Exposé Gallery
PASTELS OIL & ACRYLICS WATERCOLOR OUTSIDE THE ART BOX USES
I finally got my hubs to drill some holes into Max. Initially, the purpose was to secure my pastel box but I found it works for my palette just as well. The holes are on the outside of the tubes, only through one side and work with tiny bungees (less weight for travel) that join together on the top of my palette or box and hold it snug.
Thx again....Denise Delgado, Tuscson, Arizona
Thx again....Denise Delgado, Tuscson, Arizona
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I've just ordered my THIRD Easel Butler. I'm planning a painting trip to the Adirondacks in June and I really need this to lighten my load. I've MacGuyvered a pastel box so it weighs way less than my Heilmann box. I decided I needed another Easel Butler so I can add more pastels to my set-up. Thanks for such a great product! Judy Garden, Ontario, Canada |
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I am very pleased with my first try with Max and anxious to take him out plein air painting in Quebec, Canada
Merci Beaucoup Easel Butler!....Anne-Marie Boisvert
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Margaret Larlham is a wonderful pastellist from San Diego, California. She recently purchased Max as an addition to her "Artful Backpack" for her exploration of paintable sites throughout Greece.
She was gracious enough to share her thoughts and photos on her excellent blog. Follow the link and you to can experience Greece from her perspective. Margaret's Blog |
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I needed an Easel Butler delivered quickly so that I could attend a plein air event. I had one but somehow I'd lost the arms. You responded so quickly, and it arrived on time!! I really enjoyed myself, and even won Best of Show for my pastel painting titled "Saturday Under the Palms". Thanks so much for your excellent product, and excellent customer service! Lorraine Potacki...Dunedin, FL |
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Enjoying my Easel Butler on the beach during the Covid-19 Pandemic. I used my “steering wheel” desk on top of the Easel Butler. It connects to the tripod and sits securely on the Butler. Just perfect for me. I am so happy I found this product. Wendee Mason, Carlsbad CA |
Take your doggie to work day!
This plein air pastel artist enjoys companionship while painting.
"I have a small wood panel to rest my pastel box on and my purse makes the perfect counterweight.
Today's plein air location is Penn Yan, NY, in the beautiful Finger Lakes."
Karlene VanDeusen's great work can be seen
here in our showcase
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Julia Woning of the Netherlands has found a unique way of using Max to support her pan pastels. Just look at all those luscious cakes of color! Julia's works in different mediums and some of her work can be seen in our Classic Showcase. |
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Beautiful Carolyn Schrock of Chapel Hill, North Carolina keeping cool in Sedona, Arizona. I see that like me, Carolyn prefers to mount her pastels to the side rather than in front of her. I have shoulder problems and find that side mounting saves my having to over-extend my arm to get past the pastel box. |
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"Even though it's been almost a year since Max came into my life, I have not forgotten your kind invitation to share photos and artwork. I have not been able to get out and paint this year as much as I'd hoped to, but when I do get out, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Easel Butler. Not just because it's easy and quick to set up, and not just because it places my extra pastels at a convenient height so I don't have to bend down to the ground (yikes!): but also because it has helped me significantly lower the weight of my plein air gear, since pastels in cardboard boxes -- which rest on Max -- are much lighter than pastels in wooden boxes. So I can carry more pastels in a lighter pack. Yay! I have attached a photo for you of my set-up, taken during my most recent outing -- you can see Max stoically holding my pastels at the photo's bottom. My thanks again for such a simple -- but brilliant! -- idea: it has made my outdoor painting much easier (and as I am in my 60's, that's a big deal)". Deborah Maklowski, Ellicott City, MD |
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Max loves basking in the Tasmanian sunshine! Max and I are Plein Air painting in a sheep paddock here in Tasmania. "Max is so light & packs away to nothing , I don't know what I'd do without him and...he is multi functional - best buddy ever !" Cheers Julie Carmody |
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"I have found my perfect easel...the TAKE-IT-EASEL and now my favorite apparatus...the EASEL BUTLER to use with it! ♥
Did you KNOW that the holes for the Easel Butler perfectly fit the wood pegs for the Take-it Easel?
I removed the square wire fittings on the pegs so that the Easel Butler holes could slide fully onto the peg. I can now position the shelf a bit higher for my palette as needed. When the Take-it Easel requires a narrower footprint, the Easel Butler metal fitting adds extra stability!
So happy and excited! I'm set! Thank you for your great products! " ♥
Mary Aslin, San Juan Capistrano, California
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Let's not forget the studio....lots of play room for Max there and check out the wonderful pieces on the walls and the easel that he had a hand in producing ♥ This easel is Karen's wooden beauty that she has attached Max to by means of a simple C-clamp in order to hold her active pastels. |
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And here Max is (hiding) in beautiful Maine. Suzanne has chosen extra security for her box with the addition of a luggage strap. It looks like it was made for the Easel Butler! "Here is Max on my new tripod with my Heilman box which weighs 13 lbs. Worked great! Nice and secure." Susanne Personette, Maine, USA
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"It was a typical July morning in the Exuma Sea Park in the Bahamas
The temperature had already reached a balmy 92 degrees, with the air and wind taking turns showing me the true value of air conditioning. The real problem of the day was, how do you get two pastel boxes, an easel, and assorted supplies to a remote island in the middle of the ocean? Finding a suitable beach, my husband offered to do the heavy lifting, and after delivering my fragile pastels in dry and perfect condition to the beach, he patiently snorkeled around and waited for the Monet to appear on my canvas. The sun was frying me like a Bahamian Conch and the wind kept trying to blow over my little easel. Beach birds dive bombed me with cheerful cries as hermit crabs glared from under their little shell helmets. How can I possibly paint here? With a little help from Easel Butler, my portable aluminum easel, and some boards I found scattered in the sand, I set up with fingers crossed that the wind wouldn’t blow over my pastel set once I finally committed it to the stand and was rewarded with a really nice field study which I finished in my studio!" Kahne Smith, Hawaii |
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STARRING (drumroll please)...
