The art of labelling journeys

Last Saturday I labelled my 30th Moleskine notebook. I have been drawing in these robust books since 2004, so this amounts to a little over 2000 impressions – drawings that label all the places I have been lucky enough to visit, mainly on business.

During each trip I have recorded my observations in spare moments.At the beginning of a new day, an evening alone in a restaurant, in a bar waiting for colleagues, or in a few minutes stolen between meetings. The creative process is self-centred, sometimes I will disconnect myself from a group in a fancy restaurant to go off and make a picture. I have this compulsion to capture a moment, getting it down on paper and attaching a tag, a comment to describe my thoughts at the time.

RAMMED AND CRAMMED: Bankers, Blackberries and fine attaché cases. The boys from Finance are on the way to Milano, Me? More training. Hey Ho, it’s the start of a brand new day. 1hr. 35 minutes to Linarte

My 30 books form the basis of a collection of impressions and observations – those things captured in a fleeting moment before my very eyes. The narrative that accompanies some of the drawings is an immediate response to the highs and lows, joys and wretchedness of travel; as a result, my comments are often emotionally charged and always direct.

TO MADRID: Left the house at 4.45. A fox crossed my path. Installed in the Iberia Lounge by 5.45 Coffee appalling.

My art is about the ephemeral impressions of time and place. I am searching for what is special about each place: a sunset behind a mosque; the grey Paris dawn; tired travellers waiting for the limo bus at Narita; an impossibly crowded underground carriage or improbably attractive girls by a bar.

Last year I industrialised my drawings – scaling up, dramatising, enlarging, and building a series of 30 x 50 cm coloured monoprints of my twenty-one favourite destinations. Not a faithful playback of the drawings; rather distilling the essence of a place ie Singapore thunderstorms or the late afternoon light in Bogota.

Both drawings and monoprints have been described as playful, expressive, and inaccurate. Whatever the reaction, they seek to show a gratitude for having been at that specific place in that particular time.

I see business travel as a great privilege – the places I have visited, the people I have met and worked with, and experiences I have gained. These are special gifts and this body of work is my way of saying ‘thank you.’

Drawing when travelling seeks to capture the imagination of other people; to strike a chord for those who have been to that particular place or to arouse a desire to one day visit

ON THE STAR FERRY: Friday night. Ferry packed with people in a holiday atmosphere as some mist drifts between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island

When we travel the world, we hopefully discover that every place is interesting. Each situation has a special luggage tag.

LABEL MAKING KIT: Aside from the Moleskine the equipment is simple and carried in a suit pocket: two Pilot gel pens, a camera in case I loose my nerve, a selection of coloured crayons, and a glue stick for appending ticket stubs and such to particular pages. I often wonder how many over-50s mess with crayons and glue so very often.

For further illuminations on Tim and his travels read his interview at The World According to Tim Baynes. A selection of his illustrations can be viewed at our photography galleries.

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