theTravelsketcher

Capturing the moment is what travel sketching is all about, I have many travel memories from the time I was not sketching, I know a sketchbook would have made them even better.

The Dog & Doublet Inn was the scenario for one of my most cherished travel memories, stumbled on by chance and fortuitous travel challenges. It is a “Grade 2 Country Pub” in Sutton Coldfield, UK. Grade 2 is a distinction of its historic importance, Grade 1 is highest, Westminster Abbey is a Grade 1, so its distinction as a classic historic pub speaks to its construction not the quality of service, which was perfect. When your stereotype image of a British Pub kicks in, this place is it.

In my early years as a seminar speaker I went to the UK frequently; this trip was at least my third. On this particular trip I arrived in London on Saturday to allow for some time-zone adjustment before a Monday seminar for Fred Pryor Seminars. Their travel department contacted me on Monday to tell me she was having trouble finding a hotel for me in Birmingham, where I would be later that week. Birmingham is a big convention center for the UK and there was some huge event going on that week. One thing I learned a long time ago is not to panic over such things, they have a way of working out, this one worked out better than imagined.

Most often over the years when there are shortages of hotel rooms it just means you end up staying at a more dumpy place, or a place further away. My call the next day, remember this was before international cell phones were the norm, informed me that she had found me a place, with multiple apologies for its location, twelve miles out of town. Not a worry, that is why they have taxis.

When I arrived at the Marston Farm Hotel, on Bodymoor Heath, I was already thrilled. The place lived up to its name, it is actually in the middle of a huge farm. This was quite a few steps up in quality, not down, Marston Farm is listed in Johansens, only premier inns make the cut. 

After checking in it was time for food. There is a white-tablecloth restaurant on premises but I am usually a pub sort of guy so I inquired as to what was nearby. He told me, “Just go across this path about a 100 yards and you will come to a canal, turn right and walk about a quarter of a mile and you will come to a pub – The Dog & Doublet. It was a delightful ramble on the pathway beside the canal passing narrow canalboats tied up to the side of the canal.

There were plenty of locals, a good sign, with quite a group of us international travelers mixed in. I ended up with some wonderful folks in a small anteroom next to the bar, we talked, drank, and ate all evening. The room was cozy so we took turns moving to the edge of the bar to eat. I remember Germans, French, Brits, and Americans laughing and talking – a night I will never forget, I must get back one day. 

Why do we travel? Jimmy Buffet said, “We do it for the stories we can tell.” My experience is that most of the best stories are serendipitous, they defy planning. Over-planning a trip diminishes the spontaneity that is necessary for wonderful surprises to happen. So travel light, plan just enough to get you by, and always carry a sketchpad.

What a week – Tampa Bay/Brady win the Super Bowl and another impeachment trial is underway. BUT the really big news is that I got a new fude pen and travel brush set, now that is newsworthy.

Started off the week remembering that last year at this time we were in final preparations for a trip to France. The purpose of the trip was to find a place to live when we moved there in July of 2020, well… we all know how that worked out. Bien sur! we still had a wonderful time. A sketch of cherry trees and the Loire River seemed right.

Sunday watched the Super Bowl, ate nachos, black-bean dip, and Tricia’s guacamole – her guac is so good, almost as good as her photos. My new fude pen arrived that morning so a quick try was in order. Then a few flowers to test both the pen and the brush.

Friday we took a drive up north, we stopped for a quick (outside, COVID style) visit with my mother, then headed up to Chuckanut Drive and the Oyster Bar, one of our favorite places in the world. Here is a view from there on a foggy day, done with a limited pallet of only ultramarine blue and sepia.

My current read is The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs by Tristan Gooley, full of amazing info about our world – I now know about “roche moutonée” and “thigmomorphogenesis.”

Finished the week with John Muir and dreaming of mountains.

Hope you are well, and sketching. Looking forward to the virtual workshop and book club that is starting on 24 February. Stay safe,

Last week I started a new sketchbook sketching flowers on the table, moved on to an Eastern Bluebird from a photo by Eunice Miller at Folsum Mill Studio, then of course something from France, Eglise Notre-Dame-sur-l’eau in Domfront, Normandy

Recently we watched The National Parks: America’s Best Idea by Ken Burns then I read the book Two in the Far North by Margret Murie. Margret and her husband, Olaf Murie, were instrumental in the formation of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. So my mind turned to National Parks and the Arctic. First came an acrylic on canvas of Joshua Tree National Park, then a couple of sketches of the arctic.

