Stella Arbelaéz Tascón was hiking northbound over 107 miles along the Appalachian Trail going through Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. I joined her for the final 13 miles after I returned from the 75th Infantry Division Reunion in Texas. I was hiking with her when she reached the northern terminus of the park.
After passing out of the Shenandoah Park she wanted to keep hiking to give me a felling for what it is like to be a through hiker on the trail. She had me bring her some hiking boots to replace the trail runners she was wearing because the tread had worn off. We trans versed some very boulder strewn areas and the extra tread would be lifesaving.
The problem was that the old hiking shoes that I had brought along started to break down. The glue holding the soul of the shoe in place gave way turning the hiking boots into flip flops. I had tape wrapped around the handle of the hiking poles I was using so we were able to tape the soul in place for the day. This wasn’t a workable long term hiking solution.
We decided to cut the hike short as her toes were starting to get bruised from the boots that were now too small. When you hike a lot, your feet expand. I had boots that were a size 12 but when I got a new pair to wear to the Appalachian trail I ended up getting a size 13. My feet are expanding as I slowly shrink.
We started doing day hikes from the car. Mount Marshall was a day hike for us rather than part of a through hike. We made our way to the summit over several hours then took our time painting for a couple of hours and It was a pleasant way to spend the day without the stress of hiking far enough to find water and a camping spot. Stella kept apologizing but I was having a blast. It was so fun to explore the beauty of nature with a talented artist friend.
I haven’t painted with gouache for years. I had a tiny travel sized palette and the main problem came from trying to mix the paint without getting it too dirty on the palette. Part of me wanted to treat the paint like watercolor while the other part of wanted to treat the paint like oils. In general, the paintings turned out darker than the usual watercolors I do. Bees kept buzzing around me to the point of distraction. I wanted to swipe at them but didn’t want to make them angry.
Stella found a nice shady spot near the rocks to paint from while my spot back near the trees soon was blasted with sunlight. I got a sunburn on my left arm and on my neck. I resisted my love affair with line, but in the end I started redrawing back into the painting. Stella had a nice set up where her palette was attached to her painting. I want to replicate that some day for my set up.
I made a mess and I hope I learned from my mistakes. I intent to paint more often on location using gouache.
Mount Marshall, Shenandoah Park
Stella Arbelaéz Tascón was hiking northbound over 107 miles along the Appalachian Trail going through Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. I joined her for the final 13 miles after I returned from the 75th Infantry Division Reunion in Texas. I was hiking with her when she reached the northern terminus of the park.
After passing out of the Shenandoah Park she wanted to keep hiking to give me a felling for what it is like to be a through hiker on the trail. She had me bring her some hiking boots to replace the trail runners she was wearing because the tread had worn off. We trans versed some very boulder strewn areas and the extra tread would be lifesaving.
The problem was that the old hiking shoes that I had brought along started to break down. The glue holding the soul of the shoe in place gave way turning the hiking boots into flip flops. I had tape wrapped around the handle of the hiking poles I was using so we were able to tape the soul in place for the day. This wasn’t a workable long term hiking solution.
We decided to cut the hike short as her toes were starting to get bruised from the boots that were now too small. When you hike a lot, your feet expand. I had boots that were a size 12 but when I got a new pair to wear to the Appalachian trail I ended up getting a size 13. My feet are expanding as I slowly shrink.
We started doing day hikes from the car. Mount Marshall was a day hike for us rather than part of a through hike. We made our way to the summit over several hours then took our time painting for a couple of hours and It was a pleasant way to spend the day without the stress of hiking far enough to find water and a camping spot. Stella kept apologizing but I was having a blast. It was so fun to explore the beauty of nature with a talented artist friend.
I haven’t painted with gouache for years. I had a tiny travel sized palette and the main problem came from trying to mix the paint without getting it too dirty on the palette. Part of me wanted to treat the paint like watercolor while the other part of wanted to treat the paint like oils. In general, the paintings turned out darker than the usual watercolors I do. Bees kept buzzing around me to the point of distraction. I wanted to swipe at them but didn’t want to make them angry.
Stella found a nice shady spot near the rocks to paint from while my spot back near the trees soon was blasted with sunlight. I got a sunburn on my left arm and on my neck. I resisted my love affair with line, but in the end I started redrawing back into the painting. Stella had a nice set up where her palette was attached to her painting. I want to replicate that some day for my set up.
I made a mess and I hope I learned from my mistakes. I intent to paint more often on location using gouache.