Writer and illustrator Angela Staehling discovered her inventive inspiration with us this earlier April aboard Heart of the Danube: Bavaria to Budapest – and chronicled her journey in a collection of illustrations, correctly capturing the essence of the river cruise in her artwork! She shared her story with us in a recent interview:
Q & A with Angela
Q. It seems like this is your very first time touring with Tauck, how did you listen to about us?
A. My partner is a vacation agent and understands that Tauck has often been one of the main manufacturers in luxurious journey. A Tauck river cruise has been on our bucket listing for years, and hopefully this will be the initial of several additional Tauck trips to occur.
Q. You have a playful, eye-catching, design and style of art – can you explain to us how you explain it?
A. My artwork design has changed really a bit more than the years. I have been planning dwelling décor and gift items for more than 20 yrs and my design and style has advanced from ultra-reasonable to a additional pleasurable, colorful illustration. Now, I take pleasure in illustrating in a a great deal looser fashion with bold, vivid hues. Even though a ton of my art has a dependable fashion, I do get the job done in a wide variety of mediums and other variations. I also get the job done with many shoppers on job-primarily based art and my variations will alter to meet up with their requirements.
Q. Why did you select to journey with us on The Heart of the Danube river cruise?
A. With so many tour selections in Europe, we made the decision to start out with 1 of the staples, that getting The Heart of the Danube. When Munich, Vienna, and Budapest are a number of of our favorite metropolitan areas, we under no circumstances had a probability to take a look at some of the more compact towns alongside the river. We knew that Tauck’s many excursion options and tour information connections would let us embrace the region in a a lot more personal way.
Q. You had been plainly impressed by what you saw cruising together the Danube, can you tell us a little bit about the thoughts you experienced and what inspired you to sit down and make When you were traveling?
A. I comprehensively enjoyed our Danube cruise as there have been so quite a few picturesque towns and pastoral landscapes from which to collect inspiration. The soothing pace of the trip authorized me to carve out time to illustrate when having fun with the sights. Many moments, I would go for a walk and investigate the very little villages with our tour team, or even by itself, using a lot of shots together the way. I would even go for a bike ride with one particular of the on-board bikes to soak in as substantially of the countryside as probable together our several stops. Whilst I was not anticipating to get as a great deal illustration done while touring as I did, I was joyful to squeeze in a couple renderings while on board. Of program, I took a lot of images to use as reference for foreseeable future illustrations though I’m at property.
Q. We found you have been utilizing a distinctive type of pen for your river cruise operate, is that your regular medium, and if you have far more, what’s your most loved?
A. I procured a selection of paint markers from Blick Artwork Materials before our excursion. I ordinarily function with liquid acrylic paints back again home, but realized that liquid paints would be tricky to journey with. I preferred to come across an art medium that would be a lot easier to tote all-around, but have the identical opaque design and style that I am applied to working in. I ordered a variety of marker colors and sizes from Posca and Molotow brands and was pretty happy with the similarity in physical appearance to precise paints.
Q. Do you usually acquire your get the job done on the street with you and build although you journey?
A. I do test and get a sketchbook with me anytime I vacation. Having said that, it is not generally uncomplicated to locate the time to illustrate when traveling. The ideal occasions for me to illustrate when touring are usually when I’m commuting, these kinds of as on a airplane, practice, or boat, in this situation. If we have downtime at a lodge, or other lodging, I will check out to illustrate a locale from our travels.
Q. Exactly where will you journey subsequent?
A. We have a family journey this summer months to Iceland, Copenhagen, and Sweden. We are touring with an additional relatives and are hoping to pay a visit to other good friends who stay in the spot.
Q. Have you constantly been an artist? Or is this a little something that arrived to you later in life?
A. I have often loved illustrating ever given that I was a baby. I got my degree in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois and worked in several advertising and marketing agencies out of faculty. Soon after about five yrs working as an artwork director, I shifted my job to portray murals in peoples’ households and enterprises. I also established commissioned artwork and would provide primary paintings in local merchants. Quickly later on, I identified the world of artwork licensing, in which I would create styles and license my artwork to household decor makers. These makers build products and solutions these types of as dinnerware, stationery, wall artwork, and textiles, and promote to shops all over the planet. I continue on to perform with these makers today to license my artwork on these kinds of dwelling decor products and solutions. Also, I produce and provide some of my very own products as a result of my website and Etsy Store.
Q. You have just composed and illustrated a reserve “How to Pet a Cat” is that your initial? Inform us about that system.
A. “How to Pet a Cat” is my 2nd guide. My 1st reserve is known as, “Happy Houseplants”. I have a really like for cats, crops, and of training course, travel. So composing and illustrating a e book about these subjects is a dream appear accurate for me! It only appears to be fitting that I operate on some vacation textbooks before long – that is my would like! The procedure of writing and illustrating a e-book is truly a work of art in itself. There is a lot of time and investigation that goes into the producing, as perfectly as making the artwork. I was privileged to collaborate with 1 of the leading publishers of best-marketing present and art publications, Chronicle Publications. My How to Pet a Cat e book is now offered via most on-line and brick and mortar stores, which include Barnes & Noble, Target, and Amazon.
Q. How can men and women see and come across out much more about your artwork?
A. You can see my perform on my site, AngelaStaehling.com and Etsy Shop make sure you really do not hesitate to access out by my web site listed here, or my email at: [email protected]
Angela can also be uncovered on Instagram and Facebook
