Tennessee… And a Suitcase Full of Ideas

Some trips are planned around exactly what you want to see and do.

Tennessee wasn't really like that.

I went to spend some time with my good friend Bill, who I originally met years ago when he bought one of my bison artworks. Somehow, all these years later, that connection had turned into me travelling halfway around the world and staying with him in Tennessee.

And within a few days, I'd collected enough inspiration to keep me busy in the studio for months.

I think that's one of my favourite things about travelling.

I don't necessarily know what I'm going to create before I go.

I'd rather experience somewhere first… meet the people, see the animals, take far too many photographs and let the ideas find me.

Tennessee gave me plenty.

Getting Up Close With the Bison

One of our adventures took us to Lazy G Ranch, where Jason took us out to meet their bison.

I've drawn bison before, but standing beside one is a very different experience.

They're enormous.

And somehow, despite their size, there's something incredibly calm about watching them move through the landscape.

We were even able to feed them by hand, which gave me the chance to get close, really look at them and, naturally, take a ridiculous number of photographs.

I knew before we left that some of those photographs were coming back to Australia with me and eventually making their way onto paper.

There are already a couple of ideas from Tennessee waiting for their turn in the studio, including a new bison piece that I'm particularly excited about.

That's usually how my artwork begins.

Not sitting at a desk trying to decide what I should draw next.

It's being somewhere, seeing something and thinking…

Yep. That's coming home with me.

Then There Were the Birds

Another day, Bill organised for us to visit Owl Ridge Raptor Center.

His daughter, who is a veterinarian, had recently helped get an injured bird of prey into their care, and until that visit I really didn't understand how much work goes into rescuing and rehabilitating these animals.

It's a small nonprofit with a pretty enormous job.

We were able to meet and photograph some of the birds in their care, including a beautiful barn owl named Thistle.

There is something mysterious about owls anyway, but seeing one that close is something else entirely.

And Thistle stuck with me.

By the time I landed back in Australia, I'd learned that Bennett Galleries in Knoxville was holding an exhibition to raise funds for Owl Ridge.

There wasn't exactly a luxurious amount of time to think about it.

I had around a week to create something and get it straight back on a plane to Tennessee.

So Thistle became the first artwork from the trip.

I created her in watercolour and pen, packed her up and sent her all the way back across the world, with 100% of the money raised from the artwork going directly to Owl Ridge Raptor Center.

I love that something which began with a simple visit could turn into a way of giving something back to the people caring for these incredible animals.

Coming Home Is Only Halfway

That's the funny thing about these trips.

Flying home doesn't really feel like the end of them anymore.

I come back to my studio in Australia with memory cards full of photographs, sketches tucked into bags and a head full of ideas that I haven't quite worked out yet.

Thistle has already found her way onto paper.

The bison are coming.

And there are still photographs from Tennessee that I keep going back through and finding something new in.

Maybe that's why I love travelling this way so much.

I'm not really looking for subjects to draw.

I'm looking for experiences.

The artwork tends to find me somewhere along the way.

And Tennessee?

I have a feeling I'm nowhere near finished with that one yet.