Extend The Vacation Feel

The Cliffhanger, St. Maarten, Dutch West Indies, watercolor on paper.

 When on vacation, it’s always nice to have a souvenir that serves as a pleasant reminder  of your time away from the hubbub. Usually that means T-shirt purchases, special photos taken while away, acquiring post-cards or a special something picked up at a nice gift shop. All are fine and pursuing those acquisitions can certainly be a fun activity in themselves. However, might I also suggest another fun activity? Create some artwork.
When I travel I always take along art materials in the hope that I’ll be able to spend some time creating something I (or someone else) will consider worthwhile. More often than not the materials I choose are watercolors, professional watercolor markers, artist quality ink pens and acid free paper. It’s surprising how much of the above can be packed away in luggage (carry-on included) and not take up any noticeable space.
After arriving at the designated get-away, the art materials can then be tossed into a backpack, beach bag, messenger bag, etc. (whatever the preferred carry-along) and taken with you as you enjoy your destination. Then, when the chance to sit and soak it all in presents itself, whip out those art materials and create a treasured keepsake, inspired by the surroundings, that will be enjoyed for years to come and will probably even become someones favorite heirloom.
The ink and watercolor painting accompanying this blog was done while my family and  I visited a beach on the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten. Time had been spent snorkeling, swimming and gathering beach glass and next it was time to chill. Out came my watercolors, ink pen and watercolor paper. From my spot on the beach I did an artwork as seen to my left as I sat on the beach, and one as seen to my right. Not only did this provide wonderful souvenirs from that time in the beach, but it also provided enhanced memories of that time. One of those works is now in someones private collection, the other hangs in my house continually reminding me of yet another wonderful vacation experience. As a side note to that beach painting time, I still have some sand from that beach in some of my paint colors. Even that brings back great memories every time I use those paints and see that sand.
Keep in mind when creating vacation artwork, one does not need to be a professional artist. All that is really need is to have the place to create artwork and the materials with which to create it. Just because a professional artist packs professional quality art materials, those are really not needed at all. All one really needs are materials that amount to things as simple as paper and pencil and those can be found (more often than not) at the destination. Do a drawing on the hotel stationary that is available in hotel rooms. Drawing on the side that has the name of the hotel on it will only add to the souvenir attraction to the artwork.  Once upon a time I did a beach scene on a small admission ticket to the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas. It has been in a frame ever since and it brings pleasant memories every time it’s viewed.
So the next time a you find yourself enjoying a favored vacation destination, and wish to extend the vacation feel, do so via artwork you’ve created on-site while away. Chances are you’ll be glad you did… and even more glad as time separates you, more and more, from that pleasant vacation experience.

~ John Essex II is a retired art teacher, a two-time Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow and an Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. He is also artist/owner of EssexArt ABC, LLC through which he keeps busy creating his own fine art, creates commissioned art, does caricaturing by commission and at special events, conducts private painting parties and is contacted regularly to play the bagpipes (yes… play the bagpipes). Essex also maintains an online print-on-demand store where patrons can acquire gallery quality giclée prints of his art as well as other products that feature his work.

Find it at: https://society6.com/essexart

To view what Essex does, and/or to shop at his online store, go to: https://www.facebook.com/EssexArt,

https://society6.com/essexart,

http://www.indyartsguide.org/artist/john-essex-ii/

 

A Lasting Impression

Icon of Jesus, 11″x 14″, prismacolor on illustration board. Something I am interested in is Orthodox icons. I’ve been involved in a few icon painting (writing) workshops with a local Indianapolis based iconographer, Mother Katherine, who is a Nun associated with the Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church in Indianapolis. She does some fantastic work with the traditional medium of egg tempera. Since I enjoy working with Prismacolor artist color pencils, I decided to paint (write) an icon in that medium. Interestingly enough (to me at least) some of the earliest icons were done with wax and pigment, which is essentially the ingredients Prismacolor color pencils.
This icon is now in the possession of my son and his wife. I gave it to them as a wedding present. They were getting married in Ohio and I was in Indiana where almost all of my family resides. At the time of their wedding my late Father was going through chemo and radiation treatments and consequently was not able to attend the wedding. Before the wedding I took the icon to my Father, told him I was going to take it to Ohio give to the newlyweds and asked him to say a prayer over it. He did and in doing so, even though he could not attend the ceremony in Ohio, has made a lasting impression on what occurred there. 

