of materials you want to bring, and how much time and space you will have for your work. Are you traveling as a tourist, or is your travel more focused on your work? If it's a shorter, busier, tourist type of trip, it may be that simply collecting ideas, photos, and quick work to reference later will satisfy your creative needs. But there are many other situations when you may have a studio of sorts,--at a residency workshop, or self-catered set up, and you are planning a longer stay in which you focus on your work. If you will be delving deeply into your work while away, and you are using public transport to get there, do the best you can to anticipate your needs as you pack,and consider the option for buying supplies at your destination. But an attitude of accepting your choices of matrials once they are made and doing what you can with what you bring can be a creative portal. Responding in the moment to what moves you is the most important consideration. Packing, shipping, weight restrictions, toxicity, and other factors are all factors, but often the simplest solutions are sufficient and may present exciting challenges. If you typically work with oil, why not bring only a small selection of inks, watercolors, and other water-based media, along with some drawing media? Our listeners contributed many experiences and tips for this episode about materials and packing, so please have a listen to hear what they had to say. This is the website mentioned in the podcast for travel materials related to watercolor and drawing media: https://arttoolkit.com Thanks to everyone who has been sharing the show and donating! If you would like to donate to the Messy Studio Podcast donate here. ​ When you buy art supplies at Blick remember to use our affiliate link to support the podcast! Bookmark this link and then you don't even have to think about it again. This is one of the best ways to support the show. It takes a few seconds and costs you nothing! The Blick website works exactly the same way, but we earn 10% every time you buy art supplies. www.messystudiopodcast.com/blick What's new At Cold Wax Academy? Rebecca and Jerry launched their spring quarter on April 12th. Sessions this quarter so far included identifying compositional issues in your work, and technical information from Gamblin representative Mary Tevlin. Upcoming sessions include a painting clinic for works in progress, and much more. As always, members can join in on live sessions with questions and comments, and can benefit anytime by interacting with other members on our Members-only facebook page. With 100 recorded sessions in the member library there is always something to learn or review, with topics ranging from technical advice to visual language to guests speakers and critiques of member work. To learn more about membership, and to purchase cold wax tools and Rebecca and Jerry's book, Cold Wax Medium: Techniques, Concepts & Conversations, please visit http://www.coldwaxacademy.com Please visit http://www.coldwaxacademy.com for more information as well as basic information about using cold wax medium. Here is what a member named Sandy has to say about her own experience with Cold Wax Academy: "Rebecca and Jerry have presented the most professional, authentic and structured approach to a creative activity I have ever come across. Their selfless sharing of all their knowledge and encouragement is a gift in my life unsurpassed." Also-- please visit https://www.espacioart.org to learn about Rebecca and Jerry's newest project, Espacio, dedicated to providing beautiful living and working spaces for artists and writers. Espacio's first offering is Casa Clavel, a modern, fully equipped house opening this September in the beautiful cultural city of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. A few booking openings are still available in 2023, so please incquire if you are interested. Have an art related product, service, or event you would like to advertise on the Messy Studio Podcast? Email Ross at [email protected] for current mid-roll advertising rates. ​ For more from The Messy Studio: www.messystudiopodcast.com www.facebook.com/messystudiopodcast ​ For more from Rebecca Crowell: www.rebeccacrowell.com www.coldwaxacademy.com ​ The Messy Studio Podcast is a Tick Digital Media Production.