My family and I went camping recently near Kingston. We were in a beautiful area of hills, woodland and farms. And not that far from Kingston’s lovely downtown, with cute shops, a beautiful waterfront area and lots of history.

I have not been many places since the pandemic began. Mostly at home expect for what was needed during our lockdowns. That didn’t really change that much when restrictions were relaxed, some outings but not many. Once at the campground I realized how much I needed to get away and outta the house! Oh my, the change of scenery, the nightly campfires, not having things to do! The best! So message received and I aim to get a couple more getaways in the next couple of months. 

We went to Kingston once the campsite was all set up. I was particularly excited to visit Art Noise again. Art Noise is a brick & mortar retailer and e-commerce art supply. I have used them a lot during the pandemic. Each shipment was shipped promptly and when I had questions, the chat on their website was always super helpful. It is the flagship retail outlet for Tri-Art Mfg so they had all their products lines. Yippee! I use and love many Tri-Art products here in the studio and they are made right in Kingston! So aligned with my values of supporting local and/or Canadian made as much as I can. 

And yes, I could have taken the whole store with me. But I was particularly interested in their acrylic gouache line. I chose the rainbow with black and white because why not?! These colours are so luscious and bright! I had a lot of fun playing with them but this is the stuff of relaxation for me. Give me a cup of hot tea, lots of paint and I am well on my way to my zen place. I love sitting down and creating the characters, flowers and other inspiration that pops in my head and that is pretty much what I did for 3 days! Bliss!

So why this product? The flatness of this paint makes it easy to scan and photograph. This is make it easier for me to have them appear on more items like these. And this product line is acrylic so I can experiment with mediums too. Looking forward to creating more with these!

Oh yes, this is not any kind of promo on behalf of Tri-Art. It’s my thing to shout out the products and businesses I use and love. Choosing the right art supplies for each project is big part of the creating process. 

So if you have read this far. Where have you adventured to lately? I need some ideas. 😉

 Barbi 🙂