Why I Miss Traveling

by Shirl Riccetti

Honest, I am NOT whining. But truthfully... I DO miss traveling.  It is not just being at a dramatic location; it is the planning to arrive there.

I enjoy doing much research by scouring magazines and books, buying paper maps (yes!), navigating internet search, and then more research. It is the Fun of Getting There.  Once at a destination, I feel comfortable having an outline noting events, foods, buildings, etc. that I may want to see.     

My spiral sketchbooks, always at the ready, not only hold Pen Drawings, but also my jottings of the sounds and the smells which surround me. Each person carries a personal history and a special story; these can be shown in a “walk” or a “casual pose.” Old buildings leave “marks"; also, perhaps in markings found in the stones. In a semicircular stone stairway in a castle in Scotland, I could envision the hardship of maids carrying trays of food to the many floors (with no railings).

I draw with a pen of permanent ink because I want the sketches to capture my first impressions in that drawing moment; there is No Eraser, No Do-Overs.  And yes, there are many wayward unintended lines... so be it. My sketchbook is made up of average quality paper; later, some of the drawings will be re-drawn larger, on good quality paper, to be framed.
 
Yes, I miss traveling; the people-watching, the strangers, and even crying with some families as their loved ones fly away. These are the visual stories that I may never fully know, but they do impress me and my imagination greatly.