Exploration (An Introduction)
I am currently writing this from the small town of Alpine California which is around twenty miles east of San Diego. This area is one of the most beautiful I’ve visited in the US and (aside from the unusual amount of rain) I’ve really enjoyed the stay here. It’s the type of place that invites you to leave the windows and doors open and live daily life outside as much as in. It should be noted that I am a lifelong indoorsman. I grew up on the east coast where flying, biting and stinging insects own the outdoors. It was only as I headed west on this extended journey that I realized that it was possible to be outdoors and also be comfortable.
The stay here in southern California has not been without incident though. My wife, Abby broke her wrist while walking one of our dogs and ended up needing surgery. On the plus side we did find a fantastic orthopedic surgeon in Chula Vista. Abby is a potter so we are hoping for a full recovery! So that is a whole worrisome thing. We extended our stay in this area for the surgery (done) and the physical therapy she has been doing a couple of times a week.
On the plus side the extended stay here has helped me to get my latest art series sorted out into phases. Each phase is a joy. I’ll go through them now and my future journal entries will detail these as I explore and find new inspirations!
My Traveler’s Company notebook with a craft paper dot grid insert by Baum-Kuchen
Planning: I scout out an area or a point of interest to visit. Sometimes this happens just in the course of a normal day so I always carry my journaling supplies (notebook and film or instant camera etc.). I’ll detail those in a later journal entry!
Exploration: I try to inhabit the area I have chosen, to feel what it’s like to be there. If I’m in a city I mill about, get a coffee, sit on a bench, or maybe circle the block a few times to see things from all angles. If I’m in a rural area, like a hiking trail, I will walk around to get a feel for the place. No matter where I am I try to take in every sense. Smell is really attached to memory, and I bet most of us could smell a book and see a library or a bookstore in our minds. The sounds can be really inspiring too. Is the wind whistling through the trees or are there car horns or the crash of the waves on the beach or maybe it’s quiet enough that you can hear insects chirping away.
Harvesting: For this step I sometimes paint a study onsite in my notebook but usually I use my instant camera to snap a few shots. I like to paint from small photos because I want my memory to fill in details that the photo is too small or too out of focus to convey. This helps me to stay in the abstract mindset and just be inspired by the rough shapes and colors of the photos I take.
Journaling: I like to write about what I’m seeing and experiencing either right on the spot or later when I look at the photos I have taken. I like to do this before I paint the main piece so that I really commit to memory the experience of being somewhere or seeing something.
Painting or Producing: My current work is abstract watercolors inspired by travel. I do love that watercolor lends itself to traveling so well. The supplies for watercolor are compact and are designed to be moved around or work on the go. They are much more challenging to work with than oil paint in my experience but the end results are some of the most true to what I’m trying to convey that I have ever been able to achieve. Watercolors are unforgiving of mistakes and have to be finished in a limited amount of time but all of the restrictions help me to stay focused while working and to paint with intentionality. I am also dabbling in film photography now so at this stage I would look at all the shots in a roll to pick my favorites then upload them into the Portfolio here on the website.
Journaling part two: Another round of journaling helps me to solidify in my mind what I experienced and how I represented it in my work. It also helps me to know how to title the work.
Thanks for reading my ramblings! More to come! In the next entry I’ll fill you in on a walk I took around a ranch outside of Alpine California.
-Mark
