carrie's adventure

i am so excited to welcome carrie of 1canoe2 to our adventure series! carrie is such an amazing illustrator, adventurer & friend. i consider it such an honor to have carrie in this space & hope you find her story inspiring! welcome, sweet carrie...

When Natalie asked me to share my thoughts on adventure and what it means to me, I jokingly told her that adventure is my middle name. I might not actually go that far, but it is a word that I use frequently, and something I think about a lot. I try to live a life that is adventurous, in my own way. 

For me adventure is about breaking out of routine, seeking new experiences, and not being afraid of jumping into unknown territory. As an artist I have found that it is important. It is necessary. It is the thing that fuels me and my creative process. If there is anything that can kill creativity it is routine and doing the same thing over and over. I need a little adventure to keep me going, and it is something that I am constantly looking for. 

I find adventure in something as simple as trying out a new kind of paint or incorporating a different color palette. 

I find it in challenging myself to experiment with different media or subject matter. I find it in transitioning from small paintings in my sketchbook to forty foot wide paintings on the side of our barn. 

The creative process itself is an adventure. It’s all about starting with an idea and seeing where the process takes you. It’s about dreaming up big ideas and going for it. The outcome is uncertain, which means sometimes it’s a failure. But sometimes it even better than you imagined. 

I also find adventure in getting outside and surrounding myself in nature. I gather a lot of inspiration for my work from the world around me, and I love to travel and experience places that are wild and beautiful. I recently spent two weeks camping on a glacier in Alaska where I learned all kinds of mountaineering skills, summited a few peaks, and basically had an ice axe attached to my hand at all times, for safety reasons. 

It was a huge Adventure, with a capital A! It was amazing, and I LOVED it. I could go on and on about how valuable of an experience it was, but it is also true that I get just as much from exploring the natural world close to home. Hiking at local state parks, taking a walk down a country road, or fishing in the lake on my family’s farm. 

Adventure is essential for me. It’s what drives my creative work, and it leaves me with a sense of wonder about the world that we live in. It’s mostly about breaking from routine, looking for beauty, and going a little bit out of the way to see the world from a different viewpoint than I normally would.

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thanks so much, carrie!

don't forget to check out carrie's instagram!

love,

natalie