One of the things that excites me, (besides art of course), is going on trips. For me, traveling and painting go hand in hand in many ways. How, you ask? I put my thoughts in writing here for you. I invite you to prepare something delicious to drink, and dive with me.
Since I was a child, trips in Israel have become an inseparable part of me. When I was little I was sent to the Society for the Protection of Nature in order to instill in me an appreciation for our beautiful country. My mother said in her own words that because she had not traveled the country as a child, she wanted to give us a chance to do it ourselves. Along the way, I learned environmental protection, respect and appreciation for nature.
As a family we would travel a lot - me, my brothers and my parents - even to unfamiliar places. Sometimes for one day, sometimes for half a day, and sometimes for several days in a tent. Even when we were really small and when my mother was pregnant. As much as possible, we would travel.
Even in the army I found myself connected to nature in a certain way. I enlisted as an ornithologist - one of the most unique positions in the IDF. I learned everything there is to know about birds, I researched and worked with them, I discovered that I enjoy watching them, and to this day this love accompanies me and sticks in my family as well.
Today, of course, I continue the tradition and instill the love of nature together with my husband Doron (who really happens to be a mentor), to our children. We travel a lot, making sure never to return the same way to earn more travel time. Sometimes I ask Doron not to tell me where they are traveling today so that I can be surprised.
Why am I going for a walk?
You would expect me to say that I travel in Israel to
That's why if you invite me on a 'back belly' trip I will politely decline. There are so many interesting places to see! And I always want to travel and discover.
As for the elusive inspiration, I believe that going out into nature and hoping that it will land on me out of nowhere will not help at all. We create inspiration by paying attention to the details around us.
Traveling is a bit like painting
wait, what?
The truth is, it's quite simple.
Painting is a process that starts even before I even start painting. I wrote about it in my last post right
So, the trip too and I enjoy every part of it:
Planning the trip - think of an interesting place; Have we been there already or not, has someone in the family not been and others have? Is there a water source, a forest, wild animals, is it far or close? All these build the excitement
The road to the trip - on the way to the destination the landscapes change, you often see birds and wild animals as well. There is a certain calmness, focus, less fiddling with the phones and a conversation often arises that is intertwined with landscapes, nature, and an upcoming adventure.
The arrival - there is something about getting out of the car as soon as you reach your destination. To look at the place for the first time, to see if it has changed since we visited it last time, if at all, or to understand for a moment where to go if it is a new place.
The route - whether it is a museum, an archaeological site, a national park. The thought that the natural or urban landscape hosts us, allows us to become a part of them, brings interest and depth to the whole experience. This is the time for me to start absorbing, connecting to the story.
To connect with the story - everywhere we go there is a story. Every place where people once passed has a story. Personally, it excites me to imagine the real people who passed through these places hundreds and thousands of years ago, so historical places and stories are more beloved to me. Every dive into the past connects me to the place.
There is a lot of fun in the trips; In the view, in the beauty, in the experience, in the walk, in the family, friendship, couple formation. But as you probably already understood, the story is what moves me the most. A fantastic legend, a historical story, the thoughts, feelings and hopes of those who stood in the same place where I stand now or felt towards him.
As an artist and painter, my imagination is always working, I always think on a physical, concrete level and on the level of imagination. I see something in front of me but I also immediately manage to imagine a lot of elements related to it.
The story of the platform in the port of Jaffa
In the port of Jaffa there is a concrete step like this, which most people don't bother to pay attention to, and step over it as if it were another simple step. But in truth, this step has a significant part in history.
It has been used since the beginning of the 20th century as a berth from which passengers arriving by ship to the port would disembark. While to others it looks like a square block of concrete, I imagine in my mind the women in the big and luxurious dresses and the men in suits, whose foot meets the stable piece of land for the first time, after a shaky journey in the sea on the way to the Holy Land and just before they realized that the fine and thick European clothes are not suitable for the Mediterranean climate.
This is not just a simple block of concrete, but the hopes, emotions, feelings of real people and that is exactly what moves me and motivates me to create. The intention is not that I paint the historical scenes that I imagine took place in the places I visited, these are the stories that ignite my imagination and motivate me to create.
These places and the feelings associated with them; I can see and feel all of them and create from them. Not only to paint a London aristocrat walking outside her ship to the port of Jaffa for the first time, but to connect with the emotions she must have felt in those moments; The discovery, the joy, the connection to the spiritual place. In these moments I thank my developed imagination and the ability to build worlds first and foremost, on a blank canvas or a sheet of paper.
I'm interested, what drives your imagination? Do trips inspire creativity in you too? Tell me in the comments or on
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