“I don’t know whether you can look at your past and find, woven like the hidden symbols on a treasure map, the path that will point to your final destination.”
― Jodi Picoult, Handle With Care
There’s a question I get occasionally: When did you start doing travel sketches?
And there’s an answer I normally give: I tell them about a weekend trip to Porto, Portugal, back in January 2011; a trip whose impetus was nothing more than a too-cheap-to-pass-up RyanAir flight – and a strange new desire to get sketching.
Ever since those four days in Porto, I haven’t visited a new country without sketching it, and so I look to that trip as the genesis of my forever-in-flux career as a sketch artist. But this past Sunday, I realized I’ve been giving the wrong answer.
* * *
Sunday afternoon found me on my knees, cleaning out the closet my parents gratefully allow me to keep as a kind of storage unit while I’m on the road. This is always a dangerous task – for about every minute I spend cleaning, at least four minutes are spent being distracted by all the junk I’ve managed to save.
You know the junk I’m talking about – the shadow boxes you made in college, the magazines you saved after 9/11, the pair of heels you’ve worn exactly once in the last five years – the stuff that sticks around no matter how hard you try to make it go away.
Perhaps one of the only things of true value I’ve saved all these years is a box marked ‘Journals,’ inside of which is an art journal I kept when I was 14. I started flipping through it on Sunday, looking over the entries and the quick drawings of household knick-knacks and scenes from nature, when I came across something altogether different.
And that’s when I saw how wrong I’d been:
The sketch is dated January 29th, 2001 – exactly ten years to the day before I would do my first travel sketches in Porto. And as I sat there on my old bedroom floor, rather dumbfounded at the synchronicity of it all, what struck me even more than the sketch itself was a line I’d written above it:
I want to try and expand my artistic horizons further.
The proof copy of Beneath the Lantern’s Glow, my book of sketches from Southeast Asia and Japan, arrived yesterday, and as I held it in my hands for the first time – and was reminded of sidewalk encounters in Laos, bubble tea in Malaysia, and sketching serendipities in Vietnam – it was all I could do not to cry.
It was all I could do not to go back in time, track down my 14-year-old self, and tell her: I’m so glad you tried. Because you did – your artistic horizons did expand, even if it took some time to get there.
I’m now off to my sister’s wedding this weekend (bring on the party!), but I want to leave you with this thought – that every interest, every childhood pursuit, every old inkling of a dream, can mean something; that the little pieces of our past can always find their place in the puzzle of our present life.
Candace I so love this phrase: every interest, every childhood pursuit, every old inkling of a dream, can mean something; that the little pieces of our past can always find their place in the puzzle of our present life. I truly agree with you and I truly believe in it. I am waiting and trusting and doing.
Cheers to you for a creative journey and more! God bless!
Elisa, thanks so much for saying hello and for your insightful comment. I just spent some time exploring your site and absolutely love your watercolors and sketches – they have such a fun, whimsical feeling to them! I wish you all the best on your own creative journey (and really, really hope you’ll submit a sketch or two for my Summer’s Sketchbook roundup 🙂 Take care, Elisa!
I’ve loved travelling vicariously through your sketches and love this story on how they started! Have fun digging through that wardrobe (I always love going home and doing the same) and at your sisters wedding!
Erin, I’m so glad I’m not the only one who gets lost in the black hole that is our old childhood wardrobe 🙂 Thanks so much for keeping up with the sketches – I know I’ve loved following your own journey since Cologne!
Wow, I was blown away reading this, just thinking about how talented you already were at 14 years old, with so much wisdom and grace. I was 21 that year, with not a fraction of the ‘togetherness’ you expressed in this short journal entry. This was beautiful Candace – even your handwriting back then was perfection! I have always known you were destined to do great things, and it seems that deep down inside, you have too. Much love and light to you as your artistic horizons continue to expand xxx
My thoughts and words exactly, Hannah! Indeed amazed by your early talent and maturtity, Candace!
