BOOK: "Inspired by Travel" a Fine Art Colouring Book
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This is a colouring book of some of the pieces I have painted during my travels, particularly to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. It hadn’t occurred to me to publish a book of my art, never mind a colouring book, until my friends started encouraging me. I was aware of the popularity of colouring books, and the idea of a book of drawings and paintings with stories began to develop in 2020, during the summer of the pandemic.
Other than colouring these drawings, I hope that you who use this book enjoy reading the stories about what inspired me. It was during my world travels for the Subud Spiritual Association (www.subudcanada.ca) when I was on the world council from 2001–2005 that the desire came to draw and paint places and people that I saw on my travels. Retired and tired of cold, dark, and wet winters, I left my home in Canada every winter until the pandemic in 2020.
Guatemalan Girl on a Rainbow Blanket
This drawing was inspired by a girl I was introduced to on a trip to Guatemala in Central America, south of Mexico. I met Marlene while visiting Pop Atz'iak, a weavers' co-op that was a Mayan NGO (non-profit), located in the western highlands. My friend, Sheila Reid, had been integrated into the co-op and was supporting them in setting up education and women's programs, funded from Canada. I was privileged to meet many weavers' families and to hear their stories of suffering during the civil war/genocide of the 1980s. That was the beginning for me of more visits to Guatemala, Chiapas in Mexico (the home of many more Mayan people), and other rural areas of Mexico. Many of my paintings were a result of visiting those fascinating places.
As for Marlene, we know she was raised by a single mom who earned her living washing clothes. We know she was able to complete her intermediate level of school with Pop Atz'iak scholarships, but we are not sure of her direction after that. We know that she and her family are still living at Pop Atz'iak.
Although I had travelled to many countries, I chose Mexico because I could work outside almost every day. I had heard of San Miguel de Allende, where many artists have found inspiration and that became a base from which I travelled. My favourite places were the small, colonial towns where I could imagine life as it was in the past. I was also inspired by the lives and art of both Indigenous and Latin American people.
In San Miguel de Allende, I exhibited at the Bordello Gallery and Galeria San Francisco. I also discovered the Urban Sketchers and was motivated to join artists from around the world to draw on the streets. I was impressed with the beauty and spontaneity of the drawings done on location (en plein air) and I loved the feeling of being in “the zone” while drawing out of doors.
My hope is that the reader will enjoy looking at the art, reading the stories, and colouring the drawings. Perhaps the readers will even begin creating their own drawings, and telling their personal stories!
Here are some of the drawings!
