collaboration

Pages of bright colours and energetic marks from artists adventures

First let me explain what an Artist Adventure is… It is a project that has grown into a creative journey. Rachael Johnson and I share this journey. We have been art accountability buddies for over two years.

We regularly meet to collaborate on projects and build our art businesses. During this time we’ve noticed how meeting up sparks new ideas, boosts our energy, and keeps our momentum going.

Now, we are taking things a step further. We are going to be documenting our adventures. We will be expanding to new locations. We are keeping things simple.

Our goal? To remain creatively curious and inspire others to give it a try. With no set agenda and only limited materials, we simply enjoy a day out. It includes at least one artistic activity. It will be just one of our Artists Adventures.

The images above show you a peak at the sketchbook pages we created on our Artists Adventures.

The Power of collaboration

Working with an accountability buddy has completely transformed my art journey. Rachael and I regularly meet up, and each time we do, it reignites my passion for creativity. We bounce ideas off each other. We also get honest feedback. Having someone alongside me who shares my love for art has been invaluable.

Our First Artists Adventure

Our first adventure together as “Artists Adventures” took us to the stunning town of Valldemossa. It is a hidden treasure in the Tramuntanta Mountains. The drive was breathtaking. It wound through ancient olive trees and stone buildings.

We dodged goats and cyclists on the narrow mountain road. The town itself felt like it had been pulled straight from a painting. Stone paths, terraced hills, and olive trees provided endless inspiration.

Bell Tower in Valldemossa with green ceramic tiles

Artists showing sketchbooks on location in Valldemossa Sam Waters

We settled in the square, set up our materials, and just let the creativity flow. I started with bright blue crayons and lime green paint. I made marks across multiple sketchbook pages. I was influenced by the turquoise tiles of the bell tower, pictured above. The beauty of working in a new place was how easily the ideas flowed.

Do you ever get stuck with the blank page? I know that this can stop me creating. I highly recommend you try working outside to give you freedom and confidence.

Immersed in the moment

What I loved most was how engrossed we became in our art. Despite people passing by and even a group of teenagers sitting nearby, we were totally in the zone.

With no worries about what anyone thought—I was simply enjoying the process.

The images below offer a small taste of the colours, shapes and views that inspired me.

Purple plant in pot for artists adventures outdoor sketching

Purple and yellow flowers outside a house in Valldemossa

Old doorway in the pretty town of Valldemossa used for Artists Adventures outdoor sketching

Vivid red flowers against an old green shutter

Energy & Inspiration

By the end of the day, I felt energised and inspired. This was just the start, and I’m excited to continue exploring new places and seeing how they influence my art. If you’re feeling stuck creatively, I encourage you to grab a sketchbook and get outside. It’s amazing what a change of scenery can do!

Pack your pencil case with a couple of crayons. Add a pencil and a fine line pen. Just see what you can create.

how You Can get involved

To stay updated with all Artists Adventures, please sign up below. Additionally, you can get hints and tips to start your own adventure.

Have you ever embarked on your own artistic adventure? I’d love to hear about your favourite moments or the challenges you’ve faced along the way!

Do you find working outside fuels your creativity, or is your inspiration drawn from other places? Let’s share our stories!
What tools or supplies are always in your art kit? Anything unexpected you’ve discovered along the way?

Please share in the comments below.

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How it all Started

My sketchbook collaboration project started from an act of kindness really. I had seen on social media that artist Sue Bulmer was focussing for a whole year on creating concertina sketchbooks as a way to fuel her creative soul. Her plan was to create one sketchbook every month.

how could i reach out

As an artist I seem to generate and collect lots of collage papers, too many to ever use myself. As I sat in my studio surrounded by mountains of collage paper, I was inspired by Sue’s project and thought I should send her some of my collage papers for her to use in her sketchbooks. I was thinking how much I would enjoy receiving a package of papers from another artist.

What marks, what colours, textures and types of papers would be different to those that I usually use.

So I selected a range of handmade and found papers, wrote a note, packaged it all up and sent it off in the post…I don’t think Sue will mind if I say that she was very surprised and overjoyed to receive such a surprise package in the post.

Package tie with string and collage papers

What happened next

We arranged to have a video call so we could chat, we immediately hit it off and soon decided that we should think of a combined project that we could work on together, our sketchbook collaboration project was born.

Mindful and very low pressure

We wanted it to be low key with no pressure as we both already had pretty full schedules, we made our own rules, or rather decided not to have any! The basis of the project was that we both made a concertina sketchbook, each of us would work on a few pages in any way we chose and then we would post the book to the other artist for them to carry on.

It was fun to receive the book in the post, to see what Sue had done and what goodies she had sent for me to work with. I found working in the book calming, it didn’t have any expected outcome, just a fun few hours. Once I started in the studio, the pages took on a life of their own.

A friendship has been formed

From that moment our friendship has grown, we now have regular video calls and even arranged an in person meet to exchange our sketchbooks, visit a gallery and have a lovely art chatty lunch.

Sam Waters and Sue Bulmer exchanging sketchbooks artists

two concertina sketchbooks with a hand pointing

A joyful resource

The books we have made are a joyful playful resource. Packed full of colour and marks, one very pink the other blues. Some pages shout that they need some calm, others need more to be added. Already we have been working for just over a year and there is more to come.

I would highly recommend thinking about doing your own collaboration project as it is a great way to spark new ideas, make connections, push you to respond to marks and colours that you may never have chosen.

How to start you own creative collaboration

Find out how to start your own creative collaboration in my next blog post.

Want to know more about our collaboration project ? Then why not enter your email below to receive my newsletter where I share updates of our progress.