OBADIAH HUNTER ART The Stories and Plein-air Paintings of a Glode-Trotting Traveler Read about Obadiah's globe-trotting travels and check out his impressive collection of "paint and pay as you go" original plein air paintings. From New England to the British Isles and Morocco to Spain - Obie, has amassed a portfolio of work and experiences that is truly inspiring. Live vicariously as you savor his colorful and expressive oil paintings. About the Artist/Author I received my first set of Bob Ross oil paints in high school for Christmas. Little did I know at the time the tubes with the smiling man with an Afro would turn into my life's devotion. First concentrating on Vermont Landscapes, I was consequently asked to do murals at my school and art quickly became a priority that led me to apply to art school. I was accepted on scholarship at Lyme Academy of Fine Arts where I studied the foundations of painting, drawing and sculpture, and discovered for the first time plein aire' painting. The wonders of the New England countryside enthralled me as they were just ripe for painting. A French easel accompanied me as I tried to hone both my oil technique and individual style. I took inspiration from many early American Impressionists who - only a hundred years before - had walked the same fields and streams. Bored with still life painting, I counted down the minutes until I would be released from class to get outside and paint from nature. I was very much a plein aire' painter. As such, I had soaked in a much needed foundation and, as importantly, I had developed my own style and palette. I decided it was time; I wanted to branch out and take my painting on the road. From that day to this, I have spent my time traveling and painting on the streets. My earliest days were spent in New Orleans - where the usual landscapes I had been drawn to for their peaceful quality soon became replaced by busy streets scenes with old buildings and people. I found that I needed to challenge myself by capturing what I saw and experienced in these new locales. Feeling inspired by the newness of each place and love of travel and the progression of my work within months, I had left for Europe to paint further as well as have art shows in Spain and France. That experience snowballed to the point where I was living simply to paint and travel. In short, painting to survive and selling paintings everywhere I went and often trading them for food, room and board. I realized the only way I was to be a good painter was to go out and do it every day and at any rate. I had no choice. I traveled with my easel and painted pubs in England, street scenes of Dublin, vineyards and markets of France, vistas of Andalucía and Corsica, old towns of Stockholm, Copenhagen, the Red Light District in Amsterdam, small villages of The Almafi coast, spice and rug markets of Morocco and Kasbahs' of the Sahara, mountains of Argentina and Guatemala, beaches of Croatia, Costa Rica, Belize and the Philippines, even doing fruit markets of Thailand and Laos. From time to time I would stop back in the states and work towards my next adventure.