Art Camp Under the Trees

On a recent vacation, I wandered through an art supply store with my mom, sister, and three nieces.  It didn’t take long for the art bug to bite and we were chomping at the bit to create some art!  After purchasing just a few supplies, we headed back to our cabins for “art camp.”  Since we were staying in beautiful rustic surroundings, we decided to conduct our camp on a picnic table under the trees.

Click any image for a larger view.

 My mom is the only one who had a concrete plan.  She worked on a watercolor painting she’d started earlier.  (She was the only one smart enough to bring art supplies from home.)  This painting depicts her memory of one of our hikes.

The rest of us worked with abandon, completely PLAYING and making a mess.  What an adrenalin surge!  We purchased several small paper supports and these helped us to work quickly.

We had to pay attention in order to avoid confusing the pitchers and cups containing paint water with those containing lemonade!

Nolie has excellent drawing skills.  She bought a book about drawing animals and couldn’t wait to sketch an eye.

She did a great job!  (Click to see.) 

Wasn’t our setting idyllic?

I decided to create a couple of small glued compositions using the various brochures and catalogs I’d picked up at the art store.  Starting with a map of the area, I freely tore and glued.  Simple mountain scenes were both easy, and appropriate for our location.

This was so much fun, I’m thinking I should do it every time I travel.  Wouldn’t that be cool to collage with only materials found on location?

I’d love to hear about your “art camp” experiences.  I highly recommend them! 

Ellen Lindner

2 Comments

  1. Sue Dennis says:

    The setting outdoors looks wonderful & great art work flowed.

  2. ellen says:

    It was idyllic! And we had SO much fun!