“My European Ritual” is an article featuring work by 9 writers that talk about returning to the same place while traveling. The sense of familiarity that emerges from revisiting a place is something everyone can relate to. Everyone has places they frequent over time based on their life’s design. Sometimes these are little things, some are significant, but they are what make up our lives.
I am often asked if Sketchy Tours always goes to the same place every year. True, to date we have always returned to the Dordogne region of France, the heart of which is about an hour and a half east from the Bordeaux airport. From it’s geographical history through the cultural history of the Perigord, this region is a source of inspiration to me. The Dordogne and Aquitaine region has sustained life since the ice age allowed access to the shoreline and river valleys. Great parts of this history have been chronicled and remain critical points of reference for civilization. From caves to contemporary art, there is evidence of this entire time line where ever you go. To witness this connection with time, and sketch the evidence, provides a profound connection to humanity and an integrated sense of all life on earth. The current inhabitants are not free from worry, but you could say that France itself is the definition of a sustainable culture. All you have to do is look at regional cuisine to realize this is the case. Local recipes are constructed from local foods. There is no “food off a truck” which often defines cuisine in the United States. I return home from the Dordogne feeling healthier than when I left. I never tire of that feeling. That’s why I return.
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Sketching has been used for documentation of travel for as long as travel has been possible. It was during the tradition of Grand Tours that the art of sketching developed into a method of recording personal experience and story telling. Filling a sketchbook with scribbles and masterpieces from your own observations is the best souvenir Sketchy Tours can hope to send you home with.
Mastering Sketching by Judy Martin present an inspiring survey of sketching and color techniques for the Sketchy Tours integration of travel and art. It can be used as a series of straight forward lesson plan activities, but it is best used as a way to see into a wide range of approaches that can be easily incorporated into travel. A novice will enjoy the examples and descriptions for the use of materials and variety of styles to choose from and an experienced artist will enjoy the clear language used to communicate processes and effects. It's a great reference book to learn new ways to achieve artistic effects or confirm your ideas to combine elements for capturing a view, a structure, or a figure. Some people like to explore art on their own, some like a published inventory of proven procedures, and most of us like a combination of things to incorporate into our inspiration. Mastering Sketching is filled with appealing examples and quality information to use before your trip or while you're traveling. Mastering Sketching is a highly recommended tool for any sketch artist. Seb Michaud in the Andes: watch:http://vimeo.com/30906635 This is a video showing a great use of the sketchbook to capture the experience of an expedition.
The greatest thing about visiting Paris is discovering things with a profound personal connection to the city. One of the best ways to increase the chances of this happening is with a Paris Pass or a Paris Museum Pass. These are two products worth comparing to see which works best for your style of discovering a city. Both passes offer free entry to many of the most visited sites in Paris and easily pay for themselves when compared to visiting just two or three locations. The Paris Pass provides you with a Paris Museum Pass and additional transportation features, sightseeing information, and activities. The Paris Pass website compares the features of both cards. The Paris Pass can be purchased online. While it can be shipped to your Paris location it's best to purchase this pass early and have it shipped to your home so you can read the additional information and plan activities before your vacation. This also helps avoid the logistics of acquiring the pass in Paris when you could be out making great discoveries. The Paris Museum Pass, which is included with the Paris Pass, is primarily a museum access pass for people who want to navigate the city and find activities on their own. As a result it costs a little less than the full Paris Pass. The Paris Museum Pass is available in Paris for two, four, and six day periods (cost is 42,56, and 69 Euros). Planning a visit to Paris for two, four, or six full days is the best way to take full advantage of these cards. The Museum Pass is easy to purchase in Paris and allows the greatest flexibility for planning. Both cards, through the Museum Pass, offer access to museums without waiting in lines for a day pass purchase. This makes it easy and affordable to revisit a museum to complete a tour or see something again, stop in to a museum cafe, use the facilities, or enter a museum quickly for a short visit to see something specific without feeling obligated to stay longer to get your money's worth. You may also find something you never expected to discover simply by not having to buy a pass for a museum that just happens to be right in front of you at the right moment. This is a great way to see Paris and many other cities in the world have similar products worth looking for. The Have you ever wondered what it might be like to live in a painting, or to leave it and explore the world?
I loved this movie for it's amazing animation and empathy toward... "sketchies," or "les roughs," en francais! Find out here. Here's why Sketchy Tours likes the Dordogne so much. The BBC recently published a great article on traveling to the Dordogne region of France. This cat has it all figured out, living at the top of Beynac overlooking the Dordogne River. With the students in 6th Grade at Monforton we are learning about Prehistoric Art. It is making me excited to visit Lascaux ll again this summer with SketchyTours. Check out this Virtual Tour of this subterranian labyrinth of sketching! http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/?lng=en#/en/00.xml
It doesn’t matter what we’ve experienced – whether it’s the breathtaking scope of the Grand Canyon, the ethereal beauty of the Aurora Borealis, or the exhilarating view from the top of the Eiffel Tower – at some point in our lives we’ve all had the feeling of being in a complete and overwhelming sense of awe.
Awe seems to be a universal emotion, but it has been largely neglected by scientists—until now. Psychological scientists Melanie Rudd and Jennifer Aaker of Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management devised a way to study this feeling of awe in the laboratory. Across three different experiments, they found that jaw-dropping moments made participants feel like they had more time available and made them more patient, less materialistic, and more willing to volunteer time to help others. The researchers found that the effects that awe has on decision-making and well-being can be explained by awe’s ability to actually change our subjective experience of time by slowing it down. Experiences of awe help to brings us into the present moment which, in turn, adjusts our perception of time, influences our decisions, and makes life feel more satisfying than it would otherwise. Now that’s awesome. The study, “Awe Expands People’s Perception of Time, Alters Decision Making, and Enhances Well-Being,” will be published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. This post is a Press Release from the Association for Psychological Science and can be found on their website at their website address by clicking here: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/being-in-awe-can-expand-time-and-enhance-well-being.html |
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