Adapting for Art

This year I treated myself to an antique buggy as a personal Christmas gift. This buggy is like the one I had while living in France. It was a God send while trying to avoid traffic and people. I was able to take my art supplies along easily inside the carriage!

Bob Wilson once wrote an article for the Hawkeye Newspaper about the cart I used in Paris:

ADAPTING FOR ART IN THE CITY OF LIGHT

Although David Garrison has a French operator's license, he prefers not to drive "Because the rules of the road are different in France. And the bikers think they own the road." So how does he get around and through all the traffic?

" I have my own way of getting my painting equipment around the countryside. I found an old baby buggy in the garage where I'm renting. So I took out the padded section where the baby would be. I then put the portable easel, painting bag, brushes, and all the items I might need to paint in oil outdoors in the metal frame section of the buggy. My palette fits just right on top of it."

Garrison then pushes the buggy alone as he goes from village to village and stops when he finds a scene worthy of a painting. The walking also serves to keep him in shape.

"It's true I get some strange looks as cars pass me."

Then a different idea came to him; "I've always heard pigs make good pets." And thought this could help him move the buggy along if he was hitched to it. He even had a name planned; Arty! But it didn't happen for fear that the very reserved French folks would insist he spend some time in the mental hospital.

When in Paris, no one paid any attention to this strange contraption and it's artist. "In Paris, no one looks at me in a strange way when I'm pushing my art cart along. I guess in Paris anything can happen."

Notice the mountains of paint on the original pallet from my art school days... about 45 years ago. Once again, I'll use this pallet on top of the buggy, with a few adjustments, and take it with me wherever I paint on location.

In order to make the buggy useful I built a wooden box to fit inside the carriage. This will hold all the supplies I need to paint on any location. The lid is hinged to the box for easy access. Then the old wood pallet will be bolted to the supporting lid.

Now that everything is in place but the pallet, I've varnished all the wood to be weatherproof. Now I can paint in any kind of weather. Except lightning - I head for the van when that happens!

Since the buggy was ready to roll (excuse the pun) I still had to get the pallet ready to actually be used again for mixing oil paint. It had not been used since my oil painting class at the American Academy of Art,Chicago. It had been a memorable experience I would never forget. So the next step was...

The last stage of making the old pallet workable is to upgrade the paint mixing area with glass. Of course I could have put a new pallet board on the buggy for the mixing of oil paint. But I would have lost all the charm of the original painting pallet.

There's more to life than living for the present.

My studio palette has glass for oil mixing and is the best system I've found. So I ordered the extra thick glass and a size that will fit nicely. It's secured with brackets to hold it in place even when the lid is open.

The now portable oil painting pallet is ready for the spring thaw! It might look clumsy and something Vincent Van Gogh would have loved to use when painting Plein Air. But it's very mobile and brings back memories of painting landscapes while living in France.