Cynthia Daignault's Road Trip

Cynthia Daignault was inspired by the rambling road trips of photographers such as William Eggleston and Robert Frank, and by writers such Mark Twain and Jack Kerouac. But she noticed the absence of women's names from the list.

She came up with an ambitious idea: to drive around America and stop whenever the odometer clocked another 25 miles. The goal was to paint whatever view presented itself. 

"Daignault traced the route she would take on a road map, snaking a thin pencil along the outside border of the continental United States. She drove the loop, on blue highways and back roads, avoiding interstates and stopping every few miles to get out of the car—look, paint, walk, or just sit. Traveling over 30,000 miles, across forests, deserts, mountains, and fields, she followed the road for a year." (Source)

Accomplishing the goal wasn't easy.

"I remember being about 7000 thousand miles into the drive and realizing, what have I done? My back hurt from sitting. I was exhausted from driving 14 hours a day. I was lonely and strung out. I remember looking at the canvases and thinking, “This has already taken months and I’m only at number 60. I still have 300 more to go.” (Source)

Eventually she built up 360 paintings, and called the collection "Light Atlas." 

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An exhibition of "Light Atlas" will be on view as part of the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit  at the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas through September 2018.

• Join the Facebook group "Sketch Easel Builders"

• Take part in the challenge "Paint a Parking Lot"

Thanks, Judy Maurer