Travel
From a visual standpoint, it's about looking, seeing and perceiving. Travel is an interesting idea because we are actually traveling all the time, to the grocery, the post, through landscapes and past seascapes.
The question is not so much about place as it is about perception. I have a friend in Florence Italy, the place I would like to travel to, who says that Florence is not so interesting to her. Been there, done that. She wants modernity or modesty; either the sophistication and convenience of a sleek, skylit, spotless bathroom where every flush is accurate and a deep-dish tub whirls bubbles into a tired structure - or - a landscape void of human presence, vast and clean - a place where there's space - where the wind sweeps miles of ancient grasslands into patterns and the road goes on and on unhindered.
We discuss our differences. How can I take the Ferry to Seattle every day and not see the beauty and novelty of it all? How can she pass by 12th c structures and marble statues with barely a glance?
Perhaps we can travel to our own lands through the eyes and experiences of others. Showing someone around, learning things about the area we didn't know before, slowing down to take photos.
Painting and drawing help us see through new eyes. Though this does not guarantee revelation, it certainly challenges the eye-brain-hand to observe, absorb, translate, record and understand information in a new way. I can feel the dendrites extending.
One of my favorite exercises when I teach Art Appreciation at Olympic College is a self-observation exercise testing our awareness of time-space-distance-orientation. Close your eyes. Imagine leaving the classroom and going home. See the route in your "mind's eye", every block, stop sign, turn, etc. Open your eyes and draw a map of your route home, to scale. (It's the "to scale" part that is difficult for those who use surface and highway). One thing always stands out. Newcomers often have an easier time because they have had to pay attention, look at maps, become aware.
Leigh Knowles Metteer
Knowles Studio and Gallery
The question is not so much about place as it is about perception. I have a friend in Florence Italy, the place I would like to travel to, who says that Florence is not so interesting to her. Been there, done that. She wants modernity or modesty; either the sophistication and convenience of a sleek, skylit, spotless bathroom where every flush is accurate and a deep-dish tub whirls bubbles into a tired structure - or - a landscape void of human presence, vast and clean - a place where there's space - where the wind sweeps miles of ancient grasslands into patterns and the road goes on and on unhindered.
We discuss our differences. How can I take the Ferry to Seattle every day and not see the beauty and novelty of it all? How can she pass by 12th c structures and marble statues with barely a glance?
Perhaps we can travel to our own lands through the eyes and experiences of others. Showing someone around, learning things about the area we didn't know before, slowing down to take photos.
Painting and drawing help us see through new eyes. Though this does not guarantee revelation, it certainly challenges the eye-brain-hand to observe, absorb, translate, record and understand information in a new way. I can feel the dendrites extending.
One of my favorite exercises when I teach Art Appreciation at Olympic College is a self-observation exercise testing our awareness of time-space-distance-orientation. Close your eyes. Imagine leaving the classroom and going home. See the route in your "mind's eye", every block, stop sign, turn, etc. Open your eyes and draw a map of your route home, to scale. (It's the "to scale" part that is difficult for those who use surface and highway). One thing always stands out. Newcomers often have an easier time because they have had to pay attention, look at maps, become aware.
Leigh Knowles Metteer
Knowles Studio and Gallery
Labels: art, artist, Knowles Studio and Gallery, Leigh Knowles Metteer, new, travel
