Marsh, Ocracoke Island

Marsh, Ocracoke Island

Oil on canvas, 24x48

Please contact me for price and delivery informaton

The triumph of this painting is not only the painting - which I really love - but also the fact of the painting.

A year or more ago, I had a great idea. I'd find a way to fix some clamps to the side of the van so that I could do big paintings in plein air. Maybe with velcro, or something like glass guys use to carry around those huge panes.

 I talked to people, I thought about it, and at long last, I figured a way to make it work! I bought three suction-cup things that attach GPS devices to the windshield. They have big enough clamps to grab onto even deep-sided canvases. I set them up on the side of the van, two holding the bottom of the canvas, and one holding the top. And it worked like a charm, even in a veritable gale!

I still have to work out some kinks, though. For instance, it hadn't occurred to me that my back would be toward the scene I was painting - so I turned the van around, opened both doors and got the view that way. Attaching the clamps to the back window would solve this problem, mostly, but the curve of the back window means I need to do some more figuring.

Here's what it looks like:

Here's the painting still attached to the van. 

Here are the suction cups without the painting.