New Mexico Light (and space)

I went to New Mexico a couple of weeks ago. The light is different in New Mexico. It's bright and dry and very hot and feels like it will burn all the bad living out of me. All the alcohol and bad food and evil thoughts just melted away. The light strikes the ground at an odd angle that makes the shadows longer than usual. The light in Austin, where I live, is flatter, wet and heavy and feels a bit moldy and sticky. Does the environment affect the act of creating? I believe so. A couple of years ago I spent a few weeks in Florence, Italy working in an amazing printmaking workshop. It was a shop that Picasso had done some work in - there were artists proofs of his on the walls. I was inspired and amazed at how different the art I created was compared to the work I do in Austin. The experience was, how do I put it, magical. When I got home I tried to create the same sort of work, I have a small press at the house, but it was impossible. All the work came out with an "Austin" feel. I would love to work in Berlin for a while to see what I come up with.

Anyone else have the experience of your work being affected by place?

Go West

I'm going to New Mexico tomorrow for a week for some inspiration (and persperation). I love New Mexico. It has a special creative energy and I always feel energized when I come back AND I love road trips. There is something freeing about just getting in the car and driving. No one bothers you, no one calls and complains about whatever (turn off your cell), and no one, and I mean no one, can find you if you don't want to be found. That's what seedy western motels are for. New Mexico is a strange place. I've found that people either love it or the energy freaks them out. I'll be taking my camera and sketchbook of course. I hope to get some good freaky photos of ghost towns and desert and falling down gas stations. All that stuff that is creepy and fascinating at the same time. The ephemra of towns past their prime and worn down by the desert sun.
I'll write more from the road.