What Happens to Pastels after Six Weeks of Travel

'Summer Enchantment'             5 x 11.5        plein air pastel              ©Karen Margulis

Since we have been exploring traveling with pastels in recent posts I thought I'd share this post from the archives. In 2017 I spent 6 weeks traveling with a box of pastels. See what happened !

I am home. It has been a whirlwind of travel beginning in June with two weeks in New Mexico for the IAPS convention. Then on to Europe for four weeks. My careful planning paid off. Everything went smoothly except for a couple of mishaps that ended well. (and gave me material for better stories!) I packed well and my luggage made it through it all. It is always a relief to see your suitcase on the belt at baggage claim!

What about the pastels and supplies? Did I plan well enough? Did I have enough supplies for 6 weeks of painting and teaching? I am happy to report that the answer is YES! Have a look:

The BEFORE shot

I wanted to travel light. My goal was to fit all of my art supplies in my backpack. I managed to do this although I traveled with my tripod in my suitcase. Click here for a blog post about the supplies I brought.
I brought a Heilman double sketchbox filled with an assortment of Terry Ludwig and Girault pastels. The photo above shows the box before I started my travels.

The AFTER shot

The pastels are a little dusty but held up quite well. Most importantly I selected a good variety of colors. I was able to paint everything from the New Mexico arid landscape to the beaches and wheat fields of Normandy to the lush countryside of Sweden and Finland. I only purchased two pastels on the road....a pale yellow Unison and a pale pink Sennelier.  I had a good variety of colors/values and spices which made it a very versatile collection. There was no color I would eliminate!

I am very pleased with the Heilman double sketchbox. It protected the pastels well except for the day I had overloaded a row and a few were broken. I loved how small and light it is. It fit on my tripod with the easel adapter which made set up quick and easy. I never chose not to paint because I dreaded setting up! It was painless.

So just how much abuse did this box take in six weeks? Here are the figures:

• Nine plane flights.  The box was in my carryon except for one time but then my suitcase was 1 pound over the limit! 
• Eight times through security and the box was flagged for inspection twice....in Sweden and in Charlotte NC. They didn't open the box just swabbed and asked about it.
• Three long distance train trips.
• Two bus rides.
• One shuttle ride.
• Countless van and car trips. Imagine this box in a backpack being thrown in and out of vehicles as we traveled to new locations and painting spots.

My final thoughts....This box and set up is a winner! It served me well and allowed me not only to paint for myself but to paint many demos both in France and Finland. After I clean the pastels and place some of the smaller broken pieces I will be ready to go again!