Make the Leap Outside

What's the thing you want to try, but are scared to do?
I've never painted around people before, so my want-to-do, scary thing was taking part in a Plein Air Festival.
Guess what happened when I made the leap...

I showed up at the festival excited about all the classic country scenes in Vermont's Mad River Valley, but shy about people watching me paint.
Lots of families were out at the favorite swimming hole beneath the covered bridge on the Mad River in Waitsfield.
I climbed down the bank to some flat rocks. I set up my paint board on my lap.
The other artists set their easels on the bank above me. Passersby stopped to observe. They asked questions of them. I eavesdropped, but kept quiet and kept painting.
A flashy green hummingbird landed beside me. The water raced by. Fish jumped. Kids leaped from the ledge laughing. They splashed in the river.
It was a glorious summer day. Painting en plein air was the perfect way to sit and take it all in.
I was glad I'd made the leap.

If you need a little joy in your life, go sit in a flower garden for the afternoon.
On the second day of the festival, I set up at Lareau Farm in Waitsfield.
The colors! The smells! Lilies, cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers, and more. They filled my senses and my soul.
Bees buzzed. Crickets chirped. The chickens clucked and gossiped.
Families wandered by delighted with it all.
"Piggies! Piggies! Piggies!" cried a boy.
"He'll be talking about this all day," said his mom.
As would I. I felt as happy as those pigs in mud.

In the end, I'm not sure why I waited so long to paint at a plein air festival. It was fun to be out with the people in beautiful places on beautiful summer days.
Sure I cheated a little by setting up off to the side. But it's fine to go easy on yourself when you try something new. You never know what you'll find.
I found new friends, new places to paint, and two new collectors at the sidewalk sale.
What's more, I finished these two new watercolor paintings:

FRAMED COVERED BRIDGE WATERCOLOR. 12” x 12” x .5” $150

FRAMED SUNFLOWER FARM. 12” x 12” x .5” $150

If I can do it, you can, too.
Go ahead and try something you've been wanting to do.
You'll be glad you did. Promise.
Here's to a creative life!
Christine & Marc

Something to Sing About

Have you ever been to a music festival? What's your favorite? Ours is the Ossipee Music Festival in Hiram, Maine.
It takes place on an old-fashioned fairgrounds beside the Ossipee River in the foothills of the White Mountains. Top-notch musicians play roots and Americana music for four days on four stages.
There's no need to stick to a schedule, because the impromptu jams are everywhere. Banjos in the barns. Fiddles in the fields.
You can dance and sing till well after midnight.
Then get up the next day and do it again.

Beyond the fun of the music, is the fun of being part of a nomad village. People camp in tents, in fancy RVs, in homebuilt rigs.
We've got solar power and an early-to-bed habit, so we set up for free in the "Quiet Camping" section.
A newly converted ambulance camped on one side of us and a group of long-time friends on the other. They've been coming to the festival for 15 years.
This was the biggest festival ever with people eager to reconnect after a couple years of quarantine.

Another favorite thing about the festival is the Ossipee River. A short walk through the woods brings you to the confluence of flowing water where you can put in your floats and let the current carry you a half mile or so to the other side of the fairground.
Pure heaven on a hot summer's day.

With hundreds of people at the festival, I love the miles of trails that bring you to peaceful places where wildlife roam.
I went out watercolor sketching a half-mile from the fairgrounds. Two deer grazed across the water for half an hour while I watched and painted.

Chipmunks scurried on the trees around me.
I painted them in my sketchbook, too, and felt fulfilled.

We made a one-minute highlight reel of the weekend. It's posted over on Instagram @Christineandmarc. Follow us there, if you would, and keep in touch.
Maybe we'll see you next summer at Ossipee.
Until then, keep singing and stay wild!
Christine & Marc

Are We There Yet?

What do you say when you're asked, "Where's home?"
Do you say where you were born? Or where you live now?
Travel writer Pico Iyer says, "It's the place where you become yourself."
For us, it's Vermont.
We love traveling cross country in our vans. But when we cross into Vermont with its rolling hills, dairy farms, and cute towns, we breathe deep. Our spirits sit up in their seats.
We're home.

We love Vermont state campgrounds, but our favorite places to camp are off-grid in the Green Mountain National Forest.
We stay in dispersed campsites with more wildlife than people. Some have mountain views. Others are beside clear rivers or lakes. What’s more, they’re free!
These boondocking spots don't have drinking water, toilets, trash pickup or reservations.
But that's fine with us, because our vans have:
*solar power for the freezer/fridge, lights, phone chargers, and more.
*propane for our hot shower and cookstove.
*70 gallons of onboard water.
*and even a woodstove!
Great camping is gold for the soul. Your campfire is caveman TV. The owls hoot under a starry sky. The fireflies flicker in the field. You wake to birdsong.
You get calm. You get inspired.

