Art & Travel
Ciao! I’m in Italy, more specifically Tuscany. I love art and I love to travel. The challenge is combining my love of art and travel. The logistics of supplies. Do you bring them? Do you buy them there? How do I find supplies in another country? Sometimes I am away for months at a time and I cannot put my art career on hold till I return home.
I’m going to share with you some of the challenges, successes, fails and hopefully give you some good tips on being creative while traveling. Whether you are a hobbyist, a professional artist, or just want to grab a little sketchbook once in awhile I hope you find this useful as you enjoy Art & Travel.
Supplies
Most places I travel to have supply stores. I can spend several months in Mexico near Merida which is a city bustling with art and culture. Therefore it is no problem finding art supply stores. However, like most artists or crafts person we have our favourite brands which sometimes you can’t find when abroad.
Therefore, I usually bring my own supplies. It can be a bit of a hassle I’m not going to lie, however, for the additional $25-$50 for a full suitcase of supplies that I know and love it is worth it to me.For the watercolour artist it’s a little easier as you can bring watercolour blocks, watercolour paints and they don’t take up as much room as full canvases and acrylic or oil supplies.
I usually bring a backpack full of little watercolour sketchbooks so that I can do a quick sketch on days where I don’t need to bring out a full canvas. These sketches are great references for full paintings once I return home.
Canvas
I find when travelling canvases can be a bit of an issue. Selling my work at the gallery I prefer the one and a half to one and three-quarter inch gallery thickness canvases. I have had a very hard time finding these abroad. Most canvases overseas are half an inch thick. Quality can be a bit of an issue as well so in the past I bought canvases at home, removed them from the wooden frame, and rolled them up. I put them in a container or if weight isn’t an issue they can even go in my suitcase. Lets face it. I’d rather have a suitcase full of art supplies than clothes!!
Sizes
The sizes I take are 12×12, 12×24, 14×18, 16×20 and 10×30’s. Anything bigger than this and weight becomes an issue. I have been able to take up to 20 canvases with these sizes. Enough to get me through a couple of months.
One Problem
As I mentioned, I used to take them off the wooden frames and roll them up. One very important lesson I learned coming home this past year was that when I went to re-stretch them and staple them back onto the wooden frames they no longer fit! I was in a panic.
The canvases I buy are machine stretched so the second I took them off the frame I was doomed. After a few frantic hours of trying to re-staple without success I ordered three-quarter inch wooden frames from Upper Canada Stretchers in Owen Sound and was able to save the 17 paintings that I had brought home.
Solution
So, next year I will be buying a full primed roll of canvas and I will be cutting my own sizes. This way I can add several extra inches on the length and width so that when I come home I can re-stretch onto the one and a half inch frames without a problem. An expensive lesson learned however without failure we rarely learn anything new.
Paint
Paint is a real issue when buying abroad. Colours, quality and not being able to read the labels because they are in a different language can all be a challenge.
I bring my own. I wrap them in Ziploc bags, pack them with bubble wrap and I have never had a problem taking them across the border.
On the odd occasion when I have run out of a certain colour usually titanium white, mars black or ultramarine blue I have been able to buy those basic colours at the local stores. My advice would be to bring extra of the colours you will use the most.
If you want to try the local supplies then go ahead and experiment with the “new” . This is great fun. I recently went into a art supply store in Siena and I was completely blown away by the hundreds and hundreds of colors. Who needs a shoe store when you can have a paint store?
Bottom Line
So what is the bottom line? Have fun. Experiment. Most importantly….create! It doesn’t have to be pretty, it doesn’t have to be perfect as long as you get out there and try. You will learn along the way, mistakes will be made but I have to tell you…looking back on all my travel sketchbooks some of them going back 14 years they are such great momentous of trips taken, memories made and the joy it all brought.
Where To Buy Travel Supplies
For travel kits, paint supplies and/or canvas I use The Colour Jar in Durham. Tim is very helpful and has a good selection. Curry’s Art Supply has a great online store and will ship for free for orders over $75.
Upper Canada Stretchers in Owen Sound will stretch your canvases for you or you can purchase the stretcher bars and stretch your own. You will need a special stretching tool to do this.