As summer winds down and the sunlit days grow shorter, there's a bittersweet sense of transition in the air. Change is coming soon—but before we wrap ourselves in sweater season, Spacia's art team has a few tales of travel to share. The scenery, the culture, the company, it's all very inspiring for these artists. Shameless Plug: Request those art packages and see first-hand how experiences and creativity influences Spacia custom art.
Art Director Tricia Biagi spent four days walking 55 miles of the Camino de Portuguese! (The Camino de Portuguese, or Portuguese Way, is anywhere from 160-390 miles long depending on the route.) Starting in Porto and finishing in Barcelos, Portugal, Tricia first journeyed the Litoral Coastal Path along the Atlantic Ocean. On day three, she moved toward the Central Path, taking her along farmland and up a small mountain, Monte Frangueira.
In addition to the beautiful natural scenery along the walk, Tricia encountered many historical Roman Catholic Churches. The facades are covered in Azulejos, traditional Portuguese glazed tiles influenced by the period in which the Moors occupied the Iberian Peninsula. Typically painted in blue and white, the tiles depict Christian themes as well as local flora and fauna. Tricia found the hand-painted techniques and graphic compositions very provoking.
Before beginning her pilgrimage, Tricia spent several days exploring Porto, Portugal. Porto is an elegant city at the mouth of the Douro River known for its port wine production. She toured the Serralves Modern Art Museum and was especially inspired by the Yayoi Kusama exhibit featuring one of her infinity rooms. The mind-boggling array of dots blur the lines between top and bottom and left to right. Her attention to detail elevates the two-dimensional plane into endless space. Tricia recalls, "Kusama's creativity transports the viewer and left me awestruck."
Not only a physical trek, but a profound creative exploration, Tricia's travels and artistic encounters left a lasting impression.
Art Consultant Nellie Seigel spent several days in New Orleans attending Kolaj Fest. (Kolaj Fest is a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture and society.) Nellie eagerly jumped from panels to workshops to film screenings to events to collage making to demos to networking—and more. The first day was hosted at the New Orleans Museum of Art and included an inspiring guided tour of the inter-disciplinary artist Wangechi Mutu.
Her second time attending, Nellie emphasizes how welcoming the community is and how validating the whole weekend can be to some who might not consider themselves "capital A" artists. Participants are encouraged to grab a seat and get to work. "You know you've found your people when the conversations revolve around favorite types of glue or scissors versus X-acto knife," Nellie reveals.
A Chicago transplant, Nellie considers New Orleans the perfect host for an event like this. She describes the whole city itself as one big colorful collage of public space art—with official sanctioned murals and sculptures that live happily among renegade street art. She also points out that her New Orleans trip included a pilgrimage to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and that extra bit of inspiration! (Pro-Tip: Save the bag to use in future collage.)
Nellie's piece 'Babes in Toyland' was selected for a juried exhibition, Amuse Bouche, featuring collage work by participating Kolaj Fest artists. A small taste of the International Collage Community, the exhibition coincided with the event, and Nellie felt honored to be included amongst other amazing collage artists.
Time spent in New Orleans each year for the symposium certainly feeds Nellie's soul as an analog collage artist, but also inspires her work as an art consultant. She's exposed to new ideas and other styles that appear in her digital work.
Spacia's art team is constantly finding inspiration in the everyday, but when the "everyday" can include new and exciting scenery and experiences, creativity flourishes. Memories of summer travel has our artist rejuvenated.