Category Archives: travel

and we’re off!

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If you’ve been following me on twitter, instagram, or facebook, you’ve likely noticed some references to some serious travel this year. Well, today is the day. Steve and I are on a plane, headed to Bangkok – the first stop in a four month journey.

yes. four. months.

A little crazy, but this is something that we’ve been pondering and semi-planning for for several years. In fact, we were gearing up to take this very trip in early 2011. But in 2010, Drywell Art was accidentally born, and needed my attention.

Now the little business is a toddler and can stand on its own for a bit. While we’re gone, Drywell Art is in the very capable hands of my number one fans, my parents. They’ve been shipping out art like champs, and everything in the two shops will run as usual. Please compliment them on the high level of customer service they are providing, with daily drops to the post office. They are the absolute best.

To say that this trip is a dream would be an understatement. (Bu quite honestly, the stress it has caused in getting tickets, preparing our home for a subletter, and turning over Drywell to the folks has sometimes seemed more like a nightmare.) But now that I’m safely at the airport, with seat assignment in hand and a belly full of ramen and sake, I couldn’t be more excited.

In the upcoming months, our travels will take us throughout Southeast Asia, including Thailand, VIetnam, Malaysia, Laos, Bali, and SIngapore, as well as Japan and then on to Europe for some Croatia, Turkey, Italy, and Belgium action. If you’re headed to any of those places, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line and we can try to meet up. Oh, and suggestions are always welcome. Let ’em rip.

And as I keep reminding myself, this isn’t a vacation, but rather a journey. As such, I’ll be a busy bee, painting with my travel watercolor set, scheming, and thinking of new ideas for Drywell Art. Oh, and eating an obscene amount of street food. If you want to follow along, I’ll be posting here on this blog, as well as on Instagram, Twitter, and Flickr. So will Steve.

And we’re off.

Retreat to Move Forward

Took a break from the activities at Camp Mighty this weekend to do a little actual work. But when work involves drinking a Mirror Pond Pale Ale and sketching in the Amigo Room at the Ace, it’s not so bad.

 

 

Bienvenido a Mole!

Adios muchachos, we’re taking a pre-holiday rush vacation to beautiful, land-locked Oaxaca. No beaches, but there will be plenty of mole (7 varieties, to be exact), mezcal, and mountains. Not to mention the scores of artisan villages in the Oaxacan Valley.

Piñas de mezcal horneadas

Piñas de mezcal horneadas, photo by Eugenio Fernández Vázquez

 

Hoping to get some much needed relaxation before the exciting holiday season, which for me this year, includes TWO art shows. (More on those later …) My Spanish is high-school-level-limited, but I know how to ask for tacos and beer, so I think we’re all set.

Oh, and if you want to see some of our adventures, follow me @ilovedrywell or Steve @oddapt on Instagram for what are sure to be jealousy- and drool-inducing snaps.

turkey bound

Bosphorus! Photo by Rick Poon of www.alamodejournals.com

No, that’s not a clever new way of trussing poultry. This week I’m taking off to Istanbul for a much-needed vacation. One of my friends and former co-workers is temporarily working out of Istanbul and was kind enough to invite me to come and visit! Free suite and 10 days in Turkey with a fellow food-obsessive? Yes, please. (Our kebab crawl is already booked)

So many spices!! Photo by Rick Poon of www.alamodejournals.com

I haven’t traveled internationally since our honeymoon over 2 years ago and have been getting the wanderlust heavy in recent months. There is something about the novelty of a new country and the anonymity of travel that is not only incredibly inspiring, but even feels necessary to me from time to time.

Professionally, I’ve been feeling in a bit of a rut lately. 2012 has provided numerous opportunities in the way of client work, which is very flattering and interesting, but has honestly made me feel a bit out of balance. There’s been no new art created for Drywell in over 6 months. Insane.  So along with my walking sandals and scarf for head-covering while in mosques, I’m also packing my watercolors and sketchbook. Now if I can just befriend a Turkish butcher to teach me Turkish meat parts….

Oh, they might do. Photo by Rick Poon of www.alamodejournals.com

Oh, and the shop will remain open, but any orders placed will not ship until after June 1. Heads up!

Blogging it Forward

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hello new people!

