The Eye Has To Travel

 I think traveling is one of life’s great gifts.  To learn about other cultures, while experiencing the sights, 

sounds, and smells of far flung lands opens us up to a richer life.  

Whether you’re scaling a mountain,

 negotiating in a busy marketplace,

or flea market

 immersing yourself in oceans deep;

 Do it with your eyes wide open, because inspiration is everywhere!  

Traveling eliminates the predictable and transforms the mundane.  Our minds are quieter, so we’re free to notice things that we either take for granted or that are not part of our everyday reality.

The ebb and flow of water leaves beautiful lines in the sand that may trigger a fabric pattern

Local decorative art becomes a design element we may incorporate in a design project

The orchard of palm trees lined up like soldiers in front of a desert mountain range may suggest a color combination you’d like to paint your walls.  

The fanciful birds of the rainforest may inspire a color palette you might not have thought of.

The marbleized  pattern in the stone and the color in the caves of Petra will surely find their way into a future project. 

                                       “ A traveler without observation is like a bird without wings.” (Moslih Saadi)

Be open to the beautiful (and not so beautiful) that surround you.  Drink it in, make a mental note, take lots of photos. Bringing home a trinket from a trip is great (I highly recommend it), but bringing home an idea that somehow translates into a design element can be transforming. 

Hmmm...  Where to go next??