Every artist has tools that they use. Not the physical implements themselves but the skills that allow us to manipulate our medium. But how and where do we develop and enhance those abilities? Because without growth the work becomes stagnant, old, tired...Personally, I like to literally hit the road and look for new things to inspire me and test my skills.
I would love for my body of work to eventually be a sort of travel log of all the places I've been. Sometimes, I manage to get out there and travel, seeking new subjects, new inspirations. Sometimes I travel not expecting anything, sometimes I go somewhere hunting a specific location or sensation. Lately, travel has been narrowed down to my general area but I have managed to travel quite a bit within that area. I plan to travel more and further distances when its again possible, to new places, and to revisit some places I experienced when I was much younger and didn't know yet what I was looking for.
Places I have been to and painted or drawn, both local and distant: Paris, Philadelphia, England, New Jersey, Salem, Hawaii, Chicago, Virginia Beach. Places I've been to but have yet to draw or paint: Rehoboth Beach, New York, Maine, Prague, Bratislava, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, Minnesota...and I'm sure a few more. Most of the places I haven't captured yet are places I traveled with my family and hadn't yet caught the landscape bug. Some I just haven't managed to find that right spark yet. But of the places I've captured, I've made a conscious effort to do so. For longer trips I make custom sketchbooks or watercolor sketchbooks. And, of course, I take photos. Lots and lots of photos.
Every destination adds different layers and tools to my repertoire. For instance, I started traveling to Virginia Beach with my sister when my nephew was first born. Painting the bay and moving water was new to me. I had gone to school in Philly and grew up in South Jersey so bridges, buildings and trees were my go to subjects. That was what I was good at. All that sand and water....it was truly baffling how I was supposed to make it look right. But in a way that's what travelling is. Its learning a new place, learning what's there, where to go, and how to get there. By the time I went to Hawaii, I had years of painting Virginia Beach under my belt and was able to utilize those tools.
Going to college in Philadelphia, I was lucky enough to go to a school with the painting department located up on the eighth floor overlooking Broad Street and giving me views across the city. This is where I learned bridges and architecture. Philly has amazing buildings and views, and the Delaware and the Schuylkill Rivers have many beautiful bridges. It was Philadelphia that made me truly focus on landscape. And exploring the city and buildings like City Hall and the art museum set me off down the road and on an airplane across the ocean to Paris. The two cities have a great deal in common, how they spread, they are both fairly short-statured, they have tons of public art....and old cemeteries.
In Paris I discovered the necropolis and the true beauty of grave sculpture. The tool that I added to my artistic tool belt in Paris was finding a way to convey the weight and beauty of the figure carved in stone. After wandering through numerous cemeteries and hanging out in Rodin's garden countless times, how could I not develop a new and deeper love and appreciation of sculpture....
Each place I go to I try to find a new spark, something that I haven't mastered. For many years it used to feel like I didn't know how to paint when I started a new painting. Like every single time. I still get stumped from time to time, but I feel like I have a much broader range of tools to reach for these days and I'm always looking for something new. But, I also want to go back to places I've been to and see what I missed....Every destination and experience has something new to offer and the more I see, the more I need to travel. The more new things I see, the more I want the tools I need to capture them. And, I want all the tools out there, I'm greedy like that.
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