Travel, throughout the history of art, has always been meaningful to artists. Off the top of my head, I can not think of any who did not travel. Study and exploration of our art is always a part of our artistic story. Picasso said, “We paint to teach ourselves to paint. If we knew what a painting was going to look like in the end, we would have no need to paint it.”
This weekend, I travel back to a place that’s been extremely meaningful to me in my life as an artist: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I’m not on vacation … I’m on an artistic journey.
In 2005, I spent a summer studying art in Mexico, and it changed me as a painter. It was an amazing time; I could truly dive into the art, sun up to sun down. I wrote poems about art, read art books and copied down all the quotes that I found meaning in. My teachers in Mexico encouraged me not to paint what I saw but to paint what I feel. That was huge, and to this day the bright colors, strong brush work, and boldness of imagery resonates with me, and shows in my work. It was how I wanted to paint and in Mexico I found the ‘permission’ to paint how I wanted to and the guides to help strengthen my craft.
It is the goal of an artist to have freedom in their work, a unique sense of how deeply personal a experience is — whether it be a person, place, or emotion — then to freely express that in my interaction with the art. There are people who think realism is the mark of a great artist. I disagree: It is the mark of a great renderer, but creativity is more personal, and it is far more difficult for most artists to abstract.
As I return to Mexico — which, in many ways, was where it began for me as an artist, as I had my first show after I returned from that trip — I will be focusing on freedom in my work and making it as deeply personal as I can.
I invite you all to come along. You can join my adventures in Mexico virtually through this blog and via my Facebook page by clicking here.
Class hasn’t started, but I spent the day wandering this beautiful city, where many artists have settled. I see why: whimsy, color, characters and celebration abound. I can’t put my camera away. I have limited myself to only my iPhone to make photo art with; I wanted to simplify and force myself to use it as an instrument for making images. I am not a photographer, per se, I’m an artist that makes images with my camera.
Tomorrow we begin to paint, and my mind is full of inspiration. After spending the day filling my mind with images, I’m excited to explore them with my true love, making images with paint. When I close my eyes, I see the city’s colors, sounds, smells and images. Like a volcano ready to erupt, I’m a painter ready to explore what my eyes and soul have seen.
Stephanie Schlatter Art 