The Artist Traveler
“For many of us, travel is our most sacred time. We save, plan, pack and dream. Some trips are jam packed with events so it’s difficult to draw and paint as much as you’d like.”
If you asked most people what they look forward to in a year, they’ll say ‘vacation’, and that often means travel. I associate travel with art and art with travel so much I can barely separate them.
Studio painting is wonderful for learning skills and practicing in a controlled environment, but it doesn’t spring to ‘life’ in the same way as creating art on location for me. I want to be present in the moment, and slow down every bit of that sacred time.
When we travel, we want to see new things, feel new ways, and get perspective. But as artist travelers, the occasion of travel opens whole other vistas. Everything is different – even more so if you're in another country! The graphic design on lettering of street signs, the way coffee is served, the colors of the buildings and the trams - it’s all drenched in the new, and visual stimulation becomes over the top. Artists just want to stop time and drink it in.
I’ve realized that as artists, we simply travel ‘differently’ than regular tourists. Art travel isn’t about sightseeing efficiency. As an artist, we need time to be observant, and record our findings - the small details of uniqueness and difference. Everything becomes a subject for your art.
When we travel with others, or sometimes even by ourselves, we can get caught up too much in the box ticking. We then become frustrated, and too tired at the end of a day of trudging around all the major sites to make that art that is so important to our way of seeing the trip. We get overwhelmed, and cranky. I propose, however, that this doesn’t have to happen. For me, I have to hold my own way of travel sacred – by slowing down. Even if that means I don’t get to see all the major sights that I could. I take the Rick Steves approach ‘assume you’ll return’ and I pick just one name sight to see for the day. I spend the rest of it going where my whims take me. This works great when I’m solo traveling (and I often do) or when traveling with other artsy-inclined folks, but how do you travel with your family, or non-artsy friends?
When you’re traveling, how do you balance being an artist and being a tourist?
I’m always interested to hear what other folks do to resolve, or at least work with, this dilemma! Let me know in the comments.
