World

USA

Commentary

Work
& Money

Learning

Living

Sci/Tech

A
& E

Travel

Books

The Home Forum

Home  |

About
Us/Help |

Archive |

Subscribe
|

Feedback
|

Text Edition |

Multimedia

Search:

His Itinerant Artist
Project is a way to inspire his work, but also to
get art into the hands of ordinary people who
otherwise cannot afford it. Mott shows one of the
paintings he did at the Keefer's

Anne Sherwood/Christian
Science
Monitor

Itinerant artist will paint for a bed and a
meal

Jim Mott's cross-country odysseys are an attempt
to barter art – and hang it in the homes of everyday
people.

By
Ray Sikorski | Correspondent of The Christian Science
Monitor

from the October 16,
2007 edition

E-mail

Print

Letter to the
Editor

Republish

del.icio.us

digg

Page 1 of 3

Bozeman, Mont. - Modeling
himself after Odysseus, landscape artist Jim Mott has set out
on the Great American Road Trip. He has boldly declared that
his journey will be virtually free of monetary exchanges, and
he will depend only on his wits and his paintbrush to weather
his journey's vicissitudes. He has taken it upon himself to
redefine the nature of art, travel, money, and hospitality in
an age increasingly defined by individual insularity.

The only thing is, Jim Mott is terrified of what he's
doing.

"I don't like travel," the Rochester, N.Y.-based artist
confesses. "I'm scared of adventure."

But that's the whole point, he concedes. "I'm at the mercy
of all these things I can't control. It stimulates a lot of
creativity, a lot of productivity. It makes me rise to the
occasion."

Mr. Mott is on the second cross-country tour of what he
refers to as the Itinerant Artist
Project, in which he embarks on a road trip and offers a
small oil painting in exchange for two to four days of room,
board, and friendly conversation. On his first tour, in 2000,
Mott says he traveled nearly 10,000 miles through 23 states
over the course of two months. Since then, he has made several
smaller journeys, through western New York, New England,
Maryland, and Arizona. He chooses his hosts beforehand, making
contact through word-of-mouth, e-mail chain letters,
entreaties on his website, and a classified ad he places in
The Nation magazine. He now has created over 300 paintings
during his travels.

"It's like a productivity machine," he says, explaining
that he'll create more paintings in one to two months on the
road than he'll do in a year or two at home.

On Sept. 18, Mott flew to Seattle and picked up a '98 Chevy
Prizm he bought for $3,800 over the Internet. He's now driving
the car along a northern route, eventually to end up back in
New York around Halloween.He spent his first nights at an
artist's house in Issaquah, Wash., where he traded a
6-by-9-inch oil painting for room and board. Further down the
road, in Sandpoint, Idaho, Mott upped the ante on a host's
guess of the number of paintings he could complete during his
stay.

"I said I could do five," Mott recalls. "He said, 'No way,'
so I did seven."

Other than the one painting he gives as a gift to his
hosts, Mott sells some of the paintings he makes, typically
for $300 to $500. But mostly he prefers to keep the collection
intact for a possible traveling exhibit – and, he'd really
prefer not to use money on the trip, except for gas.

Page 1 |
2
| 3
| Next
Page

Get Monitor stories by e-mail:

(Your e-mail address will be
protected by csmonitor.com's tough privacy
policy.)

WORK & MONEY

BACKSTORY

WORK & MONEY

Retirees
are reentering the workforce -- but finding the right
job is a challenge

63
years later, native American war hero gets French Legion
of honor award

Municipal-bond
tax breaks face court challenge

Sponsored Links

Apparel

T-Shirts Design Online
Womens Shoes

Business Resources

Business Cards

Education

MA in Diplomacy - Online
Student Loans

Financial

Car Insurance
UBS Canada

Gifts

Engagement Rings

Graphic Design

Logo
Design - LogoBee

Home Remodeling

Home Renovation Guide

Internet Services

Internet Access

Legal Services

Find Lawyers

Real Estate

Home Loans
Mortgage Calculator
Moving
Moving Companies
Real
Estate
Toronto Condos

Speakers Bureau

Motivational Speakers

Travel

Hawaii Vacations
Vacations
in Hawaii

Web Services

Blog Web Hosting
Dedicated Servers
Domain Names
Email
Hosting
Email Hosting & Archiving
Website Hosting
Web
Hosting iPowerWeb
Web
Hosting Providers
Best Web Hosting

Movies

Movie Review American
Gangster: True crime doesn't pay off.
Denzel
Washington and Russell Crowe square off in an overly
self-conscious epic set in the 1970s.

More movie
reviews

Special

Multimedia Military
chaplains
Reporter Lee Lawrence
spent three months embedded with US military chaplains in Iraq
and Afghanistan. She profiles six of them - and their
"ministry of presence" - in a weekly series.

More multimedia
specials

Multimedia

Audio Slideshow College:
First Year
Juan Martinez attends a
religion class at Boston College, his first choice.

More
multimedia

Most-viewed stories (for 11/05/2007)

A
reality check on dreams for space: the repairs (11/05/2007)

Emergency
rule in Pakistan: Musharraf's last grab for power? (11/05/2007)

For
U.S. and Turkey, different priorities (11/05/2007)

In
Mexico's 'Katrina,' volunteers join relief efforts (11/05/2007)

In
'American Gangster,' true crime doesn't pay off (11/02/2007)

Be Your Own Boss!

Start a franchise.
Find the right one.

Select An Industry
Automotive Business Opportunities Business Services Children's Cleaning &
Maintenance Computer &
Internet Food Franchises
Healthcare & Senior Care
Health & Fitness High Capital Home Based
Businesses Home Services
Low Cost Franchises Mobile Franchises Personnel & Staffing Pet Franchises Retail Sports &
Recreation Travel &
Lodging

All Locations Alabama Alaska
Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Washington
D.C. Florida Georgia Hawaii
Iowa Idaho Illinois
Indiana Kansas Kentucky
Louisiana Maine Maryland
Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana Nebraska
Nevada New
Hampshire New Jersey
New Mexico New
York North Carolina
North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma
Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode
Island South Carolina
South Dakota Tennessee Texas
Utah Vermont Virginia
Washington West
Virginia Wisconsin
Wyoming

Select
Level $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000 $100,000 $150,000 $200,000 $250,000 $300,000 $350,000 $400,000 $450,000 $500,000

Franchise Gator
franchises

Monitor Services

Subscribe

Treeless Edition

Give a gift subscription

Free sample issue

Search the Archives

Monitor Mall

Receive our free e-mail
newsletters:
Enter e-mail address

Today's print issue

Enlarge
page
one

Home |

About
Us/Help |

Feedback
|

Subscribe
|

Archive |

Print
Edition |

Site
Map |

Special
Projects |

Corrections

Contact
Us |

Privacy
Policy |

Rights
& Permissions |

Terms
of Service |

Advertise
With Us |

Today's Article
on Christian Science

www.csmonitor.com | Copyright © 2007 The
Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved.