A Season of Renewal

Contributed by Rod Glover

I’m taking a break this year from my usual schedule in the studio to spend some time traveling, visiting places I’ve never been or can’t wait to return to. As an artist, I often spend countless hours refining technique, reworking ideas, and looking for new discoveries as my work progresses. But creativity does not exist in isolation and I feel a need to wander. Creative energy can become depleted when we remain too long in the same environment, surrounded by the same responsibilities and visual patterns. Sometimes the most important thing an artist can do is step away from the routine and experience the world beyond the familiar.

Travel offers artists something the studio cannot, especially the opportunity to encounter new perspectives. Whether wandering through a crowded city market, hiking mountain trails, visiting museums or sitting in a small café observing strangers, travel awakens the senses and reminds us that inspiration is everywhere. 

Travel teaches us to see differently. When we move through unfamiliar places, we pay closer attention. Even small moments — sunlight on old buildings, conversations overheard in another language, textures and colors, or the pace and rhythm of life in a different community — can shift the way we understand beauty and storytelling. These experiences expand an artist’s visual vocabulary and deepen our empathy, allowing our creative work to become richer, more layered, and more connected to humanity. Ideas begin to surface naturally again and we return home not only renewed, but filled with images, emotions, and experiences that inevitably find their way into future work. 

Stepping away from the studio is not abandoning the work; it is investing in it. Creativity thrives when artists remain open to discovery, and travel reminds us that inspiration is not something we force — it is something we encounter. The world itself becomes part of the creative process, offering perspective that no routine can provide. Sometimes the journey away from our work is exactly what leads us back to it with renewed purpose and vision.