As I look back at my experience of being part of the International Festival of Travel Sketchbooks (Edmonds Sketcher Fest), I think that what made it super special was the many opportunities for connecting to people in so many different forms.
I lead a wonderful group of 15 people on a workshop, but also:
- had a chance to present an art talk (more below);
- I attended a couple of art talks by other guest artists between all the other activities;
- spent a whole day at the sketchbook fair sharing with attendees my actual sketchbooks, tools, and process, answering questions, and collecting interesting insights;
- participated in a dinner event where people had a chance to share both meal and conversation with guest artists and with many guests of the Sketcher Fest;
- went on numerous outings to draw a sunset, or morning swimmers in a fog, or to grab an ice cream, lunch, dinner, nightcap - all while sketching, looking through sketchbooks of other people, and talking about all sorts of things, life- and sketching related.
Here are some photos from the sketchbook fair and other outings - on them you will find all the guest artists though I have to admit some were present only in the form of their elbow or sign - I will try to make better photos next time! :) A list of all the artists and information about them can be found here:
https://sketcherfest.com/sketchbook-fair/sketchbook-fair/ I salute and thank every one of you - and I am very grateful for an opportunity to meet, connect and sketch side-by-side!
Image above is how my table at the sketchbook fair looked like.
My art talk was on a subject that is one of my favorite topics: extreme sketching. I gathered examples from my experience in all sorts of situations. From kayaking to skiing, from riding a horse to taking care of humans ages 0 to 96, and of course, sketching while scuba diving! My talk covered both what to bring with you on an adventure like that and how to survive it. And I enjoyed answering many questions and receiving lots of great advice as to where to go scuba diving next!
Thank you
Laurie Wigham for making this wonderful sketch of me giving an art talk! (photo above).
Lastly, this was a chance to meet many new people, make great friends, and also connect in real life with many online sketching friends whom I've known for years now! This connection to the community was such a luminous gift!
It would be impossible for me to list all the encounters and thank all the people that I was so happy to connect with - so I will just say a huge THANK YOU to the organizers of Sketcher Fest and all the volunteers, and Gabi Campanario in particular for support throughout the preparation and during the event. Here is to sketching together more!
More from this series - Seattle 2025:
