The Traveling Girl
The Traveling Girl is a series of oil paintings by Rob Kaz on exhibit at the West Osceola Library branch in Celebration, FL Sept 15 - Nov 17, 2025.
Where is she going? Where is she from? What's in her bag? What's her story?
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I had the vision for 8:15 - a girl with her face obscured, sitting at a bus stop with a wooded scene behind her, seemingly waiting ... and I wanted the subject to have a dangling flip-flop from a crossed leg, the same way my girlfriend's flip-flop dangled. So, while my then girlfriend (now wife) sat on the bench at the dining room table in her apartment, I sketched until I thought I had the look just right.
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Before deciding to paint Departure, the second piece in The Traveling Girl series, I had sketched this empty station where an empty train with red wood-plank siding sat seemingly waiting for passengers. And while I loved the sketched scene, I felt it lacked story - something I feel is the most important part of every single painting I create. Ultimately, I decided to add the same girl from 8:15 when the sketch moved to the canvas. And then suddenly, the story began to tell itself, while still leaving plenty of room for the viewer to interpret their own story and details.
Have you spotted a tiny green frog in each painting? That's Beau. He appears in each of my paintings, sometimes hidden.
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When I painted Crossing, it was clear I had unintentionally created a series and The Traveling Girl was born. I still had no idea where her story was headed ... and that has always been part of the fun in painting her.
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By the time I painted Trusting, my style had started to become more defined and it showed in this piece. For the first time in a Traveling Girl painting, I included some of the characters I had started to develop in my collection Friends Along The Way, including Sheldon (the turtle). And I prominently featured Beau (the frog) who had previously been hidden or a silent observer.
Have you spotted a tiny green frog in each painting? That's Beau. He appears in each of my paintings, sometimes hidden.
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Did you notice that one piece in the exhibit appeared without a signature? Good eye! That's a work-in-progress that is not yet complete.
I wanted to include this unfinished piece in the exhibit because I thought it might be interesting to see the process.
For my Friends Along The Way collection, I typically tend to paint back to front, using a blocking method and then fill in the details as I move forward. Notice how the basics of the image are there, but details are not yet added. Her face is even more simplistic than usual. The dog's shape is still being worked out. The path, the greenery, the legs of the bench ... they're in place and recognizable, but they lack texture, color, light ... and in some cases the shapes are still not quite right. This is all part of my blocking process.
During this process, it's very common for me to change the painting or the original concept as my mind begins to see more of the story. In this case, I can see me adding a few more surrounding elements as I work into finalization. I'll likely add more life around the girl and the dog ... but still let them notice only each other in this moment. And honestly, I still don't know exactly how this painting will conclude - I have to let my imagination tell me more of the story as I continue to paint.
