Because it was a trip of many transitions with many places to go to, I needed to pare down my art journaling supplies. Here is what I ended up using on the go.

I kept a written record of nearly each day in my Documented Life journal. The calendar base was made before the trip. I also used a small Moleskine watercolor journal to document the cities we visited and some of my most meaningful places. The little Celtic reference journal was used as a reference for lettering and Celtic knots drawn along the way. My trusty old travel watercolor palette came in really handy, and two brushes with water in them. My used paper towel once again shows that I cannot seem to paint without a paper towel on hand. My drawing and writing supplies were: pencil, white eraser, pencil sharpener, Copic Multiliner Pen set, and two Pitt Faber-Castell pens, a "C" calligraphy and an XS, superfine. I found these were all I really needed to record in my watercolor journal and write in my Calendar Journal, along with my phone camera. My iPad was a luxury to paint from, but sometimes the airdrop wouldn't work so I just used my phone as a photo reference.

When busy going from place to place, sometimes its hard to figure when is a good time to work in my journal. I found the transition time on trains and planes were good times to write what happened that day, look through my photo reference, and draw in pencil in the watercolor journal. Then in the evenings when we took a bit of a break, it was a good time to get out the pens and paints.

We took two long airplane trips and a bus shuttle to reach Glasgow. Before we left I had been praying and asking God what to look for. The sentence, "Look for secrets and signs in plain sight," immediately came to mind. We got to Glasgow and saw hot pink banners hanging from the lamp posts that said, "People make Glasgow." Well said. People make any place meaningful in one way or another. That message is still with me as I am now home. We each have choices and make a difference, just our presence, and especially how we treat people. I am humbled. The kind man at the check in desk let us in early to our room where we were able to take a  nap before going next door to our first Scotland pub dinner.

We had a chance to walk around the downtown of Glasgow. It was a great introduction to the UK. Here is a photo and my interpretation in the little watercolor journal:

In the middle of our trip, we met up with our daughter and Son-in-Love. To read about their travels and see her art travel journal visit: 

http://atravelingtwo.blogspot.com/

YOU ARE INVITED TO:

The Oregon Open Studios, Washington County Artists on October 18-19th from 11 am - 5 pm, seemed like the perfect opportunity to invite you to participate in the "Door of Gratitude" and discover a key of your own. In addition, there will still be prints, cards, and artwork available for purchase, and of course the famous cookies some are counting on, but now you get to participate even more! I am excited and hope to connect with you!

18 & 19 October 2014  |  11am-5pm

TOUR WASHINGTON COUNTY & VISIT ARTISTS’ STUDIOS

A project of the Washington County Art Alliance

Here's a link to the Open Studio blog site that has an article telling some of what you can expect when visiting my studio. http://artiststudiotoursofwashingtoncounty.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-chat-with-valerie-sjodin-mixed-media.html

Photo by Heidi Helser Photography©