Camper is ready! Sublime Mobile Art Studio

Welcome to the Sublime Mobile Art Studio!

I want to thank all you that have been following the progress of my camper studio. It will have its debut this week at Art in the Park in Keene, NH. It won't be able to be in the show because of the delicate sprinkler system in the park, but it will be in the parking lot. If you would like a sneak peak you can view it from the outside and peak in the windows. :-)

Some more events you can see Sublime at are:

September 1-2 Art in the Park, Keene, NH Ashuelot River Park - The grand Debut of the Sublime Art Studio! Although the camper won't be allowed in the show - it can be viewed from the outside and you can peek through the windows. Come visit me at my tent in the ark for my artwork. 

October 6-7, Columbus Day Weekend, Fall Foliage Art Studio Tour, 271 Roxbury St, Keene, NH.


October 20th, Pumpkin Festival, Keene, NH. Location not set yet.

November 3rd & 4th, Keene Art Tour. 31 Trowbridge Rd Keene, NH. 

All the events so far are in Keene, but I am looking into festivals and farmer's markets before the season is over. If you know of any that would be good for a camper gallery - let me know! Also if you would like me to come to your event or rent it out for your own work, fashion trunk show etc - let me know! 603-685-4238 or email nicolecaulfield@gmail.com

Camper Update 8/24

More camper updates. I've made curtains to help with the overall color scheme of the camper which will now be green, red, yellow, and white. Its funny - with the addition of the curtains, the camper seems to be working its way to its own theme. I thought I would be doing a "campy" take on the girlscouts but after sampling and trying loads of fabrics on the windows (did you know you can return cut fabric?) I settled on this vintage looking lemon print from Joann Fabrics. I tried loads of woodsey prints and none worked as well as these sweet little curtains. SO what is the new theme? I'm not sure but the lemons work right with my food themed artwork!

The most exciting thing is the little green gallery/studio will be getting a new (old) door!

The other door was not in good condition - it is dented, leaking and missing parts. It looked like someone lost their key at some point too and pried it open. So I had someone come and take a look at what I could do for the door. My friend George Ponzini is a glass artist and can sometimes be talked into doing home repairs/kitchen remodels etc. http://www.georgeponzini.com/ You must look at his glass art it is amazing!

Well, we decided on getting on old door from Renew Salvage in Brattleboro VT and cut it to fit the frame. I went by myself and picked one. There really was only one that seemed like it would work and George is not coming until the weekend so I hope I am not jinxing this! I need the camper finished by September 1st! So I have no time for 2nd choices!

While I am waiting for the door it is on to the interior. My friend (& previous owner) painted the inside with a light grey/green which as she put it "is great for sleeping" but its kind of dark in the camper during the day sometimes so I need to lighten it up. I am going for a light lemony yellow and will be doing that today.

Also on the list before the 1st:

• picture rails on the outside
• carpeting in
• furniture in (and some needs to be put together)
• picture hangers/possible shelving in the inside
• clean up tires

Wish me luck! Its back to school and therefore work next week for me! So I am getting a little nervous!

So it is painted! I chose #3, which is like a light jade green. I have some touch us to take care of and then its on to the fun stuff. Curtains, inside paint, furniture, hanging system, attach canopy, carpet. I am hoping it will be finished "enough" to drive to Art in the Park Sept 2nd! Wish me luck!

Color Pick

I can't believe how the votes here and on facebook were overwhelmingly the thirties camper. 

I made a palette of 30's greens from color picking in Photoshop various thirties items from jewelry, fashion, housewares, and vehicles. 

I like them all in a way - which do you prefer? 

Camper Art Gallery Designs

So I have the camper primed! If you are following along and want to paint the outside of a camper to make a mobile art gallery of your own, I'll let you know the process as it goes. I looked into what paint to use and after deciding not to use car paint (because it is expensive), and not to use rustoleum (because I was told its color fades fast) - I decided to use what a lot of websites said to: exterior house paint! I know I was surprised too. Since the aluminum had the factory finish on it all I had to do to prep was lightly sand and wash it. That is if you forget all the stickers to remove and caulking to fix. :-) 

The primer I used was Glidden Gripper for latex paint. It gave me some problems when it was sunny because it dried super fast, leaving some goopy stuff that I will need to sand off with a fine sandpaper. I wanted to spray the primer but it was too thick to squirt out the sprayer and it said not to thin it down. 

So the next step is sanding, like I said, and then paint job! I have two designs I like below that I sketched in thumbnail. I have already bought a vintage looking red and white striped canopy that will go IN FRONT of the camper over the door and the whole of that side. I am showing it on the side in my sketches so it doesn't block the design. 

