Here is my temporary studio, the laundry room (open to the sky) of our villa in Playa Blanca, on the Canary Island of Lanzarote. I am working each morning with an artist, Scottish by birth, and now from Northern Ireland, who invited Don and myself here for a week to learn more about cold wax medium. Work is going very well, inspired by the strange and beautiful landscape of this island, formed by volcanoes and now covered with volcanic sand and strange formations. We are making time each afternoon to travel around with Alan and his wife to see various parts of the island, eat delicious food, walk on beaches, and ride camels. (I admit, we are tourists when away from the studio!)
It has been an amazing trip, begun with a few days in Barcelona...we flew here to this other-worldly environment on Thursday. A few photos of the landscape, the one above taken at nearby El Golfo, a black sand beach, and the one below along a highway.
I have noticed in the past that some landscapes I visit speak to my work and resonate with my visual interests more than others, and this one is high on the list of all I have experienced. The rugged textures, earthy colors, and feeling of light, open space are all exactly what I love to work with.
Lots of new ideas...today Alan and I both experimented with mixing black volcanic sand in with the wax, to very interesting ends. Besides the cold wax paintings, I've also started some with water-based mixed media. And of course I am taking a lot of photos. I will post some photos of the work as it develops...
Looks very cool. I can totally see how inspirational all that texture could be.
ReplyDeleteHi Rebecca: I can tell you have had a wonderful experience - so glad for you! Can you tell me about the airport restrictions on oil paint,etc., and are they still in effect? Did you take wood panels with you to Lanzarote, or did you work on paper? I'm thinking even small cradled panels would be a lot of stuff to carry. Maybe Don shared his luggage allowance with you?? :-) Welcome back, and I hope you had a safe journey home.
ReplyDeleteHi Barbara, thanks--it was indeed a wonderful trip. As for luggage--yes I did put a few things in Don's suitcase for weight reasons. As for materials--in packed luggage, oil paints are officially fine, so I took what I wanted...I also took Dorland's wax, and there was no problem. (no solvents, of course.) I did worry a bit anyway, about the paints and wax--the truth is the TSA can confiscate anything they find suspicious, and though you could make a claim to get them back, or reimbursed, who wants that hassle. The best advice is to print out the Official contents description (I forget what it is called, a document that you can access for all art supplies) but I did not do this, since there is a separate one for each brand of paint, and I use such a mix. I actually meant to print out for the Dorland's but forgot. The flash point listed is OK by TSA standards. But it is also listed on the container, so I figured that would do. In any case, nobody seems to have paid the least bit of attention. I suppose it depends a lot on where you are going and who is in charge.
ReplyDeleteI packed the paints in a clear plastic box, labeled "artist's paints" which is also recommended.
As for painting surfaces--I took some nice multi-media paper that I've used before, for mixed media--and loved it. I also stuck in a few flat Claybords, but ended up just giving those to Alan.
If anyone else has air transport experiences to share I would love to hear of them!
Hi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteThe photos are striking, reminding me of some of the canyons here in New Mexico.
Will be interesting to see what comes of mixing the volcanic sand in with the wax!
I have some things I will post soon with the volcanic sand incorporated.
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