Carolyn Berl-Donald was getting a little tired of creating her hyper-realist paintings. But then she received a $5,000 grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts.
So she took some of the money so that she could travel west, including on Route 66, and find inspiration, reports the News-Journal.
Route 66 led her toward a new way of seeing and painting. Along the road, she took in sunsets, stoped to photograph rusty cars and old school buses and visited New Age tourist spots such as the UFO Watchtower in Hooper, Colo., a so-called vortex where people leave offerings. “They’d leave hubcaps and photos and toothbrushes,” she says.
During the trip, she became less interested in the realist style that she had worked in for many years. When she returned to Delaware, her work took a sharp impressionist turn. Eventually, Berl-Donald says, “It all started making sense. “
Her “An American Road Trip Diary” will be on display through Oct. 27 at the Carvel State Office Building Mezzanine Art Gallery, 820 N. French St., Wilmington, Del. You can find out a bit more about her trip on her Web site.