A conversation with Chris Buchholz from “An Illustrated Journey”

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

 Chris Buchholz has been on a wild adventure over the past few years, giving up his life as  a designer in Pennsylvania to move to the Dominican Republic and take up missionary work. A dramatic life change that results in a lot of gorgeous sketchbook pages. 

He’s back in the States now and he chatted with me about life and art.

Chris shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“For me, my sketchbook is the ultimate passport. When I’m traveling with my sketchbook in hand I seem to slide easily into cultures and conversations. When I’m drawing, the locals seem to let me into their world, accepting me as if I were one of them. This self-issued passport, the sketchbook, is what gets me into the “heart” of the place; into the dining rooms, front porches, hidden alleys, and into the most  fascinating conversations..…” (continued)

Please don’t forget to check out Chris’s flickr feed.

A conversation with Lisa Cheney Jorgensen from “An Illustrated Journey”

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Lisa Cheney-Jorgensen is a graphic designer and teacher of all things journalish in Idaho. She inspires and mentors so many people and I love her own work too.

Lisa shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“I recall very clearly the advice my father gave me when I was being discouraged not to follow my dreams once again. He said, “Honey, do what you love to do. Because you are going to do it for a long damn time! You may not be rich or famous, but you will have enough money to be happy and will love waking up each day.” I keep that nugget of inspiration with me even now. I promptly moved…” (continued)

Please don’t forget to check out Lisa’s blog.

A conversation with Roz Stendahl from “An Illustrated Journey”

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Roz Stendahl has been my mentor, teacher and friend for many years. She knows more about everything than anyone, is an amazing artist, and a wonderful, vivacious spirit too. I hope you love our chat as much as I did.

Roz shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“I draw when I travel for the same reason I draw all the other times I can’t stop myself from drawing—because something catches my eye and grabs my interest. I want to remember it; I want to savor it; I want to understand it just a little bit better; I want to acknowledge what I just saw.  At the same time all this is happening, when I’m drawing there is also a physiological change within me when I draw. I am more calm, more alert (hyper alert), and filled with wonder. Drawing activates a direct switch to my sense of wonder. I feel that to draw something or some place is to ask questions about that subject—how is it made, why was it made, what does it stand for, how was it used, or how does it live in these circumstances? (That last is something I ask as I draw pigeons the world over.)..…” (continued)

Please don’t forget to check out Roz’s blog. And often.

Three Years after Pink

“Tickled Pink” by Kevin Kling

At times in our pink innocence, we lie fallow, composting waiting to grow.
And other times we rush headlong like so many of our ancestors.
But rush headlong or lie fallow, it doesn’t matter.

One day you’ll round a corner, your path is shifted.
In a blink, something is missing.
It’s stolen, misplaced, it’s gone.
Your heart, a memory, a limb, a promise, a person.

Your innocence is gone, and now your journey has changed.
Your path, as though channeled through a spectrum, is refracted, and has left you pointed in a new direction.

Some won’t approve.
Some will want the other you.
And some will cry that you’ve left it all.
But what has happened, has happened, and cannot be undone.

We pay for our laughter.
We pay to weep.
Knowledge is not cheap.

To survive we must return to our senses, touch, taste, smell, sight, sound.
We must let our spirit guide us, our spirit that lives in breath.
With each breath we inhale, we exhale.
We inspire, we expire.

Every breath has a possibility of a laugh, a cry, a story, a song.
Every conversation is an exchange of spirit, the words flowing bitter or sweet over the tongue.
Every scar is a monument to a battle survived.

Now, when you’re born into loss, you grow from it.
But when you experience loss later in life, you grow toward it.
A slow move to an embrace,
an embrace that leaves you holding tight the beauty wrapped in the grotesque,
an embrace that becomes a dance,
a new dance,

a dance of pink.”

It’s three years today since you left, Pandy. I will always miss you.

A conversation with Fabio Consoli from “An Illustrated Journey”

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Fabio Consoli has inspired me almost more than anyone else in the is book. (At least this month).  I love the style and wit in his pages, his adventuresome spirit and his incredible bike trips to exotic places in Africa. Plus, he’s Italian!

After you watch our chat, don’t forget to check out his travel blog.

Fabio shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“When I look at an old notebook full of drawings I made in Madagascar, I’m almost able to smell the aroma of Africa, yes, for me Africa has its own smell and forest sounds. I’d like to imprint them in my notebooks forever, this is why I often use food or fruits like coffee, wine, soy sauce, some fresh herbs, berries or tomatoes for coloring. Thus is some way, even for a short time, I can put the smells into my drawings, this gives my moleskine a nice garbage smell..…” (continued)

A conversation with Jean-Christophe Defline from “An Illustrated Journey”

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Like me, Jean-Christope Delfine is not a professional artist. He’s a businessperson and a family man.  BUt when he hits the road, man, he makes beautiful things. He loves to experiment with media and I am especially fond of his experiments with kraft paper. See more on one of his blogs.

J-C loves Tintin as much as I do and he hast taken it a step further. Every trip he takes with his family is turned into the cover of a Hergé style book.

Here’s a little film tour of them hanging on his apartment wall in Paris.

And here’s  a link to a blog he has set up devoted to this work

Jean-Christophe shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“I draw mainly because I need it: it makes me happy and it’s a way to absorb intensely all feelings while away from home and try to record them. It’s also a way to better understand life in a country. Drawing things pushes you to analyze details and understand why life is different here. It tells you a lot of things you wouldn’t even notice at a simple glance or with a snapshot. If you are drawing a rickshaw, you’ll see that under different layers of blue paintings an old rusted framework hides. You’ll notice the old wooden pedals handcrafted, the patched hood and the worn towel on the handle bar to wipe out sweat. You immediately understand how much love and effort are needed to run this heavy engine on a daily basis.…” (continued)

A conversation with Earnest Ward from “An Illustrated Journey”

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Earnest Ward has had a unique career glide path. For a decade, he was a professional pilot. Then he became an art teacher. Travel journaling combines both those branches of his life. He is an avid traveler and makes his trips a family affair —  his wife and children are all artists in their own rights and they all draw together. Earnest’s work is beautiful and carefully observed. He has wonderful lettering skills and loves intense stippling. We had a lovely chat and he shared many of his techniques.

Earnest shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“I have always been fascinated by a sense of place and culture. I grew up on the tales of Marco Polo, Lewis and Clark, Thomas Moran, Alexander von Humboldt, National Geographic, and films like “I Know Where Iʼm Going.” So, the attraction of distant places and exotic vistas was, I think, quite logical, if not inevitable. Like a child, Iʼm still in awe of the world around me. I believe that weʼve only discovered a fraction of the things the world has to offer. I believe that — when we each discover something that is new to us — we become the First Discoverer, no matter how many people have made the same discovery before us. I try to learn something new every day and to render it in my sketchbook or journal. I travel to discover new places Iʼve never been. And I travel so I can look at home with fresh eyes upon my return….” (continued)

(See more of Earnest’s work in the book and on his blog and his website).