While my daughter danced her heart out, I was in the audience. However, anyone who has been to a competition weekend knows, there is a lot of down time spent in the locker room.
The key to working in small spaces is to compact your supplies into a workable and portable format.
My Art on the Road Supply List
- Gallon Zip Bags - packed with a wide variety of textures and patterns, divided by color
- One or two old books - pertinent material to your subject matter
- Bag of Postage Stamps - I collected mine on eBay
- Scrap Box - for all the pieces you tear that are too small to go back in the Zip Bags, keep adding them to the scrap box. I use a shoe sized plastic box with snap lid. Sometimes the scrap box has just the tidbit you are looking for
- Small plastic container - filled with Acrylic Gloss Gel Medium (the glue) and a tight-fitting lid. I keep this inside the scrap box for double protection.
- #8 Filbert synthetic brush, my favorite for glue
- Coffee Cup or other vessel for water - When you have to stop your collage work here and there, it's best to put the brush in water while you are gone, to prevent the glue from drying out
- Tote Bag - hold it all together in something you can throw over your shoulder!
- Small Prepared Panels - I brought three 12x12 wood panels that I had primed with clear gesso and painted birds on, ready to collage. Keep it to a size that will fit in your lap.
I managed to finish three collages over the weekend from Friday morning to Sunday night. I would be much more efficient if I were in my studio, but I did not have to abandon art making for the weekend, just because I was out of town and away from my studio space.
We also visited the Boca Raton Museum of Art (Elvis at 21, Photos by Alfred Wertheimer, and remembering Stanley Boxer, A Retrospective) while we were in South Florida, and Gallery Center. I always take the time to visit a gallery or museum when I am in a city away from home. You never know when you will get the chance to go back!
