One of the best things about giving my Vayable tour of Paris is the people I meet. Earlier this winter Kerry Lemon was one of the talented people I was fortunate enough to show around the city. Kerry, who is a UK-based illustrator, decided to come to Paris for 2-weeks on her own to work on a solo show she’s having in Japan later this month. She booked my tour for her first day in town, and I helped show her the lay of the land and made sure she was comfortable using the metro. Turned out that the important meeting that she had “near Le Bon Marché” the following day actually ended up being FOR the Bon Marché windows in January (see below)! Such a delight meeting Kerry + today I’m happy that we all get a peek inside her travels inspire her work. –Anne

home town:
Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire – it’s a small town in the South West of England and was a great place to grow up as it afforded me lots of freedom.

where you live now:
Virginia Water, a small village in Surrey. It’s quiet, peaceful, full of birds and beautiful walks. It’s perfect for drawing in my studio (I work from home with my two cat colleagues) and convenient for meetings in London.

last trip taken:
In December I spent 16 days in Paris (where I met the lovely Anne through a Vayable tour of the city). I was in a self imposed exile, I had run away to Paris to finally finish all the paintings ready for my solo exhibition in Tokyo (coming up in March this year). It was such a luxury and indulgence to focus on painting, but I did undertake a few commissions whilst I was out there (for Holland & Barrett, The Wildlife Trusts and The Times). I also had lots of meetings with potential clients in Paris and was commission by Le Bon Marche department store to create their January window display.

next trip on deck:
Tokyo, I am VERY excited. I’ll be attending lots of meetings with new potential clients in Japan, and of course the solo exhibition. My partner Steve is coming with me for this trip which will be really fun as we tend to travel separately.

one place you would go back to again and again:
London, not very adventurous as it’s just up the road and I’m there 2-3 times a week for meetings/ exhibitions/ friends but I LOVE all that London has to offer. I really appreciate the access I have to stunning museums, gardens and galleries – many of them for free! and I know that this has a huge impact on my work.

place you’d most likely recommend a friend go visit:
Iceland. I am OBSESSED with Iceland and appear to be on a mission to try and make everyone I know go there! Each year I go on a few drawing trips, and in Oct 2012 I went to Reykjavik. It was ASTONISHING. The colours, the architecture, the glaciers, volcanoes – it was all amazing and I will definitely be going back. I filled an entire sketchbook incredibly quickly as it was such an inspiring place to go. You can find out more about my trip to Iceland here.

preferred method of transportation:
I really hate the travelling bit of travelling. I love being in new places but dislike the long boring methods of getting there. I think part of the problem is that I’m miniature (4 foot 10 inches) and so my feet dangle and don’t reach the floor. When I travel with Steve he is always really sweet and creates me little foot rests (in the summer these are often constructed from him removing his shoes and stacking them up for me). I guess my favourite is trains, especially if they have a buffet trolley as a nice cup of tea makes every situation happier!

place you’ve never been but dying to go:
Morocco, India, Mexico (during November to see the Day of the Dead celebrations).

place you’d never go back:
Milton Keynes (I actually went here on holiday – if you are from the UK then you will know that this is both ridiculous and hilarious – if not then I can only explain that it is a land created entirely from concrete – although weirdly it has an amazing gallery).

most memorable trip in 2 sentences or less:
Birthday trip to Paris with my partner eight years ago, I was obsessed with it snowing and it did! We were skint but blew all our money on a room upgrade, and were rewarded with the amazing view of the Eiffel Tower.
how do you prepare for a trip?
Lots of lists, buy new paintbrushes (ridiculous I have roughly a million and clearly don’t need any more!), download audiobooks to iphone, get reading books from library, more lists.

how do you record your travels when you’re traveling?
Drawing, nothing compares to drawing. I draw quite slowly, and so if I choose to draw something I spend quite a lot of time looking at it. Drawing makes me remember a place so clearly, the exact colour, shapes, textures and also the weather, the smells of a place. When I just point and click a camera, I don’t see it in the same way, I don’t spend the time to properly look. Although I LOVE instagram and really enjoy the immediacy of taking quick snaps (putting them through a wizardly filter to maker them look cool) and posting them on twitter.

what is your favorite thing to photograph in a new place?
Hmm, I guess the details that I think I’ll forget.

on an average, how many pictures to you take on a trip?
Not that many – maybe 40?

what’s in your “designer travel kit” ?
A5 hard-backed sketchbook (not spiral bound as I like to draw across the centre), watercolours, paintbrushes, pigma Micron 005 pens, iphone for photos.

what do you do after a trip? how long after a trip does this happen?
Blog post – normally the Friday after I get back.

{Paintings made in Paris}

favorite souvenir/thing to bring back?
I try to bring back something small as a reminder, from Finland I brought a small Marimekko cup, in Iceland a tiny pair of earrings and most recently in Paris an Eiffel Tower keyring (which I love and have attached to my handbag)

LINKS:

• blog: kerrylemon.blogspot.co.uk
• portfolio: kerrylemon.co.uk
• twitter: @kerryannelemon
• instagram: @kerryannelemon

BOARDING PASS is a regular column exploring the creatives ways people see the world and record their travels.