First Sketch

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Paul

This is Jean’s first sketch of the trip. Her pencil impressions of the people waiting to board in San Francisco.

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Leaving San Francisco

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Paul

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We are about to board!

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Our House Sitter Took The Keys

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Paul
A multi segment panoramic image of the London ...

The London skyline from the Bermondsey banks of the Thames. Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yesterday our friend Lisa got the keys to our house, studio, and mailbox. She will be staying here during our absence. While we are painting in France Lisa will be working on a novel. We hope to exchange our creative vibes.

Our suitcases are packed and weighed and our carryons are ready. Computers and Kindles will be the last into our carryon bags. Today I did some last minute chores around the yard and Jean made some last minute repairs to her laptop with the help of Dell technicians. Her USB drives were acting up, but they managed to get them working. Tomorrow is house cleaning, laundry, and waiting. Once you are ready to go the waiting is the most difficult part.

I’ve been doing a sketch each day to get myself into a tempo for doing some drawing in London and Paris. With a small sketch book and my pencils I will try to continue the sketch a day practice. I also will carry a small watercolor outfit to the cities and may do some of those. That will get me ready for the month of painting at Atelier de la Rose.

This should be the last post from Seattle. The next post will be at the Cleveland Hotel…in London. I’m looking forward to the museums of London, Amsterdam and Paris. Soon we will be driving with the French, using coed toilets, eating new and delicious food, and continuing our struggles with the French language.
Au revoir et a Londres!

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Our Art Bags Are Off!

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Paul

Today marked a big step in leaving for Europe. Our two large rolling duffel bags filled with art supplies and some items we will not need until we reach Atelier de la Rose were picked up today. They are due to arrive in Montcabrier in 2-3 weeks, 3-4 weeks prior to our arrival.

It is very difficult to turn our paint, brushes, pastels, papers, canvases, and easels over to a shipping company. However, there is no other way to get them to France without schlepping them through multiple airports and train stations along the way.

The entire international shipping process is confusing to those of us who are new to it. Many of the details are assumed and one must constantly remind the agents that they are dealing with fragile artists who need to have their hands held through the process. The bags were supposed to be picked up yesterday, but we had not received any of the paperwork yet. Of course they weren’t picked up. We received the paperwork by Email this morning and were told the pickup would be between 2 and 5pm. First, they would send us bar code labels to afix to each.

I was working outside when I felt my phone vibrate at the same time a UPS truck pulled up in front – 11:30am! The driver explained that he had gotten the pickup order when he was in the neighborhood and decided to come early. I explained that I hadn’t printed the bar code labels yet and they then needed to be attached to the bags. He agreed to wait a few minutes while I printed the labels and taped them to the back of the shipping labels I had already attached. It was a whirlwind of activity for a few minutes.

One of the strange parts of this process is that the company handling our shipment is XSBaggage. However, they are sending the bags via UPS! Their rates are significantly less than we would have gotten by going directly to UPS. This is a part of captialist commerce that I fail to understand. I assume that XS Baggage buys unused space on UPS planes, but that’s only a guess.

Anyway, it is now out of our control. We can only hope that our painting materials arrive safely.

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A European Painting Sojourn Begins

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Paul

All our bags are packed (almost) and we’re ready to go (not quite).

Our art supplies destined for Atelier de la Rose in Montcabrier, France

Our art supplies destined for Atelier de la Rose in Montcabrier, France

Our art supplies are almost packed. They will be shipped as unaccompanied baggage before we leave. Therefore, that is the first priority. We will be sending two bags, totalling about 90 pounds. Why so much? Why not buy painting materials in France? Well, we like to have familiar materials to work with. Also, I am taking enough small canvas boards to complete 2 per week. French canvas boards are in metric sizes and do not fit U.S. frames. If I bought those every painting would require custom framing! Ergo we are shipping our art supplies to Atelier de la Rose in Montcabrier, France where we will have a four week art residency in August and September.

