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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Where in the World Will You Paint this Year?

'Dreaming of Iceland'             9x12             pastel            ©Karen Margulis
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I'll be painting in Iceland this year!  I have always had wanderlust.  I am the one planning the next adventure on the way home from a trip.  When I was in high school I worked 20 hours a week to save money for my two trips to Europe with my French class.  When my kids were young I would spend a year planning our summer vacations. We would take 3 weeks every summer and explore the National Parks. We did a Pacific Northwest Loop, a Southwest Loop, a Rocky Mountain loop and a New England loop.  I cherish the memories of those trips.

Now I go on painting trips. I've been to IAPS three times and the Plein Air Convention once. I went to Lake Tahoe for a workshop with Richard McKinley and several workshops in New Jersey with Stan Sperlak.

But this year I am going on my biggest painting adventure yet!  I am going on a Stan Sperlak workshop to Iceland. We will be based in a small fishing village and taking advantage of the long days to explore and paint. I really didn't know much about Iceland before I decided to go on the trip. But part of traveling for me is the joy of research. I have immersed myself in books about Iceland and I am trying to learn Icelandic (that is a challenge!)

The trip is in June and as always I will blog as much as I can from Iceland. So, we are all going to Iceland!  I can't wait!  Do you have any painting adventures planned? Feel free to share them in the comments!

This painting is inspired by a photo by Hodur Viljahmonson on freedigitalphotos.net. It was done on a recycled piece of Uart paper.

5 comments:

robertsloan2art said...

Wow! This is fantastic! Just dreaming of your trip you've captured the ice - it's incredible. I can feel the chills. You're going at the right time of year too!

2014 I will most likely be having painting adventures right here in San Francisco, which I'd never tire of. But I hope to get out of the house more, maybe even make it out to the beach or the wharf. I live in one of the most splendid places I've ever seen but since I moved, I've been mostly shut in.

I'll go on doing sketch studies of the places I wait for my paratransit van, there are interesting sights and buildings in all three of them. But I might stray off the path if I can get stronger. I hope to. New treatments might increase my energy reserves.

Liese said...

For your Iceland trip I hope you have discovered Bill Holm a Minnesota poet who wrote The Windows of Brimnes.

Donna T said...

Karen, bring plenty of pure blues for the skies in Iceland! I lived there for two years and still remember how striking the clear skies were. Bring a hat too - it's windy!

Corinne said...

Hi Karen, I am so excited for you taking a trip to Iceland in June to paint! I am going to take a much anticipated on my Bucket List trip to Ireland! I am KELLY, and this is a trip made possible by my families Estate!
My hubby & children are coming with me...(our two adult sons, and our married daughter along with her hubby and our darling little grandson, who will be 16 months in June when we go!) It will be a wonderful time, I'm sure. However, I really don't know how much time I'll be free to paint, but I am taking a small Watercolor Block and my Watercolors, which are travel lite along in my backpack! Of course sketch books and pens and pencils too..for quick sketches! It should be an amazing trip throughout the western coast and southwest, the Burren, the Dingle Peninsula, the Cliffs of Moher, Killarney (where my Kelly roots are from) the Ring of Kerry, and then on down to Kinsale, Cork. Then up to Cashel and back to Shannon where we fly back home!! <3
I hope to share some of my work with you when I get back...it will be a busy, fun filled nine days of traveling, staying in B&B's hanging out at pubs with my family in the evenings, doing lots of walking and discovering along the way! <3

Karen said...

Hi Corinne,
Thanks for sharing! Your Ireland trip sounds wonderful. It is on my bucket list as well. I am half irish with my family from County Cork. I would love to visit someday. I know you will be busy but having something available to sketch or paint with will be great. I always get the urge when I don't have any supplies with me!