Painting on pedals is coming right along

This is my new slant on plein air painting. I first thought getting started with this could be a bit expensive, but with my granddaughter’s bike, the first item was a gift. The bike stand I had purchased in the past to work on her father’s bike wouldn’t fit correctly on hers so I needed to “jerry-rig” a stand so I could do some basic work on the gears and brakes. For other stuff, I went shopping and couldn’t find exactly what I needed without some expensive modifications, so I went shopping in the next best place, my garage. The old tandem I planned on getting in riding condition next year had a rather sophisticated back rack and double-sided, fold-out baskets, and with a few measurements, I think the system could work on her bike. If it does, it will give me a lot of room to carry my paints, canvas and brushes.

The seat on her bike is not as comfortable as I need it to be if I’m going to ride much, and that, quite honestly, is still up for grabs. A couple of years ago, I had bought a 26- inch men’s bike, and its seat was horrible so at that time, I replaced it with a more comfortable one. I had to return the new bike due in part to some major defects I couldn’t fix. I put the original seat back on the bike before returning it, so now I had a comfortable seat just waiting for me. I expect with a few minutes exchanging parts, I think I will have all I need.

This bike may not look pretty but she was all free and I am all for that free bit. Anyway, it’s a start for me, and maybe I will be able to get in places that were hard for me to get to, and in a safe way or as safe as any way for an old man with balance problems can be.

Now all I have to do is accumulate a kit for painting out of what I already have and get to it. I hope to share some of my explorations with painting on pedals, and describe the limitations and the advantages. A good bike list for plein air painting is also a good auto list without the heavy stuff.

At first, I will keep my adventures close to home in case I’m not as well organized as I should be. I live in a beautiful country area so places abound in just a few feet in any direction. I am looking forward to this new way of getting to the painting fields and beyond.

Since I cut back on my zombie medication, I have more energy. I sleep less but that’s okay. Eight hours was never the natural me. I write every day and for the past week, I have painted for at least four hours a day mainly fixing canvases for plein air and modifying canvases that needed extra help to turn into nice paintings. So far, it has been rather successful. Paintings I was ready to throw away were redeemable and some even turned out beautiful. Even though I have painted for over 60 years, these surprises are always welcome.

Harry Croghan is an artist, photographer, writer and teacher. You can send comments to croghan@dragonbbs.com or call (740) 852-4906.