Art on the Go
Artistic and crafty assignments for travelers
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan. It’s definitely one of my favorite places in all of New York City, and the area I frequently stay when I visit. When I lived in New York City many moons ago, I rarely went to midtown. I was a student (in graduate school) and midtown catered to the working world. I did go to Grand Central Station frequently as I’d take the train out to Connecticut to visit my sister, but in general, I roamed all the other neighborhoods for my NYC energy, not midtown. Fast forward to today, and I can’t get enough of midtown Manhattan. It fuels me with energy. I’m convinced it’s because of…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Doodle
The Art of Doodling I’m sure you’ve done it many times before. Scribbling in the margins of your paper in a boring meeting, or while listening to a long lecture. Many times are doodling is just simple mark making, some squiggly lines or a few shapes. Sometimes we doodle more representational items, a heart, a house, a tree, a rainbow. In general, when we doodle we don’t give much thought to the final outcome, let alone what we are actually drawing. Doodling is a passive creative act, a way for us to “space out,” yet did you know if has many benefits to our health and creativity? Studies have shown…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Amusement Park
With Spring Break in full force around the US and many folks hitting up amusement parks, I thought it would be fun to come up with some creative ways to explore an Amusement Park! In my Wanderlust Los Angeles book, I actually have a chapter on Amusement Parks, as they make up a big tourist aspect of LA as well as have a really interesting history. I’ll share more about that in future posts, but in the mean time, let’s get creative at an Amusement Park! Daily Creative Wanderlust Prompts: Amusement Park Monday – Draw a map of your dream amusement park. Tuesday – Use wild filters on photos from a trip to…
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Creative Community: Art Bias Open Studios
I’m super excited to announce I have recently joined the Board of Directors at a local arts organization called Art Bias. This non-profit organization is true to my heart. Their mission is to not only provide affordable studio space for artists (in the San Francisco Bay Area this is HUGE), yet also their goals is to promote community by providing resources and opportunities for artists to grow and thrive! The Art Bias mission is to be a community where artists have access to the resources and opportunities they need to thrive. We provide affordable artist studios, professional development events and resources, exhibition opportunities, and a thriving community of artists interested…
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Let’s Build a Creative Community
As many of you know, I’m passionate about building community. Whether in person or online, I couldn’t have made it through this last few years without community! The word community can be a loaded word and mean many things depending on context. For me, community is about people coming together and sharing experiences – and in particular in my case, creative experiences whether that be making art (drawing, painting, collaging) or through words and exploration (storytelling, learning new skills, trying new things and travel, of course!) Creativity is a very large umbrella in my mind and definitely doesn’t have to involve actually making art. I find, though, being with others…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Spring
For many, especially those in colder and darker climates in the Northern Hemisphere, the arrival of spring is literally a breathe of fresh air! More light in the sky, birds chirping, blossoms blooming, and new life everywhere. For others, though, the passing of a new season may just seem like another week. This can sometimes be the case for me, as I live in a temperate climate, where the change of the season is not nearly as noticeable. Instead of letting the change of season pass me by, I’m going to celebrate spring time with a week of creative prompts. My goal is to be more mindful of the change…
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Learn How to Draw a Pot of Shamrocks – 20 Minute Free Art Lesson
I love shamrocks! They remind me of not only spring time, but also my mom! Every March, she would bring home a pot of shamrocks for my siblings and I to put in our room. They are a simple yet fabulous house plant to have (for all ages), as they are extremely easy to maintain. They grow and flower very quickly which can be very satisfying for those without a green thumb. Hunting for a four leaf clover in the bunch was always fun too- as I am confident it definitely brought me good luck! To celebrate spring, follow along with my step by step, 20 minute art lesson as…
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Seeing Green in Ireland and Northern Ireland
It only takes a few moments upon arrival in Ireland to realize why the country is nicknamed the Emerald Isle. Green is everywhere – vibrant, refreshing, rich greens, in every hue. One of my favorite creativity prompts while traveling is color. It’s such a simple idea, yet can truly open your eyes to seeing so much more than you expect when you explore a location! The goal is to choose a color in the morning before you head out, then when touring, be on the look out for it. When you see it, take a quick picture on your phone. At the end of the day, you can create a…
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Come Explore Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way with Creativity!
Come explore the rugged coast of Ireland and learn how to capture and paint a layered landscape of the Wild Atlantic Way! We will focus our tour on the Dingle Peninsula where we will explore the small port town with its colorful buildings and fishing boats. Then, we will “drive” along the coast and paint the stunning rugged coastline dotted with cottages, sheep and historic sites. This online class will begin with a “virtual trip” to Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way where I will share with you loads of inspirational photos of the area. Following we will discuss a tried and true technique for making inspiring landscape art, then we will…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: GREEN
This week we will be inspired by the color GREEN! Yes, as simple as that. Picking a color is truly one of my favorite kinds of art prompts. It may seem too simple, but trust me, you can make it as complicated (or not) as you like! When my kids were young, I used a color prompt all the time when we were traveling. I’d ask them to pick a color that morning before we headed out to tour around. The instructions were basic, when they would see the color, they would snap a quick picture. It could be nature, scenery, an object, something someone was wearing, food, whatever they…
