The Traveling Artist

....and how to let go of guilt if you don't lift a brush abroad

Hello Dear Ones,

Well, it's been a minute!

In between gawking at the roses and iris in my garden, I've been staring at my laptop trying to figure out how to share a month and a half of adventures without overwhelming us both. You know when you have so much to tell that you don't know where to start? That's me right now.

In the past 6 weeks I’ve bounced between three wildly different countries. Trips included teaching watercolor in the Caribbean, time with the fam in the UK and a true vacation in Italy--brace yourselves, I didn't visit a single museum whilst there. (I know, I know, pearl clutch).

My three-stop adventure tour:

· St. Lucia (wellness retreat where I was the painting teacher) Smelled like frangipani mixed with salt air—a scent I now know is pale yellow with edges of turquoise.

· England (family time + mandatory garden visits) Color recipes. Late afternoon shade under oaks: Payne's gray + raw umber + breath of violet.

· Italy (color palettes and outstanding carbs with Dan) I collected color and textures. I noted how laundry on Lucca's lines moves in unison on the breeze amongst the terracotta buildings. The light at 6pm turns every stone wall into gold leaf. I have notes. So many notes.

Now, since most of you know me for my love of painting, here's my confession, I barely painted during any of these trips. GAH! but hear me out, I’ve discovered something kind of wonderful.

Sometimes the best creative work happens when you put the brush down and just... notice things.

St. Lucia was a delightful surprise. Someone thought I'd make a good wellness retreat instructor (namaste!), so I spent five days enjoying the teachings of LEGIT wellness instructors and maybe becoming one in the process?! I jest, you know how I feel about the meditative values of painting and finding your flow within the creative process, so this really was a treat.

Teaching in St. Lucia

I had the honor of leading 2 watercolor workshops at Zoetry Resort in Marigot Bay, amongst the beautiful zen surroundings and incredibly lush foliage. Left a very soggy Hudson Valley, found Caribbean sunshine and some inner zen to boot. Not mad about it.

Video by Jasmine Dustin.

The UK was classic family time with my required garden pilgrimage(s). Arundel Castle gardens were so spectacular we completely skipped the castle itself because the weather and gardens surrounding it were sublime. Hit Wisley in May instead of my usual April visit and the rhododendrons were really giving it some welly. Of course I made sure to eat one of these on arrival. And yes, we absolutely stayed at The Running Horses pub in Dorking, because sometimes you need a proper Sunday roast and a bed that's just upstairs from the bar. Highly recommend if you’re in Surrey.

Winchester, Wisley, Arundel Castle & Gardens and The Running Horse Pub

Italy deserves its own newsletter (there probably will be one with all my recommendations), but let's just say Florence and Lucca were magical. Zero museums. Maximum prosciutto and gelato. I regret nothing.

Lucca & Florence

I've always dreamt of camping out somewhere gorgeous for a whole month, painting landscapes while sipping expressos and spritzes on my rental terrace, that’s not a reality just yet but I’m working on it! Typically I get a few paintings in when on a 1 week vacation, so…..

…I've created my own approach to traveling as an artist, one that lets me actually experience places instead of stressing about producing masterpieces on location. It involves a lot of observing, tons of photos (natch), some strategic note-taking, lots of sniffing of things and zero guilt about not painting every magical moment.

Between teaching watercolor workshops in the Caribbean, chasing light through English gardens and getting lost in Tuscan alleyways, I discovered that the secret to travel-inspired art isn't about painting on location, it's about building a sensory library.

I want to share my basic framework for gathering artistic inspiration while traveling:

My Travel Guide: 10 Simple Ways to Gather Inspiration

1. Hunt for Color Combinations Look for surprising color pairs you've never seen before. Maybe morning light makes a pink flower look orange. Or shadows that should be gray have purple in them. Write these down like recipes: "Beach morning: pink + tan + hint of blue."

2. Use all your senses Sit in a café /bar/ under a tree and write down what’s going on around you. What do you hear and smell, not just the surface sounds but the ones in the way back, same with layers of scent. How are people chatting to each other, whats something different in the culture from your normal day to day?

3. Make Texture Rubbings Last time I did this was as a student in Barcelona and got some great sketchbook pages. Put paper over interesting surfaces and rub with a pencil/crayon. Tree bark, stone walls, even tablecloths. Later, these textures will remind you how to paint different surfaces like rough castle stones or smooth tropical leaves.

4. Draw Simple Shapes Sketch just outlines, the space between palm leaves, the curve of a window, where the hill meets the sky. Don't worry about details. These simple shapes will become the backbone of your paintings.

5. Write How Things Move Make quick notes about movement. Palm trees might "sway like dancers." Roses might "bob their heads." Swallows might "swoop in long streamlined arcs." These notes help your paintings feel alive.

6 Match Smells to Colors This sounds weird but works. What color is the smell of ocean air? Maybe blue-green with white sparkles. What about lavender? Purple-gray with silver. Sometimes I make voice memos on my phone. These connections help you choose colors that are more meaningful to you, the artist.

7. Track the Light Write down how light changes: "7am: soft peach" or "3pm: bright white, no shadows." This helps you choose the right mood when you paint later.

8. Catch One Story Each Day Write one sentence about a moment that touched you: "The gardener stopped working to show me his favorite rose." These human moments can become the heart of a painting and take you right back to that good feeling.

9. Mood board When you get back and before memory fades, paint some color swatches of hues that remind you of the trip. Print out photos so you have tactile imagery to work from when creating. Make a mood board, whatever that means to you. It could be a sketchbook just for that trip or if you’re like me a full-on wall with bits and pieces stuck to it. I’ll share mine once I get my shit together and practice what I’m preaching here ;)

10. Take photos Paint it when you get home. It’s wonderful if you have the capacity to do it whilst you’re on your hols, but otherwise give yourself a break and do it later like I did here.

Month of May. I love you, but you give me sensory overload.

As an avid floral painter, no month makes me panic more than May. All my favorite flowers burst at once, giving me guilt over who to capture first. If I'm honest, I feel totally overwhelmed right now with all the projects I've half-started and the mounting piles of those I want to begin. There's the keeping up with social media, paid commission work, sharing my creative process—but also finding time to do the most important thing: create. I'm sure many of you understand that feeling of trying to get organized as a very small business owner and artist.

I've been documenting my gardening adventures in my Instagram stories. We came back to an overgrown backyard here in Hudson, and I've been wrangling it for the past week during mornings and evenings. There are so many flowers I want to paint! But first, I'm back in my studio, figuring out how to turn six weeks of sensory hoarding into actual paintings. Perhaps they'll have to wait until the iris, peonies, and roses fade...

Coming soon... Summer collection! Original paintings of the season. A new collection of 20 pieces—the release date is pending, but you'll all be the very first to know and will have early access to images of the pieces. If there's a subject matter you'd love to see me include, please drop me a comment and I'll consider it when making my mood board!

For my paid subscribers: I appreciate you all so very much, truly. I will be pausing payments for the next month since my letters to you have been fewer due to travel. Thank you for your continued support.

Sending love from my outrageously messy dining room table,

xx, Helen

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