Field Notes: Drawing (on) Your Experience

Naturalist, artist, and author Roseann Hanson is an explorer. But her definition of the word doesn’t require you to have traveled extensively on 5 continents the way she has.

To her, being an explorer is more about how carefully you study something – whether it’s the Sahara Desert or a grain of sand – than how far you go. (Incidentally, I agree!)

Explorer Roseann Hanson sitting on the hood of a 4-wheel drive vehicle, taking notes in her journal. — Roseann Hanson (photo via her site, exploringoverland.com).

She gave a talk at the Natural History Institute in Prescott called “The Art of Exploration: How Field Sketching and Journaling Bridge Science, Conservation, and Well-being.”

I watched the livestream and found it riveting!

journal page — Krkonoše Mountains drawing by archaeologist Jan Erazim Vocel, c. 1841. Photo via State Regional Archives in Prague + Wikimedia Commons.

Field Note History

In the days before you could just carry a camera with you, it was common practice for scientists and explorers to draw what they were observing out in the world.

Their field notes often included beautiful illustrations, along with handwritten descriptions.

Twyfelfontein rock art — Ancient rock art in Twyfelfontein. Photo by SqueakyMarmot / Mike, Vancouver, Canada – CC BY 2.0

Sketched in Stone

The impulse to make a visual record of what’s around us and what we’ve seen on our journeys goes all the way back to the Stone Age, to cave walls and sandstone boulders. Roseann Hanson sees these drawings as early field notes.
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April 24, 2017January 25, 2019

Southwest Maker Fest 2017

I did an envelope journal workshop again this year at Southwest Maker Fest.

Once again, the attendees were super creative, coming up with their own clever modifications to the project, including one multifunctional journal that doubled as a wallet and a paper airplane!

This year, my assigned room was in a different area within the i.d.e.a. Museum that seemed less hectic.

Also, I had help! Several friends showed up and pitched in with explaining the project to latecomers and helping answer questions, etc. A big thank you to Anne, Katie, Trish (who also brought extra art supplies), and the ever-patient Phillip!

It was a lot of fun, and it always gets me thinking about how to make it better the next year!

P.S. You can make this too!

October 17, 2016October 17, 2016

Playing Card Mini Journal (WIP) and Las Vegas Trip

A photo posted by stephanieliebold (@stephanieliebold) on Jul 10, 2015 at 11:11pm PDT

Vegas has never seemed like my scene, but Phillip and I are planning to be there in a couple weeks. His longtime friend Michael, who now calls the area home, is getting married, so we’re taking a road trip! It’ll be my first time in Las Vegas (outside of a brief layover en route from Indiana, which doesn’t really count). So I’ve been researching things we might want to see – both on The Strip and beyond it.

A video posted by stephanieliebold (@stephanieliebold) on Jul 11, 2015 at 9:55am PDT

I also started making a mini scrapbook with playing card pages.

Even if the glitz and excess I associate with Vegas isn’t so appealing to me, there’s more to every place than meets the eye. I’m looking forward to searching out spots that tell different stories.

PS In case you can’t see them, the Instagram shots are a photo of Mr. Cheeseface on a slot machine and a video of take-off over the lights of The Vegas Strip.

April 4, 2016January 9, 2018

Make a Travel Journal from Envelopes

The envelope travel journals we made in my most recent Southwest Maker Fest workshop came from a combination of this upcycled junk mail project and a simplified version of one my friend Trish came up with.

The idea is that you can make them from just a couple envelopes and some string, and then have a pocket-sized way to record memories from your next trip.

1. Fold an envelope in half – use a #10 (DL) envelope or experiment with other sizes, upcycle junk mail or reply envelopes, etc.

2. Punch a hole or two in the center (on the fold).

3. Cut the top flap at the fold or remove it altogether.

4. Repeat with one or more envelopes.

5. Thread yarn, string, or twine through the hole(s) of all the envelopes and tie them together. (Alternatively, you can bind the envelopes with ring binders, paper clips and/or rubber bands.)

The envelope outsides have become pages for writing, drawing, or collaging the story of your trip, and you can tuck momentos inside.

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March 14, 2016

Southwest Maker Fest 2016

Southwest Maker Fest on Saturday had interactive booths, workshops, stilt walkers, craft projects, artists at work, and all kinds of fun stuff.

Since lunchtime was pretty hectic at downtown Mesa restaurants last year, a couple of food trucks were standing by: Burgers Amore (which I was introduced to at Fan Fest) and Queso Good (which I tried at Phoenix Comicon).

I wish I had gotten a shot of the inside of the IDEA Museum, where my workshop was (I had my hands full of craft supplies at the time), so you could see all the delightful creative chaos of the projects going on in there.

Upcycled Travel Journal Workshop

For my workshop, I made the project a little less open-ended this time, because too many possibilities can stress some people out.

I showed how to make travel journals out of 2 envelopes folded and bound together.

Some people chose to keep the books blank for their next trip. One attendee covered his pages with red tape; another wove plastic bags together using a plastic-yarn technique they were teaching at another booth and threaded that into her journal.

Both adults and kids got to have fun making stuff, and that was really the point.

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