Prior to that we will spend four weeks absorbing paintings in the art museums of London, Amsterdam, and Paris with time to do some sketching in those cities. We’re looking forward to returning to London’s wonderfull collections. Amsterdam is a new venture for us. We are particularly pleased that the Rijksmusem has reopened after several years’ remodeling. If you haven’t seen the flashmob that the museum created to celebrate their reopening, click on this image:

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Of course we will be overjoyed to return to Paris’ museums, cafes, and parks and visit our good friend JP. All of that before we get to Montcabrier and begin serious painting! Then it’s on to Provence in the fall for a month of painting in a rented farmhouse. We will end our sojourn with a short trip along the coast toward Spain. We have a fisherman’s cottage for a week in Collioure and the rest of the time is unplanned. Along the way a couple of friends might be joining us in Provence and Collioure.

You can keep up with our adventures via this blog, Paul’s art blog, and on Paul’s Facebook page. Jean also may be posting some things on her art site, Jean Sullivan Fine Art. Despite this being a painting trip we will share photos and comments of the art, people, and places we visit. Come along with us!

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2012 in review

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Paul

While our travels in 2012 didn’t take us as far afield as 2011, we did have several extended trips in North America. Picasso, our beloved little trailer, was our road home several times. Painting remained the focus for many trips. It is a pleasure to write about our trips and share photos. Thanks to all of you who read our blog – almost 3,000 views. Here’s a summary of the activity on Travels With Picasso from you, our world audience.

We look forward to more travels and more blogging. We love to hear from visitors. Watch for upcoming posts about our 2013 travel plans.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,900 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 5 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Happy Birthday

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Paul

Today is Jean’s birthday. Happy  birthday to the love of my life!

We have had a lazy day, sleeping late, and taking a leisurely walk along the waterfront to The Empress and back. Today’s weather was not great, but the rain held off until we were almost back to our condo. Along the way we got to see a wonderful exhibit at The Empress. Last year they decided to put bee hives on the grounds and make their own honey for their famous afternoon teas. These are working hives that are a bit dormant at the moment, but an interesting project. We also watched wildlife along the shore, including several minutes with a seal who had herded a school of small fish into a giant ball up against the jetty. He would get them into a tight mass and them swim into the middle to grab a mouthful of fish. A Bonaparte Gull, a California Gull, and a Pelican all tried to get in on the action, but the seal chased all of them away except the Bonaparte. He was small and quick enough to grab a fish here and there when the seal had them leaping out of the water. It was great fun.

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We got a movie and will spend the evening eating in and watching The Bridesmaids.

Paul

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Emily Carr

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Paul

Today we walked to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (they wouldn’t call it lesser Victoria) for an exhibit of Emily Carr’s work. This gallery/museum has one of the largest collections of her work and much is on display until next summer. It’s worth the trip.

This was about 1 1/2 miles uphill from our condo. On the way home we detoured through downtown, stopped at British Candy Shoppe for a bottle of ruhbarb ginger preserves, breezed through the Empress Hotel to look at people enjoying their $50 afternoon tea, and enjoyed the people along the waterfront.

No photos today since I did not take my camera. I was going to use my phone, but discovered that I forgot to charge it last night. I do seem to have found a chair in our condo that is aligned properly with the wifi to maintain a signal.

Paul

 

 

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Crossing The River Jordan

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Paul

The first seaplane took off from in front of our condo at 7:45 yesterday. Then it was nonstop for 2-3 hours. A busy airport. After a leisurely morning we explored the west coast a bit, driving to Sooke and up to Port Renfrew. Once past Sooke this is wilderness with scattered inhabitants. Lots of logging. This coast is also home to one of the most remote hiking trails in North America. The coastal trail begins rather benignly, following the shore between the ocean and the road. However, north of Port Renfrew there is no road and only access by sea. The way is rocky and many headlands can only be gotten around a low tide. Port Renfrew is a small village at the end of the road – one store, one coffee shop, two restaurants, a couple of B&B’s, and two hotels. No gas station. The scenery there is beautiful with ocean shore, giant trees, misty rivers, and the harbor.

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Today we explored the city. More on that later. We still are experiencing computer connectivity problems.

Paul

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Photos from our journey here. Click on the photo to get to a slide show. Arrows are below the photos.

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Paul

Red on Starboard

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