Quotes: Robert Louis Stevenson

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." 

–– Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), Scottish novelist and poet

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2023 p. 24. 

Quotes: Richard Osman

"You are simply a little lost, Donna. And if one is never lost in life, then clearly one has never traveled anywhere interesting." 

–– Richard Osman (b. 1970), English writer, TV presenter and producer, and comedian.

Source: Richard Osman. The Man Who Died Twice. London: Viking (Penguin Random House), 2021; p. 254. (Ibrahim Arif to Donna)

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022, p. 18. 

Quotes: Pico Iyer

"Travel is, ultimately, about those words that begin in "trans." Transport, transcendence, and transformation. It's not the sights that send one home a different person; it's something around the sights, between the lines, a moment when one forgets oneself, that sudden serendipity not to be found on any postcard or secondhand image." 

–– Pico Iyer (b. 1957) British-born novelist and essayist 

Source: Pico Iyer. "Why we must see the world for ourselves, now more than ever." The Globe and Mail. Saturday August 11, 2018, p. O4.

via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook 2018 f, 2018, p. 31. 

Quotes: Pico Iyer

"If travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it's a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end." 

–– Pico Iyer (b. 1957) British-born novelist and essayist 

Source: Alexander Bisely. 'How far do we need to go to find paradise?' The Globe and Mail, Saturday April 29, 2023, p. P4. Quote is from Pico Iyer's 1998 essay, Why We Travel.

Quotes: George Moore

"A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." 

–– George Moore (1873-1958), English philosopher 

via: Sketchbook 24, 2014, p. 137.

Quotes: Diane Arbus

"My favourite thing is to go where I've never been." 

–– Diane Arbus (1923-1971), American photographer 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 111.

Quotes: André Gide

"One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." 

–– André Gide (1869-1951), French writer 

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 38. 

Quotes: William Hazlitt

"I would like to spend my whole life travelling, if I could borrow another life to spend at home." 

–– William Hazlitt (1778-1830), British writer, literary critic and philosopher 

via: Sketchbook 22, 2013, p. 50. 

Quotes: Sibella Court

"Sometimes not finding what you're looking for when you're traveling means you stumble on something better. Keep an open mind." 

–– Sibella Court, Australian interior stylist 

Source: Sibella Court. Nomad: A Global Approach to Interior Style. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2011; p. 66.

Quotes: Doug Suisman

"Travel, experience, observe, draw. Creative urban design doesn't emerge from books or from the mind." 

–– Doug Suisman (b. 1955), American urban designer and architect 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 120

Quotes: Jane Jacobs

"By its nature, the metropolis provides what otherwise could be given only by travelling; namely the strange." 

–– Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), American-Canadian journalist, author, activist, and theorist 

via: Sketchbook 21, 2013, p. 66

Quotes: Kurt Vonnegut

"Strange travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God." 

–– Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007), American writer

via Sketchbook 17, 2012, 91

Halifax Street Art

Barrington Street Mural; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

While in Halifax this summer, a massive mural by Jason Botkin (b. 1974) caught my eye. He's an ACAD graduate who originally hails from Denver, Colorado and is now a Montréal-based artist and a co-creator and co-director of en Masse Collaborative Mural project. The mural overlooks a sad parking lot on Barrington Street directly across from the Grand Parade, formerly the site of a gorgeous old Birks building, torn down in the early 1980s to make way for a government building. The empty lot has been an eyesore for more than 30 years.

Barrington Blocks Ceramic Installation; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

This Barrington Blocks installation by NSCAD ceramics graduate Catherine Laroche, is interactive. The ceramic blocks are glazed with a different colour (orange, yellow, green, grey) on each of the four sides and rotate independently: they are pixels one can touch. The installation screened the aforementioned sad parking lot. 

Halifax poster detritus; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

And finally, a collage of chance.

Found Halifax collage

 Found collage; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Isn't it interesting that all the posters on this pole are black-and-white?

