Packing Art Supplies - brainstorming appreciated!

Hi Jean, in the spirit of brainstorming… I am new to painting but I am a textile artist that has traveled extensively for classes and seminars and faced the challenge of transporting materials that can get heavy. Have you considered finding a local source to purchase an inexpensive table easel? Craft stores like Michael’s (or the Italian equivalent in the closest bigger town) sell options that might work for you in the $35-50 range. Potentially, you could order something and have it delivered to the hotel where you are staying. And at the end of the class, just gift it to a fellow student or donate it. I know that this sounds wasteful but the idea of holding the backboard for any length of time would negatively impact my painting not to mention be uncomfortable or painful. When I consider the investment of time and money, having the equipment I need to make the experience enjoyable always seems worthwhile to me.

Camashuga, thank you for your reply!

The largest city in the vicinity of the class is Ancona. Maybe I’ll see what options for art supply stores they have on-line.

Does Amazon.it carry any of the heavy supplies? I've had things delivered to myself in Italy in care of a family member. Perhaps you could ship to your lodging.

Amazon delivery to hotel in Italy has worked for me. Best if you can order from Amazon.it. Go to your account settings. Change country to Italy but keep language as English. And set the applicable postal code to your Italy destination. Then you are searching for what can be delivered there without a lot of extra time or expense. Worked for me for France too. You might confirm first your accommodation will accept for you. Or once when I was at a rental house I used an option that Amazon had for a local pick up at a nearby shop.

I think I commented on your thread for your last trip, and I am not an artist, but I
would try to consider some aspects of your transit:

1) what's the approximate total weight of what you think you want to bring, minus
the potential weight of the bags themselves, and can you carry/lift that weight no
matter how you pack it
2) are you planning to fly in economy or PE/Business, which will make a difference
in how much you can bring on the plane (some people may say that isn't the case,
but when you board the plane first, you can get away with bringing a bit more on)
3) can you find out if the trains are walk-on or step-up entry to the cars, which will
be important if there are multiple trains, tight connections, and/or crowded
conditions
4) what art materials can you potentially ditch after the class and not have to carry
back home
5) are you thinking of spending any time anyplace other than the site of the class

If you want to reduce the potential strain on your shoulder(s), it seems to me that
at least one of your carry-ons should be a 4 (not 2) wheeled roller, so you can
walk with it without having to tilt or lean your body in any direction. Maybe soft-
sided rather than hardshell so you have options for packing small items in
outer pockets.

Then, if you get a wheeled backpack that has a strap on the back that allows you
to put it on the handle of the roller bag, then you have the option of putting it on top
of the roller, so now you don't have to carry anything on your shoulders, and
the wheeled backpack gives you an option for a more portable way of carrying
your supplies without having to lift them at all if you are in hilly conditions.

The webpage for pastel box you referenced has a picture showing the box on a
rollerboard bag; this is kind of what I'm saying, but a wheeled backpack may give
you more options once you arrive.

Hopefully I am not off base in what you're hoping to get from the forum, since what
I am saying is not necessarily rocket science, and perhaps you've considered all this
before...

Hi Jean, I once bought an easel in Florence, along with oil paints, to avoid having to carry it. While it was awfully extravagant, I was going to be out in the countryside for 8 days painting, followed by hiking in CT, just couldn't deal with schlepping all those supplies. I donated the easel to the agriturismo but kept the expensive oils.

Or even switch over to sketching, instead, and save the pastel
painting for our daily studio time. The village is very hilly.

That sounds like a good alternative!

Jean, I have an idea. I can buy you that cheap easel stand here and bring it to you in Italy ! How's that ??!!

Jean, I have an idea. I can buy you that cheap easel stand here and bring it to you in Italy!

I'll help, Kim, lol!!

Jean, look at what I saw on the Tom Bihn site this morning—I think it's calling your name!
https://www.tombihn.com/collections/all-tom-bihn-stuff/products/tool-wrap?variant=48934131433661

Thanks for your selflessness Mardee ! It is good to see that others are as altruistic as I

Ha ha, Kim! What can I say? Generosity is my middle name! 😂😂😂

Skip the easel, Kim, and come to the class! : )

You’d be very popular if you showed up with Sennelier pastels from Paris! Their soft pastels are gorgeous & apply like butter on the pastel sanded paper.

https://www.sennelier-colors.com/en/Products_57.html

Mardee aka “Enabler” - LOL! Why am I not surprised that you have an additional item to add to my suitcase? ; )

Shoeflyer, thank you for taking so much time to think through the questions you listed!

1) The tripod is 5 pounds, the wooden pochade box filled with pastels is 6 pounds. Because of the size & bulk of them, I had to bring the largest carry-on size suitcase. The pastels themselves are about two pounds.

2) I usually fly Comfort Plus on Delta & partners. I will be flying into Venice, so that will likely be a smaller KLM airplane.

3) Most of my trains are just a direct connection - so no rushing. Ferrara & Ravenna are small stations. Venice & Torino are larger but not an issue of a lot of stairs. All trains have a couple of big steps to board them typically.

