The 'Other Hampshire'

On Monday I will be off to the 'other Hampshire' - New Hampshire in the US on our honeymoon. As I have said before my art kit will still be coming with me ! So I thought that you would like to see what I take.

Most of my art materials fit into a folding storage pack, that I find really useful. I picked it up in a popular art store in the sale and it has proved invaluable for travelling.
Items include: brushes ( I do not take my best sable brushes), water brushes, masking fluid, sponge, craft knife, pencils, cotton rag, watercolours, lightweight plastic pallet and a selection of drawing pens that include fine -tipped and brush pens in sepia and/or black.

I tend not to take this pack out on a daily basis when we are travelling, but just take out the items that I need and create what I consider a sketching kit.

Included is a very small sketch book of heavy weight cartridge paper, which is ideal for making thumbnail sketches and colour notes. Rather than take a large heavy sketchbook, I tend to carry a few sheets of watercolour paper in a small portfolio. That way it is not too heavy and I can vary the paper I use to the subject matter.

I have never been to New Hampshire at this time of year before, so it will be great to see it in a different season. In northern New Hamsphire at the moment, the daffodils are only just finishing blooming and other wildflowers that we would generally see earlier in the UK ( or at least this year anyway) are only just emerging. One flower I do want to see are the Lady Slipper Orchids which are not uncommon, particularly the one called the Moccasin Flower or Pink Ladys Slipper Cypripedium acaule (Orchidaceae), that tend to grow in pinewoods.

Our base is normally a house on the edge of Lake Pawtuckaway, which is adjacent to a State Park of the same name and we often visit some of the Audubon Reserves in the surrounding area. For those of you that haven't heard of Audubon, as an organisation they are very similar to the Wildlife Trusts in this country.

http://www.nhaudubon.org/

We are also going to be travelling up the coast of Maine to spend a few days on Mount Desert Island, which predominantly consists of Acadia National Park. During the time when we are there, the Arcadia Birding Festival is taking place, so we will be going on a couple of treks and also a boat trip to identify sea birds and whales.

Follow the link to see what the birding festival has to offer:

http://www.acadiabirdingfestival.com/

Well, I had better sign off. I hope to post some of my sketches whilst we are away and they will also be able to be seen at the exhibition in October at Swanwick Lakes.

Cheerio!