Mexico Travel Journal

In addition to relaxation, I determined that my week in Mexico would be productive. An artist can never have too much of training eye and hand to work together.





It also seems that if one concentrates on an experience long enough to write and draw...as opposed to just snapping a photo...the Memory is deepened and enforced. The drawings don't have to be Master Level, as you can see.


Although I have a bureau full of collage papers, I made a point of bringing just a small collection of papers. Since my goal was to complete an entire notebook at the beach, I used a wide light green Coptic Marker, to make parallel lines on each page, vaguely reminiscent of water, tying all the pages together on a subliminal level.



In doing a Travel Journal, count on advertisements and local publications for collage materials as well.
I always find written description a necessary part of recording impressions. Your style may be different.




As long as you are not reproducing for sale, you can work off other artist's pieces to jump start your inspiration, like incorpor-
ating this horse drawing from Seattle Art Museum with my own black drawn lines. I also packed a small tin box of water soluble crayons and a small watercolor set that my beloved high school art teacher, Jessie Loomis, brought back from her trip to Europe in the early Sixties.


A UHU glue stick and fine-point colored markers completed my kit....Travel Light!



Where else could I have access to so
many scantily-dressed people, lying still. Great models...and free!







What a divided world! The staff vacuumed the sand each morning. Even dolphins were pressed
into servitude, with tourists paying to stand in a cement pool and grab a dorsal fin in each hand to be pulled 100 feet or so.


The pink retro flowers are tissue paper from the gift bags waiting for us in our rooms. The repeated motif ties the story together.


Now, Here's an OPPORTUNITY, speaking of travel journals: I've been invited to teach at the Toscana Americana Workshops in Cortona, Italy, in 2011. The cost would be around $3000 for the week, which includes housing, food, and some tours.

Let me know what you think.