Some places just look lonely and forlorn – abandoned, even though folks reside within; unlived in. I wonder why this is?

If you haven’t drank a beer in Westport, eaten a burger at one of the Town Topic locations at three a.m., or had a server shout out, “Hi! May I help you?” as you walked through the door at Gates, then you cannot claim to have really lived in Kansas City. On this particular November day I felt the urge to go on a sketching safari at some of these locations.

It’s December, and night falls quickly, throwing shadows across the landscape, draping this rural Missouri home in dramatically shrouded stripes. I pause on my ride quite a bit longer than I’d intended to sketch this location, my fingers and joints feel the cold and I quickly grow stiff.

Many of my students and patrons have asked me where my ideas come from. I like to believe I’m a student of the world around me; I unconsciously doodle on any scrap of paper that happens to be at hand and I seldom feel obliged to make a “photographic” representation; rather I enjoy trying to sketch the mood or quality of the moment. Presented here are pages from my travel sketchbooks, those many ubiquitous Moleskins I carry with me nearly everywhere.

With few exceptions, I will try to keep my sketches fresh by putting pen to paper without the “safety net” of a pencil sketch.