Meghan Bustard is a painter whose work is a slow, tactile conversation between experience, emotion, and memory — colour and gesture spilling from one canvas into the next, much like memory itself. Fresh off a trip to Amsterdam, we caught up with Meghan to talk about wandering, attention, and the quiet threads that connect a place to a painting.

When she arrives somewhere new, Meghan finds a café, orders a coffee, and sits outside. "I love to people watch, notice the rhythms of daily life moving by, and feel completely surrounded by new sights and sounds and strangers — all momentarily connected by location." Two things always make it into her carry-on: a good book, chosen to harmonize with the experience ahead, and a camera, which becomes an extension of her eye. "My camera roll is always full of photos that probably look like accidents to everyone else — close-ups of textures or colours I really liked next to each other."

Travel isn't separate from her creative process; it is part of it. "How does being in this specific place feel? How can I translate that sense of excitement, tranquility, or softness onto a canvas?" she asks. Grounding herself in unfamiliar places comes down to something simple: quiet moments alone, time to read, write, or sketch. That same instinct for what feels true shows up in how she dresses on the road — usually a slightly oversized button-down. "I like how I feel when I wear one — like myself."

Music travels with her too. She builds a new playlist for each destination, leaning into ambient, classical, and jazz — "cinematic, and it deepens the experience without overtaking it." Lately she's been listening to Resavoir and Stephan Maccio, along with the soundtrack to Past Lives.

Asked what colour palette this journey would be made of, Meghan doesn't hesitate: "Washes of light blue, bits of green dancing like leaves in the breeze, and butter yellow — already making their way into my current paintings." Light blue, soft green, butter yellow: perhaps, this season, the mood we hope to bottle for yours.