Visiting the Palace of Versailles
Happy Summer! I can’t believe it’s August already, but thankfully I took some time off for a long vacation. When my client contract ended, I got out of New York and the States for some much needed rest and relaxation. I’m calling it my Euro tour, a month traveling through Dublin, London and Paris.
It’s fascinating how travel often helps me find my way back home creatively. In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron writes:
Art is an image-using system. In order to create, we draw from our inner well. This inner well, an artistic reservoir, is ideally like a well-stocked trout pond. We’ve got big fish, little fish, fat fish, skinny fish– an abundance of artistic fish to fry. As artists, we must realize that we have to maintain this artistic ecosystem. If we don’t give some attention to upkeep, our well is apt to become depleted, stagnant, or blocked.
As artists we must learn to be self-nourishing. We must become alert enough to consciously replenish our creative resources as we draw on them–to restock the trout pond, so to speak. I call this process filling the well.
Cost of living, overcrowding, and gentrification in New York can be really daunting, so spending time outside of the city has become crucial to my sanity. Traveling, for me, is one of the main ways I fill the well, getting out of my comfort zone, opening up to new people, places, and experiences. I also find that getting out of the US gives me better perspective on my work as it relates to the world at large.
I visited so many historical sites, like St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Book of Kels in Dublin; Tower Bridge and the Tate Modern in London; and the Eiffel Tower and Musée d’Orsay in Paris. I caught some great arts and culture events too, like the Africa Utopia conference in London and the Par amour du jeu (for Love of the Game) exhibit at Magasins Généraux in Paris.
Palais Royal (Paris)
The Panthéon (Paris)
Tower Bridge (London)
I’ve got many more pics and stories to share! Stay tuned.
Onwards and upwards,
