Mari Le Glatin was born and raised in Brittany, France. She studied printmaking before traveling around the world with her sketchbooks and pencils, filling up pages with her recordings.
"I have been doodling, playing with lines and words for as long as I can remember. When I went to art school, drawing became a passion, lines and inks took over the words. I spent four years in South America drawing plants and flowers. A long adventure had started and continues to the present.
" In 1987, upon arriving in Corvallis Oregon, I had the opportunity to go back to printmaking and for 3 years, I happily drew on plates and stones. In 1990, I was struck by an illness and my life took a turn. A couple of years later, my family and I decided to go back and live in France. It is in Provence that I rediscovered the beauty and simplicity of sketching. Everyday I went out with my sketchbook and a few pencils. Seeing, witnessing, and recording all the changes taking place in nature around me had become part of my everyday life. I was happy and I felt safe…
"Back in the US in the fall of 1994, I promised myself to share my culture and my sketching experience with others. I created "The Art of Travel with a Sketchbook" and I have been leading sketching workshops ever since. Every year I have added new destinations knowing very well that beauty is everywhere if you take time to see it!"
This is Mari's thirteenth year of leading sketching workshops. Six of her books were published in France. Out of those six books, "Carnets de Bretagne" and "Les enfants de l'été, Henri Fabre's Insects" are the only ones still in print and available through Amazon.fr. Last year, she dedicated her time to writing a book about what she had witnessed over the years leading sketching workshops, but she also knew that she had to give voice to her participants; only they could illustrate the process. Twenty-one of them happily volunteered to share their pages. In her book, each of them talks about their experience in discovering who they are, humble and true. The book is done and released! The Art of Travel with a Sketchbook is now available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and book stores across the country. Read an interview with Mari at Trumpetvine Travels, a blog about "sketching for travel, journals and fun."