~ John Essex II is a retired art teacher, a two-time Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow and an Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. He is also artist/owner of EssexArt ABC, LLC through which he keeps busy creating his own fine art, creates commissioned art, does caricaturing by commission and at special events, conducts private painting parties and is contacted regularly to play the bagpipes (yes… play the bagpipes). Essex also maintains an online print-on-demand store where patrons can acquire gallery quality giclée prints of his art as well as other products that feature his work.

Find it at: https://society6.com/essexart

To view what Essex does, and/or to shop at his online store, go to: https://www.facebook.com/EssexArt,

https://society6.com/essexart,

http://www.indyartsguide.org/artist/john-essex-ii/

Art Is The Flower

Late this summer I came upon something from which I knew I was going to have to create a painting. A sunflower growing from a tree stump. It was such an unusually beautiful sight that I had to take a picture as a reference for the painting I immediately knew I had to do.

Later it dawned on me what underlying message I captured with my camera. The world we live in can often be rough and ugly… but art still grows from that rough ugliness

~ John Essex II is a retired art teacher, a two-time Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow and an Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. He is also artist/owner of EssexArt ABC, LLC through which he keeps busy creating his own fine art, creates commissioned art, does caricaturing by commission and at special events, conducts private painting parties and is contacted regularly to play the bagpipes (yes… play the bagpipes). Essex also maintains an online print-on-demand store where patrons can acquire gallery quality giclée prints of his art as well as other products that feature his work.

Find it at: https://society6.com/essexart

To view what Essex does, and/or to shop at his online store, go to: https://www.facebook.com/EssexArt,

https://society6.com/essexart,

http://www.indyartsguide.org/artist/john-essex-ii/

 

Some Quiet Time With A Pelican

A blast from my past.
This 11″x 14″ ink and watercolor pencil was the result of a trip to John’s Pass, Florida near Madeira Beach and Treasure Island.

One early evening, while vacationing with my family in Treasure Island, Florida, I took my pad of watercolor paper and pen and went across the south bridge to John’s Pass.  Going by myself, I was intent on drawing something though I knew not what. At that time there was a neat little cafe with a Jamaican feel to it across a small street from the backside of the shops on the south end of the boardwalk. Since it was a place I liked, that was the direction I gravitated in my search for subject matter.

Upon arriving in the general area I thought would provide something interesting to draw, I spied this pelican. It appeared to be wanting some quiet down time like me, but I was wanting to draw… and it seemed interested in posing (at least to me). And so we danced.

There we both were, away from the hubbub, under the boardwalk below the shops on a pleasant Florida evening, one observing, one being observed. The pelican didn’t seem to mind me doing this sketch but I still sat with minimal movement so the quiet time we both had could be preserved… and I didn’t want to scare the pelican off. Being able to do the entire sketch on the spot, I added the watercolor pencil back in my hotel room.
Some quiet time well spent.

~ John Essex II is a retired art teacher, a two-time Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow and an Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. He is also artist/owner of EssexArt ABC, LLC through which he keeps busy creating his own fine art, creates commissioned art, does caricaturing by commission and at special events, conducts private painting parties and is contacted regularly to play the bagpipes (yes… play the bagpipes). Essex also maintains an online print-on-demand store where patrons can acquire gallery quality giclée prints of his art as well as other products that feature his work.

Find it at: https://society6.com/essexart

To view what Essex does, and to shop at his online store, go to: https://www.facebook.com/EssexArt,

https://society6.com/essexart,

http://www.indyartsguide.org/artist/john-essex-ii/

By the way, though the above Treasure Island Pelican is not currently available as a print, but other prints by Essex can be acquired at:
https://society6.com/essexart/s?q=popular+prints