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Friday, April 13, 2012

…catching up spring!

I looked at the calendar today and couldn't believe that it was already MID APRIL!!! Not, just April, MID April!  Seems like after a vacation everything speeds up for catch up!

A PEEK INTO MY TRAVEL JOURNALS...

Just returned from a sunny sandy vacation on the Florida gulf coast at Anna Maria Island.  It's my favorite place in the world, a bit of the tropics right in our own backyard.  It sure is a change of pace from sunless, gray and chilly upstate New York!

Driving around the island one day, it was a thrill to see an Easter flag that i designed years ago when i was licensing my artwork.  This house looked pretty fancy, so I was too chicken to go to the door and offer to sign the flag, LOL! I know, i should have.

It was a perfect trip. I came for the sun and sand and was there to paint!  Determined to bring limited art supplies, i made a promise to myself to create 1-2 pieces of art each of the 10 days we were there.  Armed with my journals, watercolor palette and a few brushes it was simple enough, and i did create 20+ journal pages on this trip.
 ...I like to bring a few journals, because i usually have more than one painted page going at once.

 This is my perfect vacation…eat, paint, beach, paint, sleep, REPEAT!  My bliss is morning coffee on the sunny deck with my paints and pages, filling the journals and absorbing the warmth and color around me.

 I love to paint.  There was no real plan to paint anything in particular, i just went with my colorful palette to just paint.  Watercolor doodles as a warm up got the paints and color flowing.
 …these pages can have journaling at another time...
 …brush to paper by the sea…….bliss...

 Capturing things around me with pen and watercolor...

...
 …the word "bliss" was speaking to me...
 …Adding words and journaling takes me back to the moments of tranquility while painting.  The journal pages feel exactly like the moment when it was painted.  Different from a travel photograph, when you paint or draw in a travel journal, you are putting yourself in a moment in time with pen or paints.  You are capturing the feelings of where you are, with your artwork which is drawn from a deeper place.  As you go back to the pages later, the artwork brings you back to those moments.  Maybe because your whole heart and soul goes into your art?
 …go to your bliss!!...
 …these pages hold words that take me back to moments.  Keeping a travel journal is a wonderful way to step back in time and relive a certain bliss and care free moments ...

 ...My heart and soul truly is alive and shines so bright at the sea…….
…until next year...

28 comments:

  1. Beautiful and inspiring as always. I love the wonderful effects you get with your watercolours. I really need to keep playing with mine to build my skills and confidence.

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  2. I love all your pages...just beautiful. As a MA girl in CO.....I love all the sea and beach pics!!!

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  3. I love how your beachy "bliss" art speaks to me Joanne. Growing up in So Calif and spending my youth at the beach your pictures take me back to that place in my life when things were so simple. All I had to worry about was ME. I love that you share these with us and the bright colors always make me soo happy <3 <3 <3 Thanks.

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  4. I wish you could see what these pages look like from my eyes, from someone who is paint-challenged. These are so inspiring ... bright colors make me happy. I enjoyed you explaining what it is like going back to the pages. And how fun for you to see your flag!

    Taking a workshop from you is on my short list :)
    Thanks for sharing your vacation pretties!
    -Molly

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  5. Wow! Just beautiful! Love your work, and you must to because it shows :)

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    1. i am so blessed to be able to do what i love, thank you!

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  6. I love seeing your bliss! Thanks for sharing so much of yourself with the world!

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  7. What a wonderful vacation--and you captured it perfectly!

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  8. I love, love these pages. Yell next year and maybe we can get together. Those of us who live in Florida appreciate it.

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  9. Beautiful pages. Glad you got away and enjoyed.

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  10. Joanne, I have a question for you. Although I so enjoy the thrill, the intensity, the bliss of my art and working with my paints - there are times when a day of creating leaves me completely spent. I know you did this over 10 days, so maybe it was just a peaceful journey, but wondering - do you ever have that creative exhaust?

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    1. What a GREAT question!!! I absolutely get "artist block" quite often. I guess it's like anything you do, that you love……sometimes it's there and other times it's not. The secret is finding ways to push past the dry spells and reinvent constantly. It's a great topic to discuss! Thank you…..

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  11. Joanne,
    I am so glad you enjoyed your trip. Your work is amazing as always. I love the way you make the watercolors so vibrant, it has given me permission to do the same.
    Kat.

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  12. Beautiful and inspiring, as usual! Glad you had a good time.

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  13. what fabulously vibrant, colourful pages, just what I imagine Florida to be like!

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  14. Sun, sand & surf...nothing better than that. You can see your love for it in these gorgeous pages!

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  15. I agree. The sea is inspiring. I love the sea and miss it very much. Have a nice weekend! Kind regards from Argentina!

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  16. Thanks for sharing your wonderful art journal pages with us!!

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  17. All I can say is wow! I want to vacation inside these pages!

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  18. I could almost feel the warm gulf breezes. Almost, parts of Maine are expecting snow on April 23! Your pages really inspire me! Thank you for sharing.

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