The painter Robert Henri said, "Every brush stroke is a record by the artist. It records a time, a place, and the energy of the artist."
Like a Travelers camera, which captures a record of their time and space, Artist Jim Swanson will make his own record of the journey with a brush on canvas.
This Blog is about traveling with friends all over the world and telling it in paint. It's about two shared journeys between friends. It's about one friend being a Traveler, and the other friend is the Artist Jim Swanson. They travel two totally different roads and mediums to reach the same place. The Traveler will be taking the normal route by train’s planes and automobiles and Jim will take his by brush, paint, and canvas. The object is to take a world journey in paintings, stories and making new friends along the way.
With today's technology and Web, the 6 degrees of separation have never been so true and easier to do. We are communicating on a level never before seen in time. So how come, when you run into an old friend and ask "what's new?" They always seem to say, " you know, the same old." But when you ask them, " have they been anywhere lately?" they get a big smile on their face and have a great story to tell about their travels.
Who is or can be the Traveler? Anyone the Artist knows-a family member, close friend, or friend of a friend, a business acquaintance, or someone the Artist just met and became friends with, and also through this blog at theArtistandtheTraveler@gmail.com .The Traveler's journey will take place all over the world, from Timbuktu to Kalamazoo. On vacation trips, business trips, day trips, and even trips just around the corner. All seen threw many different eyes, and cameras, and retold through one, Jim Swanson's eye.
The Artist - Jim Swanson is an award winning Oil painter and Pastel artist, to see Jim's art go to www.jamesswansondesign.com/paintings. "I will be painting the world from my studio with the help of my friends. With paints, brushes, and the sights and stories of the Traveler, I will create a painting for that journey. The process of the painting will be recorded here on this blog, along with my Artist comments and the Travelers tale along with any tidbits of information I can come up with, kind of a travel log in paint."
How the project will work. Jim will receives images from his friends the Travelers, which will be in photographs and digital files of places he has never seen before, but will one day visit. The images will be collected, and stored with the interview of the Traveler about their travel experience. Then the Jim will create a painting from what he has absorbed from the Travelers journey. For the images and small souvenir from the trip - like a postcard, or brochure the Traveler will receive a print of their painting, along with credit for their trip on the painting, anything else this journey leads too.
Artists Notes: " So find me! If you have a great place you've been and have a story to tell I want to see and hear about it. Just as the Traveler plans his trip, this Artist will be planning his. This is the start of a long and painterly journey. Join in this new experiment in art, and learn some things about art and oil painting along the way. "Happy Trails " as Roy Rodgers used to say, I'm off to Portland Oregon to meet up with the first Traveler Jerry, see you there!"