...Marilee Means and Max in the lovely French village of Giverny ...sigh..... "I used your Easel Butler on a 2 week trip to France with other artists and 2 instructors. It worked great, was lightweight to carry, and provided a sturdy place to put my wooden pastel box. I was able to bungee the box to the easel, add a counterweight the easel and was confident that even in the wind, all would be fine." |
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"I love the Easel Butler. Using the inner holes, the 60-piece set box of Terry Ludwig pastels sat perfectly on the arms. Since I hike a lot to get to these great views, I need to consider the weight of everything and the Easel Butler is very lightweight. This is a photo of my set up, this weekend. We spent the whole day painting on the ridge line meadows at Rocky Knob National Recreation Area on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia." ....Anne Pfeiffer, Roanoke, Virginia ► |
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On a plein air outing in Belaye, France,
Richard McKinley making good use of Max |
An excerpt from Richard McKinley's Pastel Pointers in the April 2014 issue of the Pastel Journal
"For my own plein air work, I rely on two easel setups: • The first is intended for times when I know I’ll have to carry my equipment a considerable distance or when I’ll be traveling by air. It consists of a small, sturdy professional- grade camera tripod fitted with an extension arm available from Easel Butler that securely holds my pastel palette while an easel support, available from Heilman Designs, holds the painting surface and is attached to the tripod camera quick-release plate via an accessory plate." |
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Here I am using my new Max while painting on the Sunshine Coast in Australia. Just love it ♥ ......................................Tricia Taylor...Australia She has just started a blog of her Plein Air adventures leading up to a trip to the Greek islands...another escapade for Max!! 
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Tricia Taylor
Kathy Detrano
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Click on the above photo to see close-ups of Kathy's set-up and note how nicely Max snuggles in there and DO check out the weight of her whole kit and kaboodle except for her pastel box. Impressive!!
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Here is a photo of the classy Jersey girl who has all her ducks in a row when it comes to plein air. Just two handfuls and she is off. ▲
ps. Here is a photo of Max hard at work helping me with another plein air piece. His cousin, Orange Sack, was working well as ballast... Kathy Detrano |
Jann Perez
Painting in the Sierras, Carolyn from Nevada is also using her BestBrella along with Max...the best of both worlds. Look at how many wonderful darks she has in her box there...must be Terry Ludwigs...they are to die for!! ► 
Yes, you are seeing double....two of Max for the connoisseur who just cannot be without every nuance of colour. I would use a good strong easel for this baby and a good looking baggage carrier. ► On the easel in most of these photos including this one is our ArtWorksBooks. 
No, I take that back...Jane is very intrepid to paint in this wind! She thinks so too, I am sure because I can hear her chuckling to herself in the video wondering what in the devil she is doing out there instead of in her pensionne with a lovely glass of wine in hand. However it is a great testament to Max and the Artworksbook' s performance under duress. ▼ 
And here we have a super lady from Washington painting with Paula Ford in Phoenix in Arizona's Japanese gardens. Look at that place.... don't we all wish! ► This is Jann's take on the Butler.... "This is my All in One easel on a Cullmann Magic 2 tripod. In theory, the All in One is self contained, but you can see the added bonus of the Easel Butler with baking pan in making a convenient shelf for tools, 'Gloves in a Bottle', water...you name it." We have suggested to Jann that she take advantage of the options shown on the helpful hints page of just how to insert the arms into Max's various positions that allow for him to sit higher on her tripod making it even more convenient for her and further away from marauding raccoons. 
No fancy pastel case here…just a starter set of 72 Unisons and an ArtWorksBook on a Windsor Newton easel. This is my first foray into plein air and I wasn’t about to buy a whole big box that I might never use again. Now that I know I like painting out-of-doors, I will go for a Dakota box that will fit right here on my Easel Butler and then I can really pile on the colours. -Rosemary Have a love affair with Max? Tell the world by adding your own photo here...just email me the image along with any related text and I will be happy to pop it in.
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◄ Here is Jann in the Sedona sun using Max as an auxiliary shelf below her All-in-One. She has really captured that unusually green tree behind her. 
◄ Getting up-close and personal with a water fountain on the island of Hydra, Greece...2011. Catherine is taking full advantage of the Easel Butler's helping hands here using her ArtWorksBook and Max in lieu of a drawing table. This is a unique look for Max and hints of a creative side not seen before. You sly devil, you. 
◄ Here is Gail from Calgary, Alberta just getting set up in a bit of Grecian sunshine. Notice her bag full of goodies hung on the back leg of her easel...a good idea with all of that weight on Max. He is sometimes too strong for his own good and needs a little counterweight to offset things when he flexes those muscles. Hmmm... Gail looks suspiciously like that silhouetted painter at the top of the page. And below we have Jane from Maple Ridge, BC. She's a bit insecure. You can tell by the bungee cord around her pastel box.
Hmmm? Or could it be the gale force winds she was painting in earlier. ▼ 
◄ Dianna from BC, Canada painting in Holland. Here you see Max hugging the side of the tripod as opposed to the frontal approach. This is for those who love Max hanging around but need a little more of their own space. Is this what they call...tilting at windmills? I am so jealous...Max and ArtWorksBook get to hang out with the girls in all sorts of exciting places!! 
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