An Artist’s Date

With the Trinity Tower’s bell tolling in the distance, as though it celebrated the completion of another day’s classes, I walked off campus into the surrounding San Antonio suburbs. Despite my pounding headache, an unfortunate result caused by insomnia, I had decided to take myself on an artist’s date. Walking through these quiet neighborhoods, I began to think about the small creative project that I had brainstormed the previous week. It started rather simply, as one afternoon I noticed the sunset was especially colorful, with the underbellies of clouds coated by a wonderfully deep shade of red. The photo I took immediately made me imagine it was taken in some jungle woven country. After looking at the picture for a bit, I managed to come up with the title, Finding Exotica in All the Common Places, thinking I might post it to Instagram, among other social media (I want you to know that my Instagram has all of three posts, two from 2017 and one from 2018, so this was a bit different for me).

So, as I walked through the neighborhoods of San Antonio’s historical district, I looked for more possible additions to fill out my picture set. I was fortunately let out of class right before the sun had set, so I got to play with some great lighting, which is how I managed to get the picture of the flowers above. I found myself looking at my surroundings in a different way as I found potential material in more things than I expected. The two concrete lions guarding the walkway of a walkway, the black metal stallion door knockers, and even a row of sprinklers that created a series of arches reflecting colorful rainbows in their mist. I see these things and more on my walks throughout these neighborhoods, but as I took the time to see the potential of my surroundings, each street and neighborhood became a kind of creative scavenger hunter. By the end of my walk I must have explored at least five or six blocks worth of front yard gardens, back alleys, and everything in between. One potential addition I found was a side walk corner that was shaped like a roundabout with a lush circle of greenery in the center. I thought that if I could get an overhead shot using something like a drone, it would take on an Aztec-esk look, as the sidewalk is reddish orange concrete. As the sun set, I ended my artist’s date, filled with more inspiration for the future of my collection for Finding Exotica in All the Common Places.