Art and travel vlog of my hiking trip to Ait Bouguemaz at the end of this post.
I recently hiked through Aït Bouguemez (known as the Happy Valley) nestled in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains. It wasn’t my first visit; this valley is one of my favorite places in the country.
The landscape is endlessly inspiring, a mesmerizing blend of greens, blues, and warm earthy tones.
The landscape is endlessly inspiring, a mesmerizing blend of greens, blues, and warm earthy tones. I usually go in September or October, just in time to enjoy the freshly harvested apples… the best you’ll ever taste.
When I returned home, I felt compelled to recreate the experience through abstract watercolor and ink paintings. I wanted to explore how the colors intertwined: green fields rising against red rocky hills, soft white clouds echoing the snowy mountain tops, and a bright blue sky shimmering on the flowing river. I had to capture that memory on paper.
Whenever I come back from a hike, I’m filled with inspiration and a strong desire to translate my time in nature into paintings and travel journals. But, more often than I’d like to admit, the ideas pile up while the execution stalls. When I finally force myself to make something, it can feel like an assignment—draining the joy from the process.
Over time, I realized that the real obstacle was fear. Fear of messing up, making mistakes, or ruining a page. It can be paralyzing, leaving behind unfinished projects and a lot of frustration. Yet it’s ironic, because as an artist, experimenting—and yes, making mistakes—is essential. It’s how we learn, discover our preferences, and ultimately shape our artistic voice.
Six months ago, I committed to a sketchbook journal where I recorded daily moments and practiced drawing and painting. The sketchbook itself wasn’t the perfect choice, which taught me a valuable lesson, but the experience was incredibly rewarding. I still have hesitant moments, but now I’m better at pushing past them and simply diving in.
And that’s exactly what I did with this trip too.