Different kinds of Halifax stars

Ship from Colombia; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

While vacationing in Halifax recently, I encountered all sorts of stars. This dignified ship from Colombia attracted a lot of attention. It was definitely the star of the waterfront for several days.

Stars on the Halifax waterfront pavement; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

If you looked down while walking along the Halifax waterfront, you'd see a family of sea stars (formerly known as starfish).

Found star; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

I found this star in Halifax too. Can you guess what it is?

Sandra Brownlee + string-making *updated 24/08/16*

Sandra Brownlee teaches how to make string; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

In July, Sandra Brownlee taught Susie Brandt and me how to make string, a technique that Sandra learned from India Flint, who learned it from Australian visual artist Nalda Searles. Earlier that week, Susie Brandt taught me how to make rope (more about that in a future post). 

Sandra Brownlee's string ball for Warren Seelig; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Sandra is making this ball of string for Warren Seelig. He wants it to be B I G.

Once home from Nova Scotia, I practiced making string while standing at my kitchen counter. I cut up several tea bags and got to work, making a fine string. It took a few tries before I found my rhythm. While cleaning out my studio, I found fabric strips leftover from a rug-hooking project that I undertook while I was a Sheridan student. The results are similar weight to that of the above ball. I am grateful to Nalda, India, and Sandra for passing on this skill.

Turkey Vulture

Turkey vulture; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Every summer my husband and I visit Niagara-on-the-Lake for a picnic in the park. On our way home we took a different route (okay, we were slightly lost) and a bonus was seeing a trio of Turkey vultures that each appeared to be the size of a Smartcar. Holy schmoly, look at this guy's beak! They really were scary-wonderful.

Does it spark joy?

Asian leaf; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

This leaf is twenty-years old, collected while I was living in Singapore. I found it nestled in an old address book while sorting through my dross during a Marie Kondo moment.

Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up entered my life in early 2015 and it has changed my life, but not in the way that Marie Kondo intended. Yes, I have a better curated bookshelf. I removed those books that didn't "spark joy" and replaced them with new books that do. I've managed to keep one space in my office clear of paper clutter to balance the messy areas. Unlike Kondo, I love paper and books and notebooks and sketchbooks. They hold ideas and knowledge. Claudia from Proper Tension and I have had several conversations about stuff and Marie Kondo. We are both makers and need a certain about of material to work with. Going Zen and minimalist will not work for what I do, but too much clutter is a liability. It's a fine balance not easily achieved in my work spaces. 

Read Austin Kleon's response to the book here.

Portland, Oregon: The Arthur

The Arthur Door; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

While walking around Portland, Oregon in August, this coral and striped door caught my eye. It's a first indication that the Arthur is a hip and happening place. Originally built as a hotel in 1912, the Arthur is now a modernized community-oriented apartment building featuring 50 micro-studios.

The Arthur; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Even the sign was given special treatment with its own font.

My tired mahogany front door needs a make-over and the punchy coral with stripes gives me ideas. I've taped paint chips to the door and have until spring to audition colours and view them in varying light conditions before it's warm enough to paint. My mail carrier is probably amused by the continuously changing constellation. I see a trip to the Benjamin Moore store in my near future: my door craves (hued) chips!

San Francisco colour + Poetic Memory

Painted Lady on Divisadero; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

My new Poetic Memory series is taking shape and I'm looking at colour in new ways. Colour palettes for previous textiles were along the lines of the above Painted Lady.

Doors in the Telegraph Hill neighbourhood; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Poetic Memory has invited me to venture into new colour territory and I've been playing with paint, collage, and some textile piecing to see the colours interact and to learn how to work with them. The two greens of the above doors are part of the new palette; the peach is not.

Leucadendron in Pacific Heights; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Leucadendron is my favourite flower and I was excited to see it growing in a garden a short walk from our hotel. Here in Canada I've only seen it in cut form at my local florist. The above image with its various pinks, greens, and greys epitomizes the Poetic Memory palette.