This will be my third year as part of Tangie Baxter's Art Journal Caravan - a year-long journey in to the world of art journaling. I'm really excited that Tangie has created the 2013 Caravan with the theme of World Exploration. I have envisioned the idea of A Grand Tour for myself - a journey with no end of possibilities.
Traditionally an extended Grand Tour of the ancient cities of Europe was a way of completing a classical education. It was a chance to see places you had only read about in books. In the Victorian age it became possible for even an ordinary person to travel to the farthest corners of the earth. If you were inspired by the adventures of such renowned explorers as David Livingstone and Richard Burton, you could experience the wilds of South Africa. Why, it was only a steamship ride away and, just like that, extraordinary worlds waited at your fingertips. With the journey of a few weeks it was possible to sip tea on a terrace in Darjeeling or gaze at Mt. Fuji from the balcony of your hotel room in Tokyo.
I will use my journal as a way to explore undiscovered worlds, examine new ideas, expand my horizons. I will try new techniques, play and experiment, tell stories and document my thoughts along the way. At the end of the year I will have a visual journal of my discoveries. I can't wait to be off on my first adventure.