To find the best camping, we talk to rangers, biologists, and other campers.
We check out the federal lands website www.fs.usda.gov.
We cross reference apps like iOverlander, The Dyrt, Campendium, FreeRoam, Ultimate Public Campgrounds, and AllStays.
Best of all we explore Vermont. You can find dispersed camping on a lot of forest service roads. But you can find inspiration everywhere here.
Vermont's beautiful backroads have inspired me to paint large canvases with thick textures and vibrant colors.
I take photos and paint watercolor sketches in the field. Back in the StudioTruck, I paint with acrylic on textured canvas.
Marc packs the paintings, and we ship them around the country.
Here are some of my favorite paintings for sale.

Since we can't carry the large paintings with us when we head West, they're only available till the end of August.
We're happy to ship. We’re also happy to do custom commissions. Just ask.
I hope these paintings remind you of home. Of the places you live or would like to live.
As travel writer Pico Iyer says, "Home has less to do with a piece of soil than a piece of soul."
Wishing you a soulful summer!
Christine and Marc

Take a Ride With Us!

Ever wish you could pick up and leave? If you live in a van you can. We're not saying drop everything and go nomad. But if you're curious about the life of two traveling artists come take a virtual ride with us.

Six years ago we sold our property in Taylor, Mississippi, and headed North in our Sportsmobile camper van. After a couple of years as artists-in-residence at Green Mountain College in Vermont, we added a StudioTruck to the fleet so we could continue making art while roaming cross country.
We've weathered storms and breakdowns over the years, but living in the forests and deserts of America's public lands keeps us keen to moments of wonder in the great outdoors.
Our art is inspired by this adventurous life. We hope it sparks something in your own wild spirit whether you're indoors or out.

The most popular thing we make are reclaimed wood fish.
We got hooked back in 2000 when Marc noticed a couple wood drop-offs in his furniture workshop shaped like fish. At the time I was a writer and photographer with no art training, but I'd been longing to paint so I bought some acrylics and splashed color on those first two fish boards.
We hung them in our Taylor Arts gallery. They sold the next day. We've sold thousands since.
They're all inspired by our love of fishing, the brilliant colors of fish, and the thick, textured reclaimed wood we track down on our journey. Marc shapes the fish with a jig saw and I paint them with bright acrylics.
Following are a few from our Summer Collection. We hope they inspire you to get creative and get outdoors.
Go fish!

If you've got a special fish in mind, we're also happy to custom make orders. Just ask.
In the meantime, we'll be happily camped and busily painting out here in Vermont's Green Mountains where the streams flow clear and the lakes are lovely.
Wishing you the best of summers,
Christine & Marc

Special Delivery Just For You

Remember when you were a kid and you had that feeling that something exciting was about to happen? You weren’t sure what and you weren’t sure when, but it was out there, coming around the bend. Do you still feel that? Or have you buried it? Have your day-to-day rounds worn you down so you no longer look forward to that magic something? “What’s in your heart that you won’t listen to? Speak not a word, hear how it talks to you.” That’s from the song “Something’s Coming.” Well, we’re off to find out what’s coming around the bend and we’d like to share the fun. Here’s a special delivery just for you.

The Traveling Bed Post

People are curious as cats. But cautious, too, which makes the Internet a great place to explore. You can find new people and places, peep into new worlds, all from the comfort of your covers. 

But what if you could take your cozy bed, spin it around, and find yourself in the places you’ve been searching out online? Imagine waking up to a beach or a mountain lying just past your sock feet. It’d be so unexpected. Because, of course, you’ve been in your bed before. And, of course, you’ve been on a trip before. But you’ve never been in your bed on a trip before. 

Me at the 4th of July fireworks—in my bed!

Me at the 4th of July fireworks—in my bed!

A happy man in his happy place.

A happy man in his happy place.

Most of the beach-beyond-my-bed photos on Instagram include attractive young people. But those kids aren’t the only adventurous ones. Given a chance, I believe most of us would like to have adventures throughout our lives. My husband and I are in our 50s and we certainly want that for ourselves. 

Our Sportsmobile at Button Bay in Vermont.

Our Sportsmobile at Button Bay in Vermont.

