Why I RV and Paint

with Todd Schabel
Todd Schabel painting a landscape inside his Crossroads Sunset Trail RV.
Todd & Marcia Schabel smile at each other holding buckets of crops on a farm.
Todd & Marcia Schabel smile at each other holding buckets of crops on a farm.

Todd Schabel

33, Appleton, Wisconsin

Todd and Marcia Schabel, along with their two mini goldendoodles Malai and Aspen, are traveling the country full-time in their Crossroads Sunset trailer. Todd paints landscape portraits as they travel, while Marcia is a designer and marketer working remotely from the RV. Their dream is to one day own a farm back in Wisconsin.

A board with blue, green and yellow paint used to paint a landscape.

When did you start to learn to paint?

I started to learn to paint in high school. During my senior year of high school, a professional artist in the area brought his work in, and I was just blown away by it. A few years later, I was able to go to his studio and work with him on several occasions. It really hit home and felt right for me. So I went on to school and studied and continued to do it, but on the side. Now I’ve decided to pursue it as a career.

Todd Schabel painting an old barn as the sun goes down through trees.
What do you love most about painting?

What I love most about painting is capturing the emotion behind the landscape. There are those unique qualities that you have to spend time seeing and experiencing, then bring them back onto the canvas in a different way than as you see it. It is reimagined in my mind, then put back together on canvas.

Todd and Marcia Schabel on a walk with their dogs through a trail near a lake
How does nature and travel inspire painting and creativity?

I think growing up when we did our road trips as a family, it instilled a lot of appreciation for different landscapes for me. Just being out at a young age, exploring the mountains and then the beaches. Even driving through the planes or flats, most people don't see much beauty there, but there still is in special ways. I think that appreciation for me to see all those different landscapes kind of molded me into why I wanted to paint landscapes and continue that.

Todd and Marcia Schabel's Crossroads Sunset Trail parked in a grassy field surrounded by trees.
How does being an RV help your painting and creativity?

The biggest thing about being in an RV for my creativity and in my artwork is the freedom to explore places that I want to go and anything that piques my interest. It's the ability to be mobile, step out the door in the next place and capture it, or decide to move on to the next spot. Just that ability to adapt, and the freedom that it allows, has been the biggest benefit of RVing for us.

Todd & Marcia Schabel travel in a 2020 Crossroads Sunset Trail travel trailer.

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An travel trailer RV parked in a green field.