The first design is a space age design that would go with the name my daughter came up with for the camper: Hover Craft. My camper is propped up really high so it can be dragged up a mountainside, so I was trying to come up with a name that went with that. The blue will probably be different but you get the idea. I also have a little tail fin thing at the top that a lot of campers have that would have to be made and attached.

This design I think goes with my kitsch art and has a fun feel. 

 My other design is thirties inspired. It has almost a jadeite green, but a little darker. I would have to beef up the red accents to go with the red and white awning (that again will be in front of the camper, not the side). It kind of reminds me of girl scouts and bright red and shiny camping gear.

The 30's design is clean and simple and much more traditional.

So let me know what you think!

Camper Update

I just got back from another summer trip. This time it was back home to Chicago to visit my Mom and sister with the kids. We do it twice a year and get to visit amazing places with family. This year we added a trip to the top of Willis Tower, the American Girl store, and as always to go see the Bean sculpture at Millenium Park. I love that sculpture - I don't think I could ever tire of it.

So now I am back to work and getting worried about school and the fall art shows coming on fast. I am committed to have my camper gallery up and running before Columbus Day weekend for our Fall Foliage Art Studio Tour. 

It doesn't look like I've done much but at one point this baby was a military camper and in its many lives it gained many stickers! Before painting I had to remove them all, and sand. There is also some messy frosting like caulk that I am just trying to give a clean edge to so it doesn't look funny when being painted. My firend Lisa Is sooo good at this kind of stuff so I have her coming this week with her paint sprayer to kick the project in gear! First we are painting it with a primer for aluminum and then we need to paint it all white and then finally the color I choose for the camper. I want it white and something else... but still need to pick it.

In my original post I said I wanted to paint it turquoise but I talked one friend (so far) into doing a camper art gallery with me and hers came beautiful on the outside in a light turquoise. Can we say jealous much! She had the foresight to make a kickstarter fundraiser to help pay for it - I wish I had thought of that! Here's her website where you can see her beauty. Although the outside of hers looks great she still needs to empty the inside and get it gallery ready. I love her idea of having a hanging system on the outside as well as the inside. http://www.kristinawentzell.com/

Okay so here is what colors I am trying to decide on... I already bought a red and white striped awning so it has to match that.



This is what I riginally wanted to do. I c ould just got a shade darker than Kristina's.



They actually look quite cool in red - especially if I add a zig-zag!



Or what about green?

I need your help and opinions! Make sure to look at Krisitina's to see why I am wavering on the turquoise!

Here's my original camper post where I talk about where I came up with the idea! http://www.nicolecaulfieldfineart.blogspot.com/2012/07/camper.html

Edit: It is now raining and it says rain for at least the next 5 days! ugh! Also there is one major snafu on the color. I have been given the good advice of keeping the color light because it will fade! Especially red so that is definitely out! ft!

Camper

I was looking through images on Pinterest and came across this woman's Airstream Art Studio. She had her husband refurbish an old Airstream into a workable art studio. I searched more on the internet and also found this great dress shop in Portland Oregon, yes, out of a camper trailer.

I have to say I got a little obsessed, started a board on Pinterest for camper trailers, and talked about it with everyone. To my amazement when I was at work and again telling everyone about this great trailer idea., one of my coworkers said she had a camper that she might be able to sell! She offered it to me for dirt cheap so I could not say no (really honey).

It obviously is not an Airstream and since it is not that large I think an art studio is out... so I have a new idea of what to do with it inspired by the dress shop camper. My idea is to do it up like a vintage 50's, 60's camper (this one is from the 80's but is not too different) in a nice turquoise and white striped design and use it as a little art gallery. I know crazy right? But think about taking it to maybe a farmer's market with a little canopy on the front and selling my little 8x8 prints? Perfect right?

Even better if I can inspire some other artists and craftsmen to do the same, we could rent a lot to keep them on  and sell from the campers in the warmer months, or drive them to other areas and have our own art shows. If you want in - get a camper and let me know. 

For now I am busy making more 8x8's and getting this thing cutified. I am scraping the undercarriage and using some rustoleum over the rust on the bottom  right now. Booo. & am trying to figure out how to paint it. I am really liking something in turquoise with red or yellow accents like these I found online. I have some paint chips next to my door above that you can see I am testing before getting out a sprayer!

   

The inside of my trailer has already been gutted (dead mice removed) and thin wood paneling put up. I want to fix some of the paneling that is coming popping out, paint it out again, make some curtains and maybe put up some picture rails to hold artwork. The kids right now are using it for sleepovers while I am working on the outside. I even slept out in it one night with my daughter.  We just popped a couple of mattresses in there now but I am looking into some foldout futon chairs/small couches. You can see the ones I pinned on Pinterest.