In 2011 we bought a 1995 Sportsmobile—a sky blue, 4-wheel-drive camper van with a pop top, solar panels, propane heater, running water, and more. We stripped everything out and customized it to our liking with a black interior, with wall pouches instead of cabinets, and instead of fold-out seats a dedicated queen-sized bed covered in cowhide, fresh sheets, warm blankets, and two pillows each. We took the Sportsmobile out for weekends, then weeks, then eventually for two five-week trips, and two summers. We had great adventures. We found we slept better in the van than anywhere else. Like many do, we became our best selves when we lived simple.

marcsportsmobile.jpeg

With that in mind, we made a decision three years ago to sell our gallery property in Mississippi and most of our belongings. We spent a summer farming in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, spent two-and-a-half years as artists-in-residence at Green Mountain College in Vermont, then decided we wanted to focus full-time on our art business and adventures. So last November we left our cozy dorm room, put our belongings in my parents’ basement, and set off as full-time van-lifers. 

One of our favorite camping spots in the Smoky Mountains.

One of our favorite camping spots in the Smoky Mountains.

The Sportsmobile is perfect as a living space, but as full-time artists, we also need a place to work. Our 15-year-old Yukon XL suburban would’ve cost $75,000 to replace—a ridiculous amount given you can’t work in it…or much else. So after searching around for a trailer or a second Sportsmobile (each with its own drawbacks), we found the perfect vehicle—a 2009 bread truck with only 30,000 miles on it for $21,000. Wondering if we had gone crazy, we drove round-trip from Vermont to Pennsylvania to buy it, and then round-trip from Vermont to North Carolina to have it converted at Ujoint Offroad.

If our gamble pays off this big white box truck will be just what we need for a second vehicle—a traveling studio van. So far we’ve added 4-wheel drive, a huge roof rack with plenty of solar power, a huge patio, an awning, a tall view from 10-feet off the ground, cool lighting, and—get this—a wood stove. Next month we’ll add a big side window, nerf bars, and a bike rack on back, plus a hot shower, screened doors, storage, and lots more. But one thing at a time.

This week we’re off test running the four-wheel drive, breaking in the woodstove, and making art under the new lights on its maiden voyage in the Pisgah National Forest. Stay tuned for that big adventure. While we’re off in the woods, here’s hoping you get creative and get outdoors, too. Life is amazing if you make it that way.

Our bread truck in Vermont before the conversion.

Our bread truck in Vermont before the conversion.

The big bad studio van after the first stage of conversion.

The big bad studio van after the first stage of conversion.

In Search of Old Wood

When you make furniture from salvaged wood you need a good supply. Marc got his stash by tearing down old buildings in the Mississippi Delta in the 80s. The reclaimed cypress has character…gorgeous grains, circular sawmarks, nail holes, textured edges, and age. If Marc needs to re-stock he can’t go to a big box store. He’s got to battle bees, snakes, poison ivy, and rusty nails to take down an old barn. It’s more work than you might think. What looks like a lot of lumber on a building turns out to be a thin skin around a whole lot of air. Take a look at our movie for two minutes of barnwood fun. 

That old barn would've been nothing but a scrap heap in the field, but now it's found new life as furniture in people's homes. Marc transformed the barn wood into tables, bookcases, cabinets, picture frames, a wine safe, and more. Here's a look at some of what that barn became. If you want in on the fun, holler and he'll make something just for you. It's what we do.

You Gotta Start Somewhere

Years ago Marc and I had regular jobs. He worked on tow boats, in refineries, supervised in a cookie-baking factory, managed at a meat-packing plant, and worked for minimum wage on night shift in a bubblegum factory. I've worked at a wilderness school, in a nursing home, in a post office, in a newspaper office, and on magazines. Interesting ways to make a living, yes, but who wouldn't rather work for themselves? Make their own stuff?

First you've got to figure out what you love and find time to explore it on the side. For me, it was making photos. I worked in darkrooms, took a class, experimented with different techniques. For Marc it was making furniture so he began making primitive pieces for his own home.

Then, at some point, you've got to make the leap. Marc cashed in his savings, bought up all the old buildings and used lumber he could find in the Delta, and spent years salvaging rare material. I left my magazine job in New Hampshire and headed South to freelance and write a novel.

There was no telling what would happen...but great things did. Marc came to the reading I gave from The Book of Love. One week later we bought a house together in Taylor, a little artist community outside of the college town of Oxford, Mississippi. Then we started having art shows. I learned to paint. We bought a gallery and, well, the rest is history...or our story anyway and it's a good one. What your story will be is up to you. All I can say is...if we can do it, you can, too. 

 

If you were an art farmer, like us, you'd wake up in your little cabin with the rooster crowing and drink coffee in bed while the cars passed by on their way to regular jobs. You'd eat fresh eggs from your chickens and homemade bread from your oven and run the dog up a country road past horses and cows and goats. Your "job" would be to paint and make jewelry in your studio in an old house at the crossroads of a little town while your husband made furniture from salvaged wood in his workshop out back. Cool people from all over the world would visit, buy your things, and make you part of their homes. You wouldn't be rich in money, perhaps, but you'd be rich. So how do you make that happen? Well, you gotta start somewhere.