T Kurtz, artist on the move here. Recently I was awarded a grant from WA State Endowment for the arts to learn to plein air and teach it! I and Joni of our organization's PB&J traveled with a friend to the heart of the Columbia Gorge to learn and hopefully paint in pastel the amazing landscape. We learned a lot and we have started a list of things that should be packed for the artist on the go;
Pack a lunch, you don't want to have to tear down and set up again!
garbage bag, pack it in, pack it out
Sunscreen; yep, even in April we ended up with peeling noses
Celo bags to put our finished work in First Aid Kit (should be a no brainer, oops)
Our first day we loaded up a equipment cart and pulled our way to the location, Joni and Chris actually scouted first (very wise). By the fourth day, we had winnowed our equipment down to the point that Joni could fit it all in a backpack! She is so very smart! The cart will be left at home from here on out and I have found my own backpack to use. This is all for doing pastels and not any other medium. We had all given up on easels at this point but on the next trip, I hope to be doing oils. This will be a learning curve for sure.
Keep watching here for updates as we figure this out!
