Carnet de voyage

Recollections of travels, mainly through France, Belgium, Spain, and Italy. They are a combination of sketches, photography, and handwritten notes.

  • Interview about sketching on location

    Interview about sketching on location

    While I was on a sketching trip in Mallorca, I got a surprise call from a journalist at a Belgian national newspaper. The reason? A recent episode of the television program Gloria Mundi, in which presenter Gloria Monserez sketches scenes while travelling with a guest in their homeland. The show brings the practice of drawing… Continue reading


  • The oldest house in Oppède-le-Vieux

    The oldest house in Oppède-le-Vieux

    Oppède-le-Vieux, our residency of the past twenty years, is perched on a rocky outcrop in the Luberon region of Provence. It’s known for its medieval architecture, rich history and vegetation. But also its desolation and silence. The name says it all, ‘vieux’ (old in French), and I wondered what the oldest house in the village… Continue reading


  • A Double-chambered Vessel

    A Double-chambered Vessel

    It was during the time I had just begun my first lessons in graphic techniques at the academy. My greatest source of inspiration were the drawings I had made during a long stay in Mexico. (More about that in this blog post: Mexico, my plein air sketch roots.) The archaeological sites of Tula and Teotihuacan… Continue reading


  • Mexico 1986, my plein air sketch roots

    Mexico 1986, my plein air sketch roots

    While unpacking after moving between houses recently, I stumbled upon one of my first sketchbooks with plein air sketches. A pack of memories came back to me, together with the rediscovery of my roots of why I write and draw. I must have been around 19 years old at the time. Of course, I sketched… Continue reading


  • A commissioned travel journal

    A commissioned travel journal

    Almost without exception, my travel journals are for personal use. It does happen that an isolated drawing ends up as an illustration in an article or book. But then, it is out of his original context. So when the Deputy Creative Director of Road & Track (Hearst magazines) contacted me, I was challenged! If I… Continue reading


  • Ode to Lizzie Napoli

    Ode to Lizzie Napoli

    Créatrice of Carnets de Voyages avant la lettre. As such Lizzie Napoli should not be missing in my series about following in the footsteps of famous carnettistes. Continue reading