Maps are shortcuts to stories. In a journal, they can tell the story of a trip, pin down a location, help a memory grow roots.
Last weekend, we took the motorcycles for a trip down to Tucson. On a map, it looked like desert for the whole back-road trip. That would have been enough, I love the desert landscape. But when I looked at some history of the area, I found great places with interesting stories.
A map help combines the two. I can remember the route and remember the places with interesting stories. Oh, and one more thing. I’m back on Michelle Ward’s Street Team, doing her Crusade challenges. This is Challenge 48.
The one thing I don’t care about on my maps is that they are not to scale. I can look that up, and since my maps are never to scale, I don’t expect them to be.
You don’t have to know how to illustrate, either. Simple sketching will do, and often an icon (the jail window) stands in for the real thing.
—Quinn McDonald keeps a journal filled with maps. Her book Raw Art Journaling, Making Meaning, Making Art will be in stores in July, 2011.
QuinnCreative 