A journal of journaling in England

Every time we take a trip, this old newspaper man can't keep from taking notes, finding time at the end of the day to comment, to record impressions, to give a brief summary of the day's events. That, by the way, is where the first meaning of "journalism" came from, a record, or log, of the day's travel--using the Latin and now French word for "day," which is "jour."

Painting in Cambridge

So yes, I'm a journalist in many ways, and our trip to the England and Scotland was no exception, but with a couple of twists.
First, I went off and left the specific journal I'd bought for the trip. Fortunately, I had an Associated Press reporter's notebook in my bag.
And I did take another kind of journal, the handmade leather bound watercolour (in deference to my British heritage) from Mind's Eye Journals that I bought at the Paseo arts festival this year. And I brought my traveling watercolor kit, plus one other brush.

St. John's chapel

I had no idea if I'd have time to paint on our two week trip, but I was going to try. Fortunately, I did three paintings, and while they're not very good, they are mementos for me of specific days and times I will remember forever. I remember the seller of the journal telling me the journals are artifacts, and indeed they are--but then so have all my trip journals become.
Another reason the painting isn't great is that painting in England is far different that the desert southwest, where there is little moisture and lots of harsh landscapes. It's a slow transition for me to different painting.

My watercolours, and painting journal

Having been to England, Susan and I now understand how that landscape has so influenced English painting...it is moist and green. I wrote this in my AP notebook on the train on the way to Canterbury: "The English atmosphere cries out for watercolor. It's humid, fluid skies, green. It's idyllic, pastoral. The landscape drips with watercolour."

Here's the second of my three watercolours...St. John's College chapel at Cambridge University, done on the rooftop of the Varsity Hotel, virtually on the banks of the river Cam. It's late in the evening, we're getting a little sunburned, and there are lots of clouds in this distance. We've eaten, had some wine, and are listening to some Cambridge students at the next table celebrating the end of the semester. 
Yes, it's done in plein air, drying quickly, and painted quickly. I'd like to do it over, but that's later, and won't have as much meaning.

My AP notebook and transcribed notes

But at least, my doldrums of writing since we've returned seem to have ended. Here's hoping for a fresh breeze to gather and write all the thoughts and stories we encountered and experienced, recorded on those 81 pages of notes in the AP notebook and three watercolors. 

Some of my previous trip journals--the thick one is from Paris, 11 years ago,

Turning the pages of 2014

The second half of the year seemed slow in reading, compared to the first half when I consumed  11 books--almost reaching my goal of one a month for the year. Reading goes in spurts. Weeks go by without a book, and then when I'm hooked, it speeds up. 
The year ended with Unbroken, the WWII story of a remarkable American. Now a movie, the story from Laura Hillenbrand, the same writer of Seabiscuit, captured my imagination and emotions.
Before that were two books from Best of Books in Edmond, now owned by friends Joe and Nan Hight. Spirit of Steamboat, by Craig Johnson, whose books are the basis for the Longmire TV show, is a compelling Longmire tale different from his mysteries. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel was an interesting novel of post-apocalyptic America.
I'd forgotten I'd bought three art books from English watercolourist (Hey, that's the way the English spell it)  Ray Campbell Smith that gave me insights and inspiration, Fresh Watercolour, Landscapes in Watercolour and Watercolour Work-Out recommended by English blog friend, social media guru  and artist Ian McKendrick of Cambridge, Watercolourjourney.
Another short, entrancing  novel illustrated with watercolors by Neil Gaiman, The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains  made me want to do the same.
Before that, already reviewed on this blog were River of Doubt, about TR, following the Roosevelt NPR program, Writing Blue Highways, by William Least Heat Moon, and Falling Upward, by Fr. Richard Rohr, which changed my life.
A stifling summer of sickness managed four books in July--One Hundred Years of Solitude, by famed Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which I got bored with and didn't finish; Spider Woman's Daughter, by Anne Hillerman, continuing the Tony Hillerman legacy; American Gods, my first read by Neil Gaiman; and Blackjacks and Blue Devils, by Jerry Wilson, printed by my friend Jeanetta Calhoun Mish's Mongrel Empire Press.

Six month total--14. The books of 2014--25.

"Watercolour," Brit artists and social media

British influence in  "colour," trial watercolor, 8 by 6, 140 # d'Arches

Today's painting above has an international story with it, thanks to "social media." Notice I spelled "colour" the British way, for a reason.
Social media has made the world much smaller and more fruitful as I've met and contacted new people and old.
Thus it is that recently, someone in the UK favorited one of my paintings earlier this month on twitter, and we've begun following each other.
We have much in common. He's Ian McKendrick from Cambridge, U.K., and he's a watercolour artist and student, in addition to being a social media guru for business...fitting in with what I teach in journalism these days. His web site Ian McKendrick for his watercolours is really sophisticated. I'm envious and have been prodded to develop my own site, separate from this blog. 
I've noticed that his favoriting of my paintings added much to my blog traffic, and I've also favorited his paintings. 
He showed a painting, he calls them "projects," from another Brit painter's book, and so I ordered three of the books. One of them arrived today, and inspired this experimental painting.
What I gained most from the book "Landscapes in Watercolour" was new combinations of "colours." Oh, here's the link to this painters page, and his name is Ray Campbell Smith.
I do notice that much of his work has much more atmosphere and moisture in the air than we have here in Oklahoma, and certainly in my beloved West, where the landscapes are more dramatic. In addition, I've been experimenting more and more with brilliant color, but still I think anyone who is painting in watercolour is always a student, always learning. Thus this painting today.
And here too is Ian's web page as a Social media guru. His twitter handle is @watercolourJrny.
I hope to meet him in person when we travel to the UK this summer, but in the mean time, we'll certainly be sharing more and more. Now if this were really "British style," the comma would be outside those quote marks and in the following. I love the spelling of "watercolor," but though a direct descendant of King Edward Longshanks , the tyrant in "Braveheart," (ironically now married to a Campbell), I'm firmly an American (not a Yankee though) journalist, and periods and commas always go outside quote marks--over here in the "colonies."
Isn't it great the stories behind paintings? So much to learn.