4) The current wooden pochade box is expensive, plus it holds the very fragile pastels. So if it comes, I must keep it throughout the trip. The tripod is a very nice professional one - too expensive to leave. If I’m planning to stand while painting outdoors, they both need to come. If I’m willing to sit while painting outdoors, the tripod doesn’t come & the heavier wood box could be exchanged for a lighter weight protective bag. Either way, I must bring home the pastels since they are an investment. A lightweight tabletop easel ($20-30) could be left behind.

5) Yes, the class is in more of an obscure location at Montelparo in the Le Marche region. So I will be returning to several cities pre-post class, plus a couple of new cities, such as Ascoli Piceno. Probably flying into Venice and home from Malpensa. Repeat cities for me: Venice, Ferrara, Ravenna & Torino. The previous class was much more convenient, being outside of Dublin, Ireland. I just had a couple of taxis - no trains or buses.

I just purchased a small 4-wheel solid carryon for the Christmas Markets. One of the wheels of my 2-wheel finally broke on the Ireland trip final airport. I could place the pastels in the carrying case inside it & use my personal size backpack for my clothes & toiletry kit like I did for Ireland. If I plan to take the wood pochade box & tripod, I will need a larger carry on - what I want to avoid. It will mess up my shoulder. I guess I’m answering the decision; I can’t take my tripod & heavier wooden box/easel.

I can empathise as my serious lifelong hobby is photography and I suffered through a decade or so of holidays ruined by lugging extensive "professional" camera kit along with "sturdy" (aka heavy) tripods, having aspired to the misguided notion that anything else was anthitetical to the pursuit of excelling at my craft...finally arriving at the conclusion that "suffering for one's art" is, for myself, the surest killer of creativity.

I know little of the art of pastels, such as can one blend colours to achieve the same results as lugging multiple shades of each colour; and are there light-weight carbon-fibre tripods as is the case in photography which have all but replaced aluminium (and completely obsoleted wooden ones). But putting aside the (to me curious and dubious) social enjoyment of field-workshops, one option would be to photograph on-site and then use those to create pastel paintings upon returning home.

Mardee aka “Enabler” - LOL! Why am I not surprised that you have an additional item to add to my suitcase? ; )

Hee hee hee!!!

Jean, The Jackson art box looks promising, especially as a personal item. Looks like a good solution for travel.

Had a vision of a trench coat that opens up to hold all your pastel boxes suspended from the lining, like the guy selling watches on the street. :-). Instead of buying a coat lets you pack all your clothes (remember those?), you could be packing all your pastels.

Another option may be to utilize a helper like Kim or Marlee for your human tripod/ field easel. You might find someone willing to stand and enjoy the incredible views while holding a backing board, or the Jackson box around their neck. You wouldn’t have to pack the helper! Takes no space in your carryon. :-)

Thanks for sharing your process in fine-tuning your travel setup. You’re such a great packer—it’s fun to read how you adapt for your art. I’m a writer, so I just take a Moleskine notebook and folding keyboard for my phone / tablet. And a Kindle copy of A Writer’s Paris by Eric Maisel, no matter where I go.

Artful travels! —Sherry

Sherry - great creative thinking !! I don’t have to bring a tripod and easel .. I can be the stand and easel !!! Love it !!

Sherry, I love the way you think! True brainstorming! ; ). Thanks for the laugh while I drink my morning coffee!

I definitely picked the wrong art medium for lightweight packing, but using the pastels makes me happy.

I think I’m getting closer to a solution. I have a Sherpani tote/crossbody/backpack that’s closest to their current Sherpani Sojourn on the website. I carefully cut the backpack straps off when I used it a few years ago as my personal item on the plane….before reducing even more & just bring a smaller purse as my personal item now.

I just checked the dimensions with a couple of my cardboard boxes that hold the pastels in foam inserts when purchased. The boxes are 1” deep, and the base of the tote is 5”.

Sherpani tote - 1 pound
Each cardboard boxes of 40 pastels - 1 pound each; 3-4 boxes.
Sets of pastel pencils - I will bring one pound of them.
Misc. supplies needed - another pound.
Total = 6-7 pounds

This is perfect to avoid wheels since we’ll be staying in a very steep village with the kind of surfaces that eat wheels. : ). Daytrips to paint include walking out into fields, etc. or on sand where wheels become a nuisance.

I can store my pastel sanded paper which stays in a thick vinyl zippered envelope & the backboard in the laptop sleeve of my Cotopaxi backpack while traveling on the trains & plane.

So I think for now I will plan on my favorite Cotopaxi 35L backpack for everything non art related, and just access its back side zipper laptop sleeve for the paper storage. That should keep my clothes free of the pastel dust. And the Sherpani will be carried by its crossbody strap or tote handles.

Thank you SO much for your input! I still love the idea of Kim or Mardee showing up there! : ). (There’s currently three rooms available!)

”…one option would be to photograph on-site and then use those to create pastel paintings upon returning home.”

GPB, I love to take nice photographs & the Ireland class appreciated the ones I shared. Currently my photography ability is much better than my painting. ; )

Thanks everyone for your ideas!

Final solution:

• Order a fold-up portable camp chair on Amazon.it to be delivered to the workshop location
• Bring my Cotopaxi for clothes, etc and artist backboard in laptop sleeve.
• Bring my Sherpani tote for Pastels in secure foam trays & the art supplies

Leave at home;

• Wooden pochade box/easel
• Tripod

I will sit while I paint.
These solution avoids any wheels.