Let's talk about travel (part two)

As promised, art and travel! 

I always start with the best of intentions, but they rarely pan out the way I want them to. It's quite possible that I'm not carving out time and space the way I should. It's also quite possible that planning to make art at the END of the day is the worst plan ever, because I am a morning person. 

I have one more trip this summer, and I'm planning to use this journey to figure out the best way to travel and make art. 
There are many people who travel and make art so well: 

Mary Ann Moss of Dispatch from L.A.
Jane LaFazio
Julie Fei Fan Balzer of Balzer Designs

I'm really great at making art before I leave. I'm not so good at making travel-inspired art when I get back. 

Before we left for Sicily, I took an old, beaten board book and gave it a new life as a recipe book.  The project took me the better part of a week, and I loved every minute of it. 

I wrote out the recipes on tags and then illustrated some of the ingredients on the pages. I prepared the pages by coating them with gesso and a small amount of paint for color. 
I'm not a huge fan of starting with a white background--so few things in nature are stark white. 

When I travel with the intention of making art, I pack supplies. I have gotten it down to things that will fit inside a gallon-sized ziploc bag.

A list of travelling art supplies:
1. Sketchbook
2. A pencil and eraser
3. Permanent pens (I like Sharpie fine point)
4. Watercolors
5. Brushes (Round 3, Round 8, 1/2 inch flat)
6. Tape
7. Camera (which doesn't fit in the bag)

I think what happens is that I get so wound up in being there that I let the camera capture the moment/composition. 
Then I go home and get waylaid by the unfinished projects in the studio. 

But like I said, I have one more trip this summer to see if I can work out a system that works for me.