I got back recently from a life changing trip to see my best friend, Pino.  He lives in Chicago and the last time I visited him was the summer of 2017.  This time around, we jam packed the trip from start to finish with rock climbing, camping, painting and even skydiving.  I mostly wanted to talk about how life changing the skydiving experience was at a place in Wisconsin called, Skydive Midwest, but I also wanted to briefly talk about two paintings that I did while in camping.
 The first painting was a plein air landscape that I did near a stream in Illinois.  I was using Pino's acrylic paints and some cheap canvas that we picked up from Blick the day before.  I had about five colors that I used and I didn't have a palette so Pino found a heavy flat rock for me to use.  So everything was very against me for making a "great" painting, but I didn't care about that, I just wanted to have fun and paint.
 The painting turned out really well and the reason is because I didn't care about it being "perfect", I just wanted to have some fun.  The other painting I did while Pino and I were staying in a super cool small cabin in a place called White Pines Resort.  Again, I was using simple acrylic supplies and a luncheables box as a palette.  The portrait came out beautifully and I learned that it's nice to have good quality supplies, but you can also do a great painting with cheap canvas and a rock palette.

  For the skydiving, I first want to say how awesome the people at Skydive Midwest are.  They're so cool and made us feel super excited to jump.  Pino had jumped 3 times prior and this was my first time.  We ended up having to go back to the place 3 times because of weather conditions and got to jump on the day that I flew back to NJ.  The whole process from boarding the small plane to jumping to landing on the ground took about 25 minutes.  On the plane ride up, everyone was high-fiving and cracking jokes.  So then you're up 14,000 ft. and everyone is sitting with their tandem partner, then a big door opens on the side of the plane which was very surreal.  My tandem partner (super cool Brazilian dude) and I edged close to the bay door.  We sat with our legs hanging over the side of the plane and you could see the curvature of the earth, which was beautiful and very strange.
  The next things is that my partner said "1...2...3..." and then we fell forwards straight down in a minute long free fall.  I wish I could describe the feeling of that but it's honestly impossible.  It's like the world is hurtling at you so fast and your brain sort of shuts off.  It felt like a really long time and yet short.  Then my partner pulled the chute and we drifted down in a spiral towards the runway.  The parachute ride itself was really beautiful and you could see the whole world beneath your feet.  My partner even let me steer the parachute for a while which was really awesome.  
  After having done the skydiving and the entire trip, I basically feel fearless and that everything "ain't no thang".  I really needed this trip to help me find myself again.  Thank you Pino <3

  I'm super excited to give a review of some artists products that I've been using recently.  The products are made by MABEF easels and I purchased them from www.mabefeasel.com.  I'm so impressed with the quality and craftsmanship of these Italian made supplies.
 I just used the pochade box today to paint two small paintings and it worked beautifully.  I rested it on my lap, which was a very comfortable position for painting outside and inside.  I also purchased a field easel that has two arms to hold my palette box, which is something that I've been looking for for ages.  The other items I purchased were an artists box that has interior metal compartments that are adjustable (it also came with a beautiful wooden palette with a slick surface) and I also got a small folding artists stool, which is very comfortable and I used with my pochade box.
  Anyone who's thinking about painting en plein air (or anywhere!) should visit their website and pick up some of their products.  The products are very reasonably priced considering the amazing craftsmanship and that they're made in Italy!