I have always been amazed by the beauty of the natural world. To me, there are different kinds of nature: plants free to grow, animals free to roam, even people with a cup of coffee in a cafe.I love drawing, and when I am inspired by a piece of the natural world, I see lines forming around it, an outline for what I plan to draw when I take out my sketchbook. Drawing makes me feel serene, at peace…
Here is a story of one of my favorite drawings: I met a man named Lionel and his wife Joyce from Australia early on in the Camino. Lionel and Joyce are seventy years old and will have been married for 50 years come fall. They have done the Camino together three times, and with their seven ultra marathon running kids all grown up, have traveled all over the world. Lionel greeted everyone he passed, and was a delight to have a conversation with. I could see the pen lines forming around him as we spoke, and that night I attempted to draw his likeness. The picture I drew ended up looking nothing like him, but I thought I was able to capture his character. After arriving at an albergue right below the path of the Camino, I heard the click of walking sticks as well as Lionel’s booming Australian accent getting closer. I met him at the top of the hill to present him with the torn out page of my journal that had his drawing as well as the notes on his story. He was very pleased!
I tried to draw my way through the Camino, taking mental pictures of anything I found interesting or inspiring, but soon the strain of the day got to me, and the drawings became fewer and fewer.
A rainy day on the Camino bled through my journal and started to blur the lines of some of the drawings. Blues and purples from the stamps of the albergues we stayed at have mixed into the black pen. It actually doesn’t bother me at all, since I like the worn effect it gives my writing, and I see nature in the imperfections.