I finished the week off having coffee outside at Cafe Louvre in Edmonds. It was a good week, I am looking forward to spring and the chance to get outside more.

In the seventh grade (1962-63), at Dale J. Ickes Junior High, my science teacher was Mr. Hughes, one of those teachers that it is impossible to ascribe enough praise. He opened the door to the wonders of biology and the world around us beyond what anyone could expect of a seventh grade class or of 12 year old students. The projects we took on in the after school science club were beyond what most high school students have ever done.

The classroom project I remember most clearly was when we went outside, crossed the fence into a field behind the school where we each staked out a 12” square piece of land. Our project was to identify the life in that square. We collected plants, mostly grasses, we captured bugs, when it rained and there were puddles we collected water samples in petri dishes and studied the microorganisms under a microscope. Back then that was called “ecology”, the word had not yet been attached to political movements; to this day I am fascinated by flora and fauna.

BUT the science club work I remember the most, that was so far beyond the seventh grade, involved doing lab-prep work on a variety of species. I am sure in this protective culture of today he never would have gained approval for the things us 12 year olds accomplished. 

Mr. Hughs had a connection with the Portland Zoo. If an animal died naturally at the zoo he was often able to get the carcass; I have no idea how, but it was amazing. Then a group of us, about five or six as I remember, would skin the animal and tan its hide. We would clean the skull as a lab or museum would do – we were seldom bothered by anyone, especially the principal, as the aroma of a monkey’s skull boiling to soften the tissue so we could then spend hours cleaning the skull drove most folks away. We cleaned skeletons, did measurements, and journaled. I worked on: a monkey, an African lion, a bobcat, and a small bear. When I moved on to high school a lifetime in science was all I wanted. (Mr Hughes contacted me and one other friend of mine asking if we would come back to help him with a project: sadly a young elephant had died at the zoo, he had the opportunity to have it, but after we had left the school few interested or experienced budding biologists filled our place. Sadly I had to say no.)

All it took was one year of a 5 hour, 105 Biology for Biology Majors class at Portland State University to stifle that enthusiasm. Most of the class was chemistry, some dissection of dead things (I must admit the feral pig was interesting), yet there was nothing about studying actual plants and animals, the one thing I dreamt of, so I moved on.

It was all good though, I spent 25 years traveling the world, seeing cities, people, and nature that I never dreamed of. Along the way I became a sketcher. What I understand now is that my interest was in being a naturalist not a biologist – John Muir should have been my idol. I wish I had know the difference then.

At my age there is no room for “I should haves.” But there is also nothing that keeps me from my naturalist pursuits today. As theTravelsketcher the destinations that interest me the most are natural sights not iconic tourist traps. Small villages with an environment of their own, mountains, oceans, and lakes all make a trip worth while. Even our passion for eating locally is a form of learning about the environment we are visiting. I have spent many evenings in hotels and B&B’s sketching a leaf or flower I picked up during the day.

So in these late years of my life I find I have returned to that long smoldering ember that Mr Hughes lit, now, with the time of retirement, it burns a bit brighter.

Travelsketching has and is all about discovery and capturing the moment while traveling. Le Confinement has broadened my perception of travel, it has taken me to a number of new destinations for art and sketching, and since new destinations are what travel is all about it has been quite a journey. My last blog theTravelsketcher with clipped-wings explored some of the new sketching voyages I have enjoyed.

Thanks to the book Nature Obscura by Kelly Brenner a  wonderful new sketching venue opened up this last week. My parents suffered through my interest in science from an early age, smelly chemistry experiments, and collections of all kinds of critters, with their own fragrances. This book delightfully stimulated my still active curiosity about the nature that is all around us, even in the city.

Half way through the first chapter Kelly’s description of Anna’s Hummingbird moved me to grab my iPad to search for a photo of the only hummingbird that is a resident here all year, not migrating. Next I opened my sketchbook and started sketching Anna’s Hummingbird. As I read on I learned about moss, muskrats, mountain beavers (not beavers), moths, and more. Frequently I sketched something that related to what I was reading.  My new sketching venue – read a book on some interesting topic – nature, travel, food. Then sketch your way through it. 

What do you think of doing combination virtual workshop and book reading group in January, based on Nature Obscura? We spread it over 4-5 weeks, read a bit, do a sketch, and then a one hour virtual workshop each week. If there is enough interest I will work on details.

I still have a couple of chapters to go, but here are the sketches so far.

This is Marsh Island near the Seattle Arboretum, home to many muskrats, truly fascinating critters.