About This Here Blog
Hi, I’m Laura and this is my blog, The Art of Exploration. The Art of Exploration is a virtual scrapbook, a photo journal, and a trip diary all wrapped into one. It’s where I stash my (occasional) artwork, travel writings, and miscellaneous thoughts about being outside, seeking new sights, and exploring new landscapes.
But The Art of Exploration isn’t just about finding new places to explore. It’s also about revisiting favorite spots and retracing well-worn paths time and again to see familiar places in fresh light.
Exploration for me isn’t an endeavor confined to foreign locations—it thrives in the most ordinary of places too. Exploration is about the way you look at a place, the things you notice and the timing of your visit. Nature is always changing our surroundings—weather, seasons, growth, and decline all affect the composition of natural communities and human landscapes alike. And just as places change, we change—our response to our surroundings is rarely the same twice.
For me, art is a natural extension of exploration. The creation of art offers us a way of capturing those special moments when we encounter something that moves us. Art allows us, in our own unique way, to convey the great value of exploration.
Keeping this blog helps to remind me that every time we step outside, we have the opportunity to explore. All we have to do is open our eyes to something new, something different and allow ourselves to be surprised by how much there is to discover.
Assortment
- Del Valle Regional Park
- It’s difficult to not take it personally when you get kicked out of a National Park. Especially when you’re someone who adores National Parks as much as I do. It soon became clear that the debt ceiling crisis was not going to resolve itself any time soon.
- Flattop Mountain
- When I discovered that Saturday’s forecast was expected to remain clear and mild, I decide to make the most of it and to hike the Flattop Mountain Trail.
- Monsoons
- The rains are here. For five days straight, I’ve lived under leaden skies and breathed in damp air. The garden is lush, which saves me the chore of watering flowerbeds twice daily.
