Creative Adventure
What comes to mind when you hear the word “adventure”. An exciting or remarkable experience, proceeding despite risk, taking risks …? Here at Mermaid Cove when applied to photography, art, and writing, the word ‘adventure’ becomes something richer than the dictionary definition. It stops being that exciting or remarkable experience and turns into a creative viewpoint—a way of moving, viewing, and making a way in this world.
In photography, adventure is a way of entering the landscape—physically, emotionally, and imaginatively—your mind full of curiosity, with a readiness to be changed by your discovery. Go on a hike somewhere you’ve never been before—and don’t forget your camera.
In writing it is the act of following an idea, feeling, or memory into deeper territory. Write a poem that challenges you to reach into your soul for that deep memory.
In art, adventure lies in the willingness to step away from the familiar and let your work lead you somewhere you didn’t expect. Consider plein air painting—painting outdoors rather than in the confines of your studio.
Adventure is not the destination—it’s the creative point of view taken toward the world. Curiosity, risk, discovery, transformation—it’s the willingness to step into uncertainty with intention. This week we dive into the adventurous side of art, writing, and photography.
-Angie
What’s in the Cove
In Artist at the Shore, Angie shares her conversation with artist and illustrator Laura Clawson, who treats art not as just a hobby, but as a kind of ongoing adventure.
In The Reading Tide, Angie reviews the historical novel, The Butterfly and the Violin.
And in Creative Depths, Scott considers how any form of art in itself is adventurous— and he challenges you to create your next adventure. We take you further on the adventure tide with our curated Driftwood Finds.
To begin our adventure, we turn to an artist who welcomes discovery: Laura Clawson.
Artist on the Shore: Laura Clawson
Laura is an artist, illustrator, educator, beekeeper, and gardener. Honestly, each of those is its own kind of adventure, and together they say a lot about the way she moves through the world — curious, open, and ready to follow wherever her art leads. I’ve known Laura for a long time (full disclosure, she is my sister-in-law)—long enough to see the quiet determination behind her art, and the way she treats art not as just a hobby, but as a kind of ongoing adventure. Laura is the sort of artist who takes along her brushes, pencils, and drawing pads the way other people carry a backpack with compass, water, and a map; heading into the world with a willingness to be surprised. Her plein air practice isn’t just about painting outdoors; it’s about stepping away from the familiar and letting the landscape shift her plans, her palette, and sometimes even her sense of direction.
For this interview, I wanted to explore that adventurous spirit — the part of her work that embraces unpredictability, welcomes discovery, and proves that art can lead you somewhere you didn’t expect if you’re willing to follow it.
What is your favorite medium when you draw and why?
My favorite medium to create with is watercolor. While I do enjoy working with soft pastels and colored pencils, my passion is with watercolors. I love to try different forms of it, such as watercolor pencils, watercolors in pan sets and tubes.I love the Gansai Tambi the most because of the vibrate colors.
What first drew you to plein air painting, and what keeps you returning to it?
I think my love of nature is what got me into plein air painting. I have always enjoyed being out doors and experiencing the wonders that were created. The more nature I paint the more I notice. I find myself searching for details, colors and shades of colors, light and how it changes colors. I also notice how the angle of the subject being painted can change the painting as well. I love Claude Monet’s quote “color is my daylong obsession, joy, and torment”. Like Monet, I am always trying to get the color, detail, and light right (he was a master at that and I am not….but I will keep trying).
How does being immersed in a landscape affect your decision making compared to working in the studio?
Drawing and painting outside verses creating in a studio is very challenging. You have a lot of factors that can hinder you in the outdoors. The temperature and the wind can at times make it difficult. If it’s too hot, it will affect your watercolors and how it dries on the paper. If it’s too windy, that can be a struggle as well. And it’s not always comfortable to paint with your pad of paper balanced on your lap if you do not have an easel. You also may not have everything you need like you do in your studio.
The Reading Tide
The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron is a historical fiction novel that shifts between World War II Europe and present-day America, with a strong focus on the Holocaust and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Sera, a Manhattan art dealer recovering from heartbreak, becomes determined to find a mysterious portrait of a young violinist. Her search leads her to William, whose family may hold the key to the painting and the story of Austrian violinist Adele Von Bron.
In 1942, Austrian aristocrat Adele, the daughter of a high-ranking Third Reich official, risks everything by helping the resistance smuggle Jews out of Vienna. Her privileged life quickly becomes one of hunger and suffering behind barbed wire.
Through the painting’s mystery, Sera discovers there was beauty amid the horrors of Auschwitz and her own heart begins to heal.
I recommend this novel to readers who enjoy World War II historical fiction. Its portrayal of concentration camp horrors is difficult but meaningful, while the present-day story-line makes it more accessible.
All this discussion about adventure resonated with Scott…
Creative Depths
Any form of art in itself is adventurous. It takes a sense of adventure to begin a project. Take writing for instance. The adventure begins with a nugget. An idea that will be shaped into characters and circumstances. A skeletal design is formed with a beginning and an end. There is adventure in fleshing out the rest of the story. How can you make writing into an adventure? Try a three-word prompt and write a short story. Here are three words you can use: caterpillar, aluminum, derelict. Take the adventure and write your story and submit it to us. I’ll join you in your adventure and write one myself and we can enjoy each other’s writing adventures.
How about photography? Do you have to scale Mount Everest to take an adventurous picture? I mean, it is an adventure for sure. But how about the adventure of finding beauty in ordinary places? The grocery store, the gas station or your backyard. Take the adventure to see the beauty in color, design or circumstance in ordinary places and snap a picture of it. Submit 4 pictures from July, in any format, from a phone or camera to us. I’ll join you in your adventure and share some photos myself and we can enjoy each other’s photography adventures.
How about your art in painting, drawing or any form of artistic expression? We all have our strengths and go-to styles. How about taking the adventure in trying something new, challenging or completely different in your art. If you are traditionally a pencil drawer, try watercolors. If you paint in oil, try charcoal. Make an adventure out of trying a discipline that you have never tried before. I am not an artist in this sense at all. But I am willing to try something for the sake of the adventure. Take your adventure in art and share it with us and I’ll share with you the adventure I took. Together we can enjoy each other’s art adventure.
Make July your adventure month. Find your adventure in it all, then share that adventure with others! Until next time, seek it, explore it, live it!
Email your adventures to us at info@mermaidcoveproductions.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
Speaking of adventure, we have these curated treasures to share with you…
Driftwood Finds
Get out of your comfort zone and shoot wide-open! Shooting wide-open means setting your lens to its maximum aperture, the largest possible opening in the lens, usually labeled as the smallest f-number. Watch landscape photographer Thomas Heaton as he shoots wide-open in this episode, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiY7sOITf4c
Interested in plein air art? Read "Why Plein Air Sketching Improves Your Art: The Benefits, Tools, and Techniques”, https://sketchbooks.org/plein-air-sketching/
Spending time in nature—whether on a picnic or a hike—supports well-being and can spark creativity. Locate a state park near you and get outdoors!
The Closing Current
As this week’s tide carries us out, thank you for spending time with us. We hope you leave with a renewed view of the world around you—and are led somewhere unexpected.
We look forward to catching up next time. Until then, stay curious, let the outdoors inspire you, and try something new. You have a story—tell it.
Seek it. Explore it. Live it.
True life mermaids (or mermen) believe in themselves, they embrace their creativity and live life to the fullest.
