Canvas & Easels
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Little Art Project - 'Free Art'
Engaging with local art scenes can be a daunting task when travelling in new countries, however there are always galleries and art stalls to be found, and museums to visit, as well as plenty of opportunities to get your own art supplies out and do a little work of your own...We have brought with us some modest paint supplies and small canvases to paint on. Hattie - not too keen on attempting any messy work herself - will be the curator/photographer and I myself shall work on a series of small works to leave around our trip.
I have never really had a chance (or maybe felt the need) to explore painting myself, and mostly work in pencil and ink if not in the digital form - so this is new territory even for me.
With a Fine Art degree and passion for art I am never the less somewhat a new-bee to painting, but found the small canvases available at a local art supplies shop irresistible, and found the concept of becoming involved in the new movement of 'Free Art' very attractive.
Our free art drop offs so far...
So far we have dropped off works in Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Laos. We have only managed to do a few so far with our schedule being so packed with travel, general sightseeing and of course now cycle touring, but have managed to get a few good snaps of their placements, and have had most that have been distributed collected within the day, which is quite exciting.The art works themselves
The pieces are an assortment of oil paintings, ink works, water colours... and many a resourceful mixture of all three (due to limited colour supplies from obvious weight restrictions). The canvases themselves are around 3 x 4 inches and 6 x 4 inches, some watercolour and some boxed, and some with an easel.I have to say that I still think my strengths lay in drawing and sketching rather than painting, but until I run out of canvases I shall keep at it; whilst watching my technique progress as it does seem to be doing - all-be-it gradually - as I adjust to my new medium and range of materials and slightly fiddly canvas size.
Artist on the move
One of the main difficulties of painting and travelling, is not having a fixed studio, allowing a layer to dry before we move on can be difficult as oils take a little while to set. This kind of constraint does seem to rush the process and effect overall quality as things can often be damaged or smudged in transit (so to speak)... but is something I am adjusting to as I begin to understand the order I should be working when using paints, and is just another interesting element to the projects progression, and my development as an artist as I hopefully expand my skills.View our gallery which will be updated along the route.
Related Arts Resources: Artist Site | SCARP Arts Projects
Written by Christina Gyles
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