Creativity on the road

I love the adventure of travel. Getting out of the studio and experiencing color, light and texture in 3D. A chance for a new perspective and fresh inspiration for color stories.

My favorite way to travel is a road trip. I love that moment when I back out of the garage and a world of possibility is ahead of me. Setting my own schedule and being able to detour when inspiration strikes. Long or short, road trips are a great way for me to refuel and find new creative energy.

Occasionally I will pack up a whole bag of art supplies and take the studio on the road. I did that a few years back when we adventured from Portland OR to Portland ME. Five weeks of moving from city to town, state by state. As we stopped to charge the car, I pulled out my portable studio and painted while enjoying the fresh air and new surroundings. It was a great way to mix up my creative practice and work within the bounds of the supplies I had packed.

When we stopped traveling for the day I wheeled in my studio bag and setup a space in the hotel to finish the painting I had started earlier in the day. It was an amazing way to live, travel adventure all day with a chance to paint and capture color stories.

Prior to this road trip I had been painting randomly, without a clear direction of what I was creating and the story I was trying to tell. While on this trip I discovered a new way to create. A way to bring a collection of work together by way of color stories. It was on this trip, while I was away from the studio, that the whole concept of color stories and the collections they inspire were born.

It changed work I do for the studio and brought more depth into the work I create. It is possible that I would have come to the color stories without the travel, but opening up my world allowed me to open up my creativity. I will always be grateful for the travels I have taken and the adventures they have brought to my life.

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to jump in the car for another road trip. This time it was two weeks in the beauty of southern Utah. The color stories blew my mind. Every where I looked there was a dynamic range of tones and textures. It was one of the best color adventures I have had.

As I captured image after image (I ended up with hundreds of photos) I knew that the depth of texture and color would come together for a new collection. I am still working on pulling the colors together for the story, but here is a look at the first take on the palette for this collection.

The deep reds and oranges with the contrast of the purple shadows and light neutrals is a palette that intrigues me. I haven’t worked with a color story like this before  and I can’t wait to start mixing colors. Once I get the color story finalized, I am going to experiment with different tools to move and scrape the paint to create the depth of texture that you see everywhere in the Utah landscape.

Look for a Utah collection coming later this fall. Now I just need to dial in the color story and a name to capture the intense beauty discovered on this road trip adventure.