Category Archives: Travel

Travel photo of the month*

On the ferry to Naoshima Island, Japan

*favorite travel photos that have not yet appeared in this blog

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Q: What lies in the future for you? (Question from “Cultured Focus Magazine”)

Museum of Ethnography and Folklore, La Paz, Bolivia
Museum of Ethnography and Folklore, La Paz, Bolivia

A: I still have so much to say and share through my work! First, I want to continue creating and adding to the “Boliviano” series of pastel paintings that I began in 2017.

Second, Jennifer Cox, my director, and I are considering making part II of our film, “Barbara Rachko: True Grit,” which will require a return trip to Bolivia – to the Museum of Ethnography and Folklore in La Paz, where I first encountered the masks that are my current subject matter, and to Oruro to see similar masks in action during Carnival celebrations. This will be a complex undertaking and the issue of financing will first need to be resolved. Stay tuned!

Comments are welcome!

Travel photo of the month*

Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY

*favorite travel photos that have not yet appeared in this blog

Comments are welcome!

Travel photo of the month*

Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY

*favorite travel photos that have not yet appeared in this blog

Comments are welcome!

Pearls from artists* # 630

With Margaret Anderson, Naoshima, Kagawa, Japan

*an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on.

Fresh experiences can lead to new tastes and a life that feels longer, Julie contended. Remember when you were little and an hour-long car ride felt like a lifetime? “I think it’s because, truly, everything’s new. When you experience new things, time slows down a little bit,” she told me. “When you go on trips – which is my favorite thing to do – everything is new, and you feel young again. And reinvigorated with new ideas, new perspectives, a new understanding of yourself.”

Julie Curtiss quoted in Get The Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See by Bianca Bosker

Comments are welcome!

Travel photo of the month*

Autumn in Alexandria, VA


*favorite travel photos that have not yet appeared in this blog

Comments are welcome!

Q: What inspires you to create? (Question from “Cultured Focus Magazine”)

Barbara’s Studio
Barbara’s Studio

A:  You remember the expression, to whom much is given, much is expected? Having discovered around the age of 5 or so that I could draw anything I could see, I know I have been given a tremendous gift. I remember being completely surprised as a kid to realize that not everyone can do this.

Therefore, I feel a kind of sacred obligation to develop my abilities as far as possible, to make the most of my short time on this earth. It is a thrill to see not only what is going to happen next in the studio, but also in my life. For example, I have become a world traveler. I wonder, which new country will I visit next?

Comments are welcome!

Travel photo of the month*

St. Malo, Brittany, France

*favorite travel photos that have not yet appeared in this blog

Comments are welcome!

Travel photo of the month*

Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France

*favorite travel photos that have not yet appeared in this blog

Comments are welcome!

Travel photo of the month*

Dinard, Brittany, France


*favorite travel photos that have not yet appeared in this blog

Comments are welcome!