Over the years many of you have asked why I hopped around from place to place, or drove hundreds of miles without stopping. I replied vaguely about chasing good weather, attending a festival, going where the road took me, accepting an invitation to visit, or simply letting life happen. Today, I am revealing the real reason.
Drivers and bicyclists and joggers are “drawing” with GPS on map apps, creating elaborate sketches.
I have been doing this every year since I began traveling in the motorhome. At the inception of a new year, I am finally unveiling my genius to you, Dear Readers.
Unlike the aforementioned amateurs producing little more than GPS doodles, mine are Bonafide Works of Art. Just see for yourself.
Year One
I christened my maiden voyage Winged Odyssey, because it’s an eagle’s wing. Or a condor’s. Or an osprey’s. Anything majestic that flies, really. It is a metaphor for taking flight from my prior life. It had nothing to do with driving to Oklahoma for the RVing Women’s Convention, taking a hard right, following Route 66 to Los Angeles, and wintering in Palm Springs.
This impressive beauty is unfinished, in the style of so many Great Masters. Perhaps I will putter around in the Pacific Ocean and Canada to see it to completion someday.
Year Two
This offering is Bounding Boundaries, a leaping gazelle (obviously). Its brilliance lies in its simplicity; the technique – a permanent marker-wielding prodigy on finished drywall. Great Art is made through suffering, like that rear leg completed via Baja caravan. The front leg was a result of months of back-breaking toil, traveling with a friend through Florida, all the way to Key West for the holidays. Suffering, I tell you.
Year Three
For your consideration: Take A Leap: All Roads Lead to Seattle.
So often I am met with admirers who tell me how brave I am (their word, not mine), and I commemorate that sentiment with this piece’s courageous title. I don’t know about you, but whenever I think frogs, I think valor.
Major Art is either untitled or subtitled. This work is subtitled All Roads Lead to Seattle because the design required frequent returns to Seattle to get it just right (not for healthcare or anything life-sustaining).
The exquisite detail of the legs demanded first-time trips to New England and Miami, where every day was Leg Day due to my dedication and determination to complete The Work. It’s all about The Work.
Year Four
Behold Pochard (Diving Duck), titled in French to impart its extraordinary sophistication. It was only fitting that I create something unique for the summer of my 50th year. Taking ironic symbolism to a new level, that tail of the duck is also a pate knife.
Year Five
Tortuga remarks on the pace of life while analyzing the hard shells that separate us from the rest of society. Delving deeper, the flipper represents Midwestern wildlife, while Lake Michigan forms a reptilian tear. It is my most ambitious environmental statement to date.
All the works in my Grand Design have been in the form of animals, but Art is nothing unless it is left open to subjective interpretation. What do you see in my Masterpieces?
This Post Has 11 Comments
ROFL
Now I will have to draw our years. We are a couple behind you. Finishing up Year three now. Currently we are trying to stay warm in southern Arizona but it’s not happening.
As always, your travels are fascinating. Thank you for the education your notes usually are.
Hilarious Tammy!! Our trips look more like Jackson Pollock!!
I see an adventurous lady with a wonderful imagination and soaring spirit who may have been sitting with an eggnog or edible of some kind😘 Rock on Roadtrip Tammy♥️
I see some similarities to “Miro” in your Strava drawings, quite the nouveau in you. I wonder what they would like layered?
I love your art!
Brilliant! Definitely gallery quality…..
As always, Tammy, you entertain me and make me laugh. I so enjoy your perspective on people, places, and life!
Thank you, thank you for your posts. Here’s to safe travels and a very happy year for you!
Jane
Sammamish, WA.
Wow – we need to get together for some “cloud gazing” – your perspective is unique, and fuels an admirable imagination. I am going to attempt to “draw” our masterpiece, but in four years, we have repeated so many of our destinations, I don’t think much will come of it.
My GPS tracks can only be describes as the energetic scribbling of a 3 year old unconcerned with staying inside the lines. Upon reflection, that statement fits me pretty well. I act way younger than I look and I take societies norms as a jumping off point. Happy travels lady. I look forward to your next post.