Favorite Runaway Place

If we’re lucky, we have a favorite runaway place. I can’t wait to share one of mine, the first in a 3 part series, here today. But first, here are some quick facts about this blog. This is a place where, each week, I share my paintings, inspiration, gallery openings, plus an occasional dose of art history. Whether this is your first or millionth visit here, hiya, hello and a warm welcome! I choose a theme to guide my paintings each year. To read about this year’s painting theme, check the description in this link here. To subscribe and get a weekly dose of color for yourself, subscribe here. Ready for the first installment of Favorite Runaway Places? Read on, gentle reader!

Present Moment

While I understand that we strive to stay in the present moment as best as we can. It sure is fun to let the mind wander off to that favorite runaway place. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, consider asking anyone you meet, if they have a favorite runaway place. See what they say. I bet people will describe a beach or an island or a mountain or forest or perhaps a fantastic vista such as Chaco or the Grand Canyon.

There’s something about having a place like this to envision, that requires effort or resources to visit, that makes the place special. For me, this place is Topsail Island located on the edge of North Carolina. And, even though I grew up in Massachusetts less than 20 minutes from Crane’s Beach, I have come to feel a sense of excitement and anticipation as we venture down the road for two and one half hours to Topsail Island.

Spring Time Visit

Luckily this year, I visited this gem of a place in the spring with a dear friend. During the spring time visit, I painted a few color sketches. I love putting sketches aside and then revisiting them later. This fits right in with this year’s theme of Time and Attention, eh? So, for the next few weeks, I will be sharing the impressions of this location. And, here are a few observations of my findings as I worked and refined these paintings.

The sea and beaches are such timeless, restless, and yet calming places. I can viscerally feel myself unwind as soon as my bare feet walk on the sand, smell the salty air and hear the repetitive rush of the waves. I thought of these sights, sounds and smells as I worked on the painting I’m sharing with you this week. Here it is. It’s small 4×8 inches and painted on panel in oils.

This painting is SOLD.

Favorite Runaway Places of the Mind

By the way, many people don’t even have the privilege of wandering down the road to find their favorite place. Take Giorgio Morandi, (July 20, 1890 – June 18, 1964) for instance. He was an incredible painter of simple still life objects. In fact, his work inspired a still life painting of mine entitled “If Morandi Ate Sweet Potatoes.”

But oooh la la gentle reader, you should see his fantastic landscape paintings! In fact, how about I show you one here. He painted it in 1929 and it’s called “Paesaggio” (Italian for “Landscape”). Here it is!

Oh my the simplicity of this painting and it’s sense of serenity is so gorgeous to me. And, Morandi didn’t venture far from home to create this beauty. In fact, he spent most of his life living and working in Bologna Italy with his mother and sisters. Seems he was able to find his favorite faraway place by looking out the window of his house. So, I guess transportation isn’t necessary for those of us in search of a favorite runaway place. It may be a memory in your mind or a view out your window!

What Is Your Favorite

How about you gentle reader? What is your Favorite Faraway Place? I would love to know. Please share in the comments below and thank you for reading here today.