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This watercolour sketch was done after I got home from our epic paddle trip down parts of the Missouri River in Montana.     For all the years and different places I’ve taught about keeping a Travel Journal, one of the most enduring questions I get is: How would I ever figure out what to take in a Travel Journal Kit?’ Fortunately, the answer to this conundrum is pretty straightforward.   Other than the journal itself, you can see how compact your Travel Journal Kit can be - so no reason not to try it out!      For the...

Breathtaking landscapes of the Missouri River in Montana on a 2 week canoe trip.   Landscape, Soundscape, Smellscape - Your Travel Journal Entries     Compelling Travel Journal entries come from all sorts of different perspectives. They come from different times of the day, different settings, different people and so many other sources.     One of the simplest ways to record rich memories is to think about the landscapes you’re visiting, and give yourself a moment to reflect on that ‘sense of place’. Perhaps start using point-form and record simply what the place looks like.   The ‘lay of the land’...

When visiting the Big Island of Hawaii one time, I made up a couple of small Travel Journals that featured the plants and palms of Hawaii…..just for fun. I want to see if I could do it. :-)  The fact of the matter is, you are ‘curating’ your life anyway – consciously or unconsciously! You make plans to visit places and meet people and to enjoy new settings, food and experiences. So why not be more intentional with those experiences as they unfold in your life?   Over the next while, lots of you will carry out plans to visit...

Painting on old paper, on ‘ephemera’, is something I’ve been doing for a few years now. From envelopes and old cheques to yellowed old letterhead, postcards, and waybills......it’s all fodder for my watercolour brushes.   This new series grew out of this long standing interest in old paper and the fact a friend was tossing some old navigation charts that were out of date. He knew I painted on ephemera and asked if I’d like to have them....I said ‘yes’. And the rest is history.   The series here follows my penchant for all things ephemera - and it takes...

Painting Stories   For some time now, I’ve been intrigued by combining the written word and some of the watercolour artwork I’ve been doing. I’ve thought of the personal side of this, but also writing something that might be more widely subscribed, so to speak.   I’m guessing, actually, that some of the grounding in this approach has grown out of my longer standing interest in painting on ‘ephemera’ - vintage paper that includes everything from letterhead and envelopes to maps, ticket stubs, and cheques. At a much more abstract level, it’s not lost on me that all artwork is...