Why We're Doing This

I wish I could say we have one unified and glorious reason we wanted to do this road trip, whether to raise awareness for some cause, raise money for some effort, or to just raise the ghost of great vacations past, but the truth is we're doing this for none of those things and yet all of those things and more.

As artists we look for and find inspiration in the people and places around us; we especially understand how important it is to have access to the arts in education as a means to express ourselves and/or document our world in our time.  As professionals our productivity and skills directly translate to marketability and increased client audience . . . aka: our ability to pay the bills.  And if we can find a way to have fun while working then huzzah!

The road trip idea was conceived when I (EAJ) was invited to attend a workshop in Roseburg, OR about the same time friends were discussing what countries to travel to for the next big adventure vacation.  Although a trip to Belize or London or Brazil would be nice, I realized I was excited to see Oregon for the first time; my artist-friend Jose had a list of his own places in the US that he hadn't seen yet, either.  We decided to make the journey out to Oregon a true working adventure: we'd paint and sketch our way across the country and back again, generating work or designs for pieces we'd sell after the trip; at the risk of sounding overly maudlin or cheesy: we'll see America, and America will see itself through our eyes.

We don't know how this trip will turn out.  If it's a positive experience we're already discussing changes and improvements to what we hope will be an annual adventure, including adding a charity component each year; if it's a negative experience . . . well, Jose and I each have our contingency bail-out plans and a promise not to egg each other's houses.  Either way, we're excited to start this journey and hope you, dear reader, will enjoy traveling with us as we blog, photograph, and sketch our way across the US.

No comments:

Post a Comment