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The Vagabond Artist is Heading South – My Travel Journal

Our time in Walla Walla is drawing to a close and I will miss it here.  We had a great time – visiting wineries, entertaining friends, reconnecting with classmates, and, yes, I did manage to squeeze in a little art.  We head south tomorrow for several days of driving to get us to Arizona.

Fiftieth High School Reunion

Just a quick shout out to my fellow alums. Sadly, almost 20 percent of our graduating class has passed on.  I was able to connect with some long-lost classmates. Below is a picture of us taken in 1969 going to the 9th grade dance.  Beneath that is a recreation of the group, minus two.

1969 Beauties – Where am I in this group?
Fifty-three years later!

Travel Art Journal

This travel journal was one I made from a sheet of watercolor paper.  It’s the first one I made, and I cut it in the wrong spot. Oh well, it’s still useable as shown below:

Front Cover of the Travel Journal
Travel Journal for Walla Walla

New (to me) Art Supplies for Travel Journal

Frequently when traveling, I search the local Facebook Marketplace for deals on art supplies.  This time, I found a great deal on Lyra pencils, a pin of colored pencils, two sets of oil pastels (one water-soluble), and a sketch pad.  All this for $10.00 – SCORE!

I looked for ways for use them in my Art Travel Journal.

Historic Buildings

Last post, I wrote about the amazing houses in Walla Walla.  I tried to capture one of them in my travel journal. We walk by this house nearly every time we go for a walk.  I just love the landscaping. You can’t tell, but there’s a huge backyard with a creek running through it.

Not too bad of a rendition?

I also tried to capture the historic Liberty Theatre in Walla Walla’s lively downtown. The architect was German, and the style is reminiscent of the Jugenstil, the German form of Art Nouveau. 

This watercolor and colored pencil sketch got away from me and I’m not too happy with how it turned out. 

It’s kind of a mess

Animals

Our rental had a nearby rooster, affectionately named “Cluck Norris” I tried to capture him with the Watercolor and Ink on Japanese paper as well as another version using the water-soluble oil pastels on watercolor paper and trying a scraffito technique.

Cluck Norris – the neighborhood rooster

We also had a resident cat – Pat the cat.  She slept most all the time but allowed us to pet her.  I didn’t really do her justice with the colored pencil sketch. 

Pat the Cat

Artist’s Dates

I am a big proponent of Julia Cameron’s book, “The Artist Way.” In it she recommends creative people should set aside time each week for an “Artist’s Date” – time to enjoy creating or just time for fun and playing.

Julia Cameron’s Book, The Artist’s Way

I was able to get through one of Kelly Rae Roberts Artists Dates.  I made a “Rose” fairy.

Rose Fairy

Check out her website.  It is beautiful and she has freebies as well.

Kelly Rae Roberts’ website

What’s Next

I’ll be bouncing around Arizona for most of October. The two weeks in Sedona will be the most time spent in any one place. My next travel journal will capture the beauty of Sedona.

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2 Comments

  1. I’m loving your posts. We are closing on a house in the Spokane Valley area, almost in the Liberty Lake area. Now comes the excitement of furnishings and decorations. Your beautiful painting of the blue heron will proudly be displayed. I also have the perfect place for the wine picture I have of yours. It will be fun to find more pieces of art, we gave all our art we had collected before we retired to family members. Now I wish we had some of it back. Oh well, when the piece is right for us we will find it. Hopefully we will see you again, we will have a guest room available as soon as we buy furniture. Take care in your new adventure.
    Janice

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