I’m psyched, like everyone else, to be participating in this Blog It Forward Mashup. (Um, Victoria, this is awesome.) Victoria, AKA sfgirlbybay brainstormed this idea with a couple of other creative types over Twitter, and asked for participants. Thanks for including me and spending the ridiculous amount of time coding everyone’s info. Thanks also to Kathryn at Dream a Little Dream for her great post yesterday, and be sure to check out Dwell Deep who will be posting on Monday.

It’s been pretty interesting to think about what inspires me in life and in my art. There are like a million things, but here are the top(ish) ones.

1. When I travel to a foreign country, I head straight for the grocery store.

IMG_8083Fresh beer bar in Hanoi, Vietnam

If I had unlimited money there is no doubt that I would travel all. the. time.

guard hut at interview siteGuard hut at Tham Hin refugee camp in Thailand

I’m not so much into typical sightseeing when traveling, but am more interested in experiencing how people in other places live. Typical travels will always include rambling in residential neighborhoods, grocery shopping (in supermarkets and fresh markets both) and plopping down in local restaurants where no one speaks English.

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The Fancy Lifter game at an arcade in Tokyo. Yeah, I can’t explain it more than that.

Traveling is inspiring to me not only because of the visual excitement, but also because it forces you to live in the moment and pay attention to the details in the world around you.

IMG_8082cool tile pattern

sidewalks in Hanoi, Vietnam

street art, hanoi

street art in Hanoi and jamon iberico in Barcelona

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Sidewalk in Mae Hong Son, Thailand and detail of a shrine in Hanoi

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puppy and Singha. together at last

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Art at Buddhist temple coffee house in Mae Hong Son, Thailand. Close up of tiles at Buddhist temple in Bangkok.

2. Eating food makes me want to draw, and drawing food makes me want to eat.

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L to R, T to B: Roadside gai yang in Thailand, Dungeness crab and cardoon salad at Commis in Oakland, cheese plate in Rome, mango and sticky rice in Thailand, Mangosteens and a Mangosteen valentine.

As my daily drawing project MEAT SECTIONS probably indicates, food is clearly an inspiration.

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some daily drawings from my blog MEAT SECTIONS

And drinks too. (They can also, can help with the creative process)

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Illustrations of a beer from The Bruery and a cocktail from The Alembic

I also love food packaging. One of our kitchen walls displays a bunch of food packaging (mostly from the aforementioned foreign grocery stores)

They are an excellent source for color palettes too.

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3. People saying “f*** it all” and doing what they love

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Screenshot from Michel Gondry’s “Science of Sleep”, via We Heart It

There is nothing more inspiring than someone basically saying “fuck it all” and doing what they love, even if it is a huge risk. In fact, the bigger risk, the better.

Stories of people learning what they love and then actually doing it, like the people interviewed in Po Bronson’s “What Should I Do with My Life?” are so exciting. I’m not a big life-lesson-touchy-feely-person but this life is all we know we have in the world and well, I’d like to make the most of it. There is so much planning and caution in most people’s lives that it is invigorating and often necessary to take a leap and do something outside of that plan. I feel like I did this when I quit my government attorney job last year. My husband is naturally one of these “necessary risk taker” types and has inspired me to be more so. (We even included this concept in our wedding vows…)

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cover art for Neutral Milk Hotel

Creative people who have chosen a life they want to lead, and are flourishing in their chosen paths are just endlessly inspiring. And the weirder and more wildly creative they are, the better. (See filmmakers like Wes Anderson and Michel Gondry, musicians like Neutral Milk Hotel, Sunset Rubdown, and Owen Pallet, and chefs like Grant Achatz, Anthony Mangieri, and Peter Chang).*

5. SAN FRANCISCO

view of San Francisco from Sausalito ferry

And finally, the natural beauty and incredible creativity present in this city is a constant inspiration to do more, and do it well.

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Pizzeria Delfina, one of my favorite places in the city.

As much as I love traveling, this is now my home.


My feet, my street.

Thanks so much for stopping on by, and be sure to check out Dwell Deep on Monday!

*I also have a soft spot for former lawyers who went on a different path, like the Zagats (of the Zagat guide), Matisse, and Kandinsky.

All photos are from me, unless otherwise indicated