Thanks so much, Anja! As I told Hannah, most of the drawings in my old art journal were not nearly as detailed or colorful 🙂
Thanks so much for your lovely comment, Hannah! Truth be told – many of the sketches and drawings in my old art journal were pretty horrific and hastily done, but apparently I was drawn enough to this image to spend more time on it 🙂 I love watching all of our horizons expand ever further – and I so look forward to sharing the same horizon with you again one day! xx
I had the same thought as Hannah (and then I felt old for a minute). I should go back and look through my old journals and see what it is I was dreaming about when I was younger. I’m certainly not doing whatever it was now.
I both love and hate looking back through old journals – most of the time what I wrote is pretty cringe-worthy, but it’s certainly interesting to see how it lines up to where I am today!
YES! Those little whispers from our younger selves should never be buried or ignored. They are who we are and who we want to be. I just love this Candace!
Thanks so much, Kim! I know you definitely understand about trying to line up who we are now with who we dreamed we would be 🙂
I love going through old things and triggering your memory. Love your sketches and posts. It is good that you kept your creativity. I used to paint and draw and got away from it years ago (found a few sketch books at my parents house over Christmas). Now I can draw stick figures because I am not patient. Keep on sketching!
Thank you, Angela! It’s not always easy to keep up the things we did when we were younger – whether it be art, music, sports, etc. – but it’s great to try. I will definitely keep sketching (thanks for your encouraging words!), and I hope you’ll have a chance to do the same too 🙂 PS – yes! Patience is the key, isn’t it?
I enjoyed your post. I actually found a sketchbook from my early teens at my parents house over Christmas. I do not think I have the patience to sketch anymore. Keep on sketching. I enjoy your work.
This is amazing! I want your book! 🙂
Thank you, Ashley! I’m so glad you enjoyed this little flashback from my sketching past 🙂 And the book of sketches from Southeast Asia and Japan is officially out on Monday, so hopefully you’ll have a chance to pick up a copy!
Wow. You had MUCH better handwriting than I did as a 14 year old. 😉
Thanks, Naomi 😉 My father actually has a degree in commercial lettering (he used to design newspaper ads by hand way back when there were no computers), so I always say it’s genetic!
What a fantastic find!!! I haven’t given it much thought, but I am sure the mostly horrible driving vacations I took with my family as a child probably had much to do with my current love of travel. The few magic moments among many tedious miles held a promise not yet realized.
Thanks so much, Rhonda! I love what you said about “a promise not yet realized” – what a beautiful phrase. I would also concur that those family vacations (no matter how tedious at times 😉 probably had a lot to do with your current wanderlust! I know the sense of movement and discovery my own family vacations offered certainly did. Thanks for your comment, hope you’re doing well!
Your early sketch crushes my stick figure sketches from around the same age 🙂 . The photo sketch based on the nat geo photo is beautiful. Glad to see you are able to return to a creative outlet you had as a child as well. I think a lot of us end up losing or forgetting about them in later parts of our live as we always seem to be too busy with other things.
Haha, I’m sure that’s not true, Anwar 🙂 I was just talking about this with a friend earlier in the week, though, about how so many of the things we do as kids – whether it be art, dance, music, etc. – get pushed aside once we get into high school and college. I’m grateful to be getting back into my art now, and really hope it inspires others to make time for their old loves as well. Thanks for reading!
So very true! I used to play an instrument and sing (badly). And while I still sing badly I no longer play any instruments. I have to wonder…did I have more time? Or just less things competing for my time. It is certainly inspiring to see what you are creating and that you were able to rekindle and old love. I hope to keep following all the adventures in the future.
Thanks so much for reading this and for sharing about your own childhood interests, Anwar. I often wonder the same – about why our music, art, dance, etc. gets set aside as we grow older. I definitely do think it has something to do with less things competing for our time. I’m really glad to hear you find the sketches inspiring, and hope they might inspire you to pick up an instrument again!