Category: Books by Me

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Brenda Swenson was dissuaded from being an artist time and again when she was growing up, but her passion ultimately won out. Now she is a professional artist, an author, and a teacher who leads fantastic sketchbook workshops, helping others discover and  believe in their talent.  And she loves to travel and fill her sketchbook with juicy watercolors.    

Brenda shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“One day I saw a billboard. Go to school to be a professional artist. Wow, I could be an artist! Right away I told by my step-mom. I know what I am going to be when I grow up. I am going to be an artist! I was abruptly told that’s much to difficult find something else. I was crushed.  The only thing in me that felt special wasn’t good enough. I was ten years old..…” (continued)

Please don’t forget to check out Brenda’s blog.

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Nina Johansson lives in Stockholm so even the most mundane things she draws strike me as exotic. She is an amazing watercolorist and urban sketcher and I have learned do much from studying her work.

I hope you’ll enjoy what she has to say in her video chat and in the book. Here’s an excerpt:

“I find that drawing a place makes it more mine, no matter where I am or how long I’m staying. When I draw a street corner in my sketchbook, I take a little piece of this place home with me. All these little pieces end up in my bookshelf, as a collection of all ”my” places in the world. It’s not a greedy kind of ”mine”, it’s a grateful kind, I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to visit and share all these places with the people living there…” (continued)

Please don’t forget to check out Nina’s blog.

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

 Chris Buchholz has been on a wild adventure over the past few years, giving up his life as  a designer in Pennsylvania to move to the Dominican Republic and take up missionary work. A dramatic life change that results in a lot of gorgeous sketchbook pages. 

He’s back in the States now and he chatted with me about life and art.

Chris shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“For me, my sketchbook is the ultimate passport. When I’m traveling with my sketchbook in hand I seem to slide easily into cultures and conversations. When I’m drawing, the locals seem to let me into their world, accepting me as if I were one of them. This self-issued passport, the sketchbook, is what gets me into the “heart” of the place; into the dining rooms, front porches, hidden alleys, and into the most  fascinating conversations..…” (continued)

Please don’t forget to check out Chris’s flickr feed.

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Lisa Cheney-Jorgensen is a graphic designer and teacher of all things journalish in Idaho. She inspires and mentors so many people and I love her own work too.

Lisa shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“I recall very clearly the advice my father gave me when I was being discouraged not to follow my dreams once again. He said, “Honey, do what you love to do. Because you are going to do it for a long damn time! You may not be rich or famous, but you will have enough money to be happy and will love waking up each day.” I keep that nugget of inspiration with me even now. I promptly moved…” (continued)

Please don’t forget to check out Lisa’s blog.

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Roz Stendahl has been my mentor, teacher and friend for many years. She knows more about everything than anyone, is an amazing artist, and a wonderful, vivacious spirit too. I hope you love our chat as much as I did.

Roz shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“I draw when I travel for the same reason I draw all the other times I can’t stop myself from drawing—because something catches my eye and grabs my interest. I want to remember it; I want to savor it; I want to understand it just a little bit better; I want to acknowledge what I just saw.  At the same time all this is happening, when I’m drawing there is also a physiological change within me when I draw. I am more calm, more alert (hyper alert), and filled with wonder. Drawing activates a direct switch to my sense of wonder. I feel that to draw something or some place is to ask questions about that subject—how is it made, why was it made, what does it stand for, how was it used, or how does it live in these circumstances? (That last is something I ask as I draw pigeons the world over.)..…” (continued)

Please don’t forget to check out Roz’s blog. And often.

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Fabio Consoli has inspired me almost more than anyone else in the is book. (At least this month).  I love the style and wit in his pages, his adventuresome spirit and his incredible bike trips to exotic places in Africa. Plus, he’s Italian!

After you watch our chat, don’t forget to check out his travel blog.

Fabio shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“When I look at an old notebook full of drawings I made in Madagascar, I’m almost able to smell the aroma of Africa, yes, for me Africa has its own smell and forest sounds. I’d like to imprint them in my notebooks forever, this is why I often use food or fruits like coffee, wine, soy sauce, some fresh herbs, berries or tomatoes for coloring. Thus is some way, even for a short time, I can put the smells into my drawings, this gives my moleskine a nice garbage smell..…” (continued)

Here’s the next interview with the contributors to my new book An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Like me, Jean-Christope Delfine is not a professional artist. He’s a businessperson and a family man.  BUt when he hits the road, man, he makes beautiful things. He loves to experiment with media and I am especially fond of his experiments with kraft paper. See more on one of his blogs.

J-C loves Tintin as much as I do and he hast taken it a step further. Every trip he takes with his family is turned into the cover of a Hergé style book.

Here’s a little film tour of them hanging on his apartment wall in Paris.

And here’s  a link to a blog he has set up devoted to this work

Jean-Christophe shares a lot more in my book. Here’s an excerpt:

“I draw mainly because I need it: it makes me happy and it’s a way to absorb intensely all feelings while away from home and try to record them. It’s also a way to better understand life in a country. Drawing things pushes you to analyze details and understand why life is different here. It tells you a lot of things you wouldn’t even notice at a simple glance or with a snapshot. If you are drawing a rickshaw, you’ll see that under different layers of blue paintings an old rusted framework hides. You’ll notice the old wooden pedals handcrafted, the patched hood and the worn towel on the handle bar to wipe out sweat. You immediately understand how much love and effort are needed to run this heavy engine on a daily basis.…” (continued)