There are years that ask questions and years that answer.

Zora Neale Hurston

I love these words; they always set me to looking over the past year and considering which it was. This year for me was absolutely a year of answers.

After several years of staying close to home after what can deceptively neatly be described as a shattering of self and a subsequent rebuilding from the ground up, one of my selves from the past – the traveller – has re-emerged. Or been reborn, rather.

I cannot express how delighted I am to see her again! I missed travel intensely, even while I knew it wasn’t the right time to be out in the world – there was so much inner work to be done all my energy had to be focused there.

But finally, finally, it was time. I only discovered that because I found myself booking flights to Mexico in August. I have noticed, time and again, that when something is right it happens easily and quickly {not counting the years it sometimes takes to reach that point!}, and that’s how I knew I was ready to travel again.

Mexico

My soul loves Mexico. I was there eleven years ago, for a month of volunteer work followed by a month of travelling around the country, and it was two of the best months of my life. I chose Sayulita because I threw out the question of where to go to escape the English winter on Instagram {as one does}, and it was the one response that pulled me towards it like a magnet.

Next thing I knew, I’d booked a six week trip! Four in Mexico, and a couple on either side in Florida to break the journey and meet a friend I’d known only online for the past five or six years. A huge amount of newness, and apart from a couple of minor freak outs before I left, the deep knowing that it was finally right to be back out in the world.

There’s too much to say about the trip in a single post. Suffice to say I am ready to embrace this newly begun chapter of my life as an artist who travels. Although I don’t yet know exactly what it will look like, I am overflowing with ideas. I’m intending for these ‘Travelling Artist’ posts to become an ongoing series. 🙂

#taramakesmovies

{That’s my hashtag on Instagram so I can keep all my movies together. 🙂 }

While I was there, I took Xanthe Berkeley’s Make Films course. {Which is wonderful, by the way; I highly recommend it, whether for collating personal memories or using it for your work.} I used what I learned to make a series of mini movies – most under a minute – about my experience of Sayulita and what it meant to me.

So here they are. Still plenty to learn, but thanks to Xanthe I am getting to grips with choosing the right music, and stringing the films together so they are, ahem, seamless. Still some work to do on the wobbly panning front. 🙂

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This final one is longer and I made it just for me as a kind of moving photo album, but you might enjoy it anyway. 🙂

password: sayulita

And finally, since this is about being a travelling artist, here’s the sketchbook I worked in while I was away:

This year answered a lot of questions for me {while of course raising new ones}, but the answer to the most important one – can I integrate travel back into my life and still do my work? – is a resounding yes. Thank you more of the same please!