book tour in watercolor – connecticut sky

Here's the backstory:

I recently met Jane LaFazio, a San Diego-based artist who was teaching in Western North Carolina, and staying in a bed and breakfast just across the street from my house. Because she would be there on her birthday, I traipsed over with a postal service priority box covered in wrapping paper, along with snackies and a tiny cheesecake topped with candles. And a copy of Creative is a Verb for her, since her beautiful art can be found on page 146.

We sat on the floor and talked and laughed for hours. At one point, Jane looked at me and asked, "Do you paint?"

"I used to all the time," I said. "But I don't any more."

"Why not?" she asked.

A simple enough question.

I continued asking myself that very question over the next few days. Is it because I'm not skilled at it, or don't have time or the right materials or the right space or, or, or…?

Isn't this what my new book, Creative is a Verb is all about? Moving past the obstacles? Past the comparisons, past the diminishments ("Oh, it's just a doodle" or "I've never done watercolor before so it's not very good.")?

So I signed up for an online class Jane is teaching, and our first assignment came the day before I left for this book tour. As I work through the class, I'm also capturing an image or images of each stop of my tour in watercolor. I've never done watercolor before so (and here's the reframing) I'm having a blast figuring it out!" WATER IS POWERFUL!

I hope you'll enjoy these daily posts of my art journal through this tour. Like writing, it is forcing me to see what is there, not what I think is there.