Voices of Experience: Patrick Saunders

Mustang Sally’s 16 x 20” Oil on Panel

Patrick Saunders has created what may be the ultimate plein air artist’s lifestyle. Leaving behind the notion of a traditional home and studio, Saunders and his wife, photographer Kimberly Saunders, have embraced the mobile life, traveling across the United States in their 16’ Airstream Bambi trailer. This untethered freedom has allowed him to participate in plein air painting events from coast to coast as well as to teach workshops wherever interest develops. Saunders has won awards for his paintings in many nationally recognized plein air competitions and is a Signature Member of the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association and the Oil Painters of America. We asked him to tell us about how he made the decision to take his life onto the road.

It was all my wife Kimberly’s idea. After living in the Midwest and on both coasts, we were unsure of where we wanted to settle down. We had been on the …