Scenes From the Drive South – The Vagabond Artist’s Travel Journal
Are We There Yet?
I’m writing this post to keep my followers up to date on our travels and also to give inspiration as to ways to keep creative even on the road.
We’re trying to not put too many miles under our belt each day, but it is still a grueling drive to reach Arizona from Washington State. We managed to pack the car to the gills again – shouldn’t each stop result in less stuff – and drive to Boise for the first day.
Boise, Idaho
Boise is a fun town, the capital of Idaho and home to the Boise State Broncos known for their famous blue turf. It offers good food, outdoor adventure, and is known for its Basque culture as well.
Unfortunately, our stop was quick. We were able to walk around the lively downtown, have a nice dinner at Bonefish grill, and capture a few pictures.
Salt Lake City, Utah
Leg two was an overnighter in Salt Lake City. We didn’t do much but finally found the Bison Burger we had been craving ever since Montana.
Cedar City, Utah
Cedar City is home to Southern Utah University where our niece is in her second year. We stayed two nights and had a nice wood-fired pizza at Centro. Their pizzas are huge and she was to take leftovers to her roomies!
Flagstaff, Arizona
Jim drove from Cedar City to Flagstaff, and I was able to get some pencil and ink sketching done. It’s hard to draw in the car as it jiggles a bit. I’ve tried drawing my own had several times and although I’m getting better, I have a long way to go! I tried two of the prompts from the Inktober movement – flame and bouqet.
We stopped at the Navajo Interpretive Bridge spanning Marble Canyon and the Colorado River. I tried to capture some of the rock formations.
I bought a postcard to send to my daughter and thought the bag it came in would make a nice collage. This shows how you can use found/free objects to create art. I attached the bag to my travel journal and applied used teabag paper to frame it. I think the teabags capture the essence of the landscape.
A beautiful sunset set the stage for our evening in Flagstaff. I tried to capture it using the water-soluble oil pastels I picked up in Walla Walla.
What’s Next?
We stop by Mesa, Arizona for a few days to visit our old neighbors and then on to Tucson for a few days. After that, we’ll be in Sedona, Arizona for two weeks. I’m hoping to devote have better access to my art supplies and gain inspiration from the amazing Sedona landscape.
