I've been working from home for over a month now due to the pandemic. It really isn't as much fun as I thought it would be. I often flirted with the idea of working from home and all of the time it would allow me to get other things done. Online teaching is twice as much work as in person teaching because so much is lost in translation. Then you add the element of art onto that and you realize that teaching art must be done in person. It's a hands on approach that requires in person demonstrations with support and feedback on the spot. It's also impossible to separate work from home life now and I've found myself on the computer working for up to 10 hours at a time. I decided I needed to find a way to stay healthy and added alarms to my phone to get me up and moving every hour. One of those movements I added are walks with my dog. I've been taking a much closer look at nature in all its glory and realizing that I need to get out and paint more often. The stimulus package afforded me the luxury of investing in an easel that will make it much easier to plein air paint. The two options I had before were a french easel, which is too large and bulky to hike around with or strap on my back and mountain bike around. The second option I had was a simple wooden easel which I used to strap onto a snowboarding backpack along with several other items I needed. The easel didn't have a space for my palette or supplies, but I made due with duct tape and creativity.
Summer of 2012 - Tuscany, Italy
I must admit that I live in an extraordinary place and the views are breathtaking everyday. I hope the weather will cooperate and allow me some time to get outside and show you all how wonderful Vermont is. I can't think of a more beautiful place to spend my days painting and I've traveled the world. I'm also going to be trying out a new palette with colors that are close to what I've used in the past, but not quite. I'm always excited to try out new things and see what I can discover. Stay tuned...
New Easel - Mini Strada
