Maintaining Creative Practice
Maintaining Creative Practice While Out In The Big Wide World
Just a month ago I was on the tail end of my winter travels. The journey through Central America and later to Hawaii is a way for me to recharge my mind, body and sprit.
I usually buy a new sketchbook before embarking on a trip. I work on a 12×9 inch Strathmore Watercolor pad.
Once I arrive in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Hawaii, someday Bali, and unpack my bags, I take over the tiny table that usually comes with the budget apartments we rent. I keep it simple with dinner plates for palettes and used food and drink containers for water and paint mixing.
I use a combination of watercolors and gouache with occasional tempera or gesso thrown in if I can find it. I try to paint everyday usually when listening to music or NPR on my phone. This becomes my downtime when I am not surfing, doing yoga or grocery shopping and cooking.
Bit by bit the books begin to fill. I don’t usually see how the small paintings find their way into the larger studio work until about a year later. The translation is difficult but critical to the way I work these days.
I need both, the separation from my home and studio and then the intense return where the expectation is on exhibitions and output.
Please accept my gift as a digital copy of my most recent book of my painting collection “Wayfarer.”
2019 was an incredibly productive year in the studio and I would like you to take a glimpse at the paintings and my influences.
If you have a creative soul on your gift list, please share this with your artist friends. I would love to inspire and support others on this path of discovery of self, place and art.
