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Art Spark Drop #1
Crawdaddy's, near Orange, TX |
I never sleep well the night before a trip. I toss and turn, knowing I have to get up early to complete all of my checklist. I've made this long trip from Houston, TX to Fredericksburg, VA many, many times. It's about 23 hours total drive time and I usually have two overnight stops. I take other breaks along the way and I'm very picky about the restrooms I'll use. Several years ago I discovered Crawdaddy's. It's become one of my traditional stops because it's conveniently located about the time Dasher and I need a break. The restrooms are clean and beautifully decorated. I left my first Art Spark there, right under the mirror. I took Dasher for a walk and I picked up a delicious hamburger, the best in Texas according to the sign.
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Art Spark Drop #2
Louisiana Welcome Center |
Another one of my traveling traditions is to stop at each state's welcome center. I don't stop at these for the restrooms, I stop for the maps. I love collecting these. I use them in art projects all the time. I tear them for collages, use them in papier mache, and turn them into books. I also collect them because I fear one day they'll be obsolete. With GPS technology available in so many forms who really uses actually maps for navigation? I don't. As soon as I get in my car I type in my destination because I am severely directionally challenged. Dasher likes these stops too - the dog walking areas are much better than random gas stations.
I've never been very good at reading maps, but I love looking at them. The multicolored tangle of roads, names of cities, bodies of water and other landmarks create beautiful patterns on the paper. I also reminisce about places I've been and dream about new destinations. I'll keep building my stockpile of maps until they stop handing them out. And they'll keep turning up in my art.
I'm in Hammond, LA for a couple of days then heading northeast on Friday. I'm looking forward to collecting more maps and leaving art behind.
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