Planning a Dream
Doug Tweddale has carried two passions since childhood — painting and travel. It was difficult to pursue those interests in full force while he was working as a CEO and raising a family, so Tweddale always looked forward to retirement. “Most people think of retirement planning only in terms of financial resources, but the real planning doesn’t stop there,” he says. “The most meaningful and often forgotten steps are about articulating and living the passionate dreams we all carry within.”
Tweddale‘s retirement dream combined his love for art and travel. “I envisioned teaching workshops and ultimately doing a series of paintings in the national parks,” he says. “At first, I figured I would take multiple trips over the course of a few years, but then it dawned on me that I could take an extended trip by RV.” After his official retirement in the winter of 2014, Tweddale and his wife, Sue, began to plan. Their “National Park RV Tour” was a four-month extended painting trip throughout the American and Canadian West, which they took during the summer of 2015.
I asked the artist to share his experience and the impact it has had on his art-making.
Your interest in art goes back to childhood, but when did you develop an interest in pastel painting?
I’ve been painting with pastels for about 30 years, and before that, oils and watercolors. In 2000, I began studying with master pastelist Albert Handell, who introduced me to plein air painting in pastel. His workshops, which are held in beautiful western locations, sharpened my dream to travel the West. Albert’s wonderful mentoring taught me how to deepen my artistic perception for the subtle beauty contained within a scene and then express that in a painting.
Each year, I attended one or more workshops with him. I also began to extend business trips in order to paint. These activities kept my dreams of travel and art alive during my working years. Plein air painting became the meeting place for my love of art, travel, and nature.
How did you go about planning for the painting excursion? What kind of prep work did you do?
The mechanics of the trip were rather simple, actually. Buying a used but good-as-new RV was surprisingly reasonable. We learned that there are RV parks everywhere, particularly near the national parks. Even with poor gas mileage, our expenses came out below the cost of taking such an extensive trip by conventional means.
I also studied the history of the national parks and learned of the dedication of many conservationists over the years to preserve these lands. People like John Muir and John Wesley Powell lived into their passionate dreams, thereby benefiting us all. I learned about the National Park Service and Congress and their efforts to preserve these places of diverse beauty for future generations.
There have been a number of famous artists who took a particular interest in painting the national parks.
Artists played a huge role in the creation of the national park system. Thomas Moran, in particular, captured my attention. I realized that I’d be traveling to many of the same places that he had painted. There were some major differences, of course. He traveled by railroad, wagon, and horse, whereas I went by paved road, towing a trailer that Sue and I affectionately named “Conestoga Lite.” And while Moran kept detailed notebooks on his trips, Sue and I kept a blog.
How has the travel experience affected your art-making?
Traveling from one inspiring place to another kept my artistic juices flowing and expanded my creative expression. I felt greater freedom in my use of color and composition. My paintings became larger and looser. Before the trip, I strove for perfection and wanted each painting to be a “masterpiece.” During the trip, that self-imposed burden dropped away, and I just painted to reflect my emotional response.
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