Daisy Yellow: Maps from the Imagination (01)

maps as a muse for creative work (part one)

Hi everyone, it’s Tammy, with the Daisy Yellow newsletter. This is an extension of the Daisy Yellow blog, circa 2008. To unsubscribe, link below.

Welcome to part one of a two-part series about using maps as a muse for creative work. Next part: Maps from the Imagination (02).

My love of maps began in the TripTik era.

When I was young, family road trips started with a visit to the AAA/CAA office to pick up a Triptik. These were tall and narrow guided paper maps prepared for your specific trip. The office staff would collate pages with detailed turn by turn directions noted in highlighter.

And they gave us large folded maps that corresponded to the trip. When we drove from Pittsburgh to Toronto (via Niagara Falls), we’d get a slew of maps: a large folded map of Pennsylvania, New York, parts of Canada (and if we were lucky, the northeastern US).

12x12” gouache, 2020

Invitation: 🤗 You are welcome to play along with the last several weeks of Daisy Yellow Index-Card-a-Day. We’ve got <💯% optional> index card art prompts. It’s easy peasy… do something creative on an ordinary index card and make your day a smidgeon better! This week the long-awaited, much-beloved, ridiculously popular <💯% optional> theme of maps. To play along with map week, incorporate anything tangentially related to maps! Also: 12+ Tips for Sticking with Creative Challenges.

To use maps as a muse, the sky is the limit (pun intended).

Geography, cartography, the solar system, constellations, YOU ARE HERE stickers, imaginary islands, diagrams, kitschy tourist maps, architectural blueprints, and mind maps!

A map with the Gulf of Mexico. A hand-drawn map, landscape, blueprint, diagram, legend… geography, cartography, the earth, the solar system, planets, landscapes, or mind maps!!!

Here’s my basket of maps (underneath, accounting & ledger paper, a yearbook, and other miscellaneous stuff) on my art shelves.

3x3” ink, 2018 (365 somethings project)

Favorite books about imaginary maps, map-making, urban sketching, and landscape art

You are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination (Harmon) and The Art of Urban Sketching (Campanario). If you are interested in drawing landscapes and buildings and scenes and especially getting a better handle on perspective, I got a lot out of The Urban Sketching Handbook (Bower).

A beautifully illustrated children’s board book with maps is 🐻🗺️ Bear About Town by (Adler).

3x5” collage, 2017

This reminds me to remind you about the two latest Daisy Yellow zines! Zine 19: Exploring Shapes, Motifs & Themes in Your Art and Zine 20: Index Card Art Love.

3x5’ stitched collage, 2019

Words related to mapping, travel, and landscapes

Terms related to maps include atlas, legend, coastline, longitude/latitude, triangulation, elevation, directions, AAA maps, terrain, survey, plot, coordinate, projection, depiction, topography, path, compass, route, journey, location, zone, north/east/south/west, radar, uncharted, meridian, GPS, neighborhood, city, country, zip code.

Types of maps include subway map, Plant Hardiness Zone Map, genome map, mind map, elevation map, sea floor map, trail map, topographic map, contour map, biome map, population map, etc.

Terms related to travel include luggage, guidebook, SIM card, concourse, ferry, terminal, luggage carousel, shuttle, headphones, detour, taxi, ride share, itinerary, station, metro, subway, ticket, dashboard, car, steering, concierge, adaptor, cruise schedule, boarding pass, distance, vacation, backpack, stand-by, connection, pilot, flight attendant, (and of course 🎵 hotel, motel, holiday inn).

3x5” ink, 2020

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Next part: Maps from the Imagination (02).

Daisy Yellow is a reader-supported publication. 💕 I’m sharing a new series called the Creative Gazette that centers on different aspects of our creative practice. 🔄 Upgrade to get access & support my work.

Well folks, please do what you need to do to hold on to your art practice. Life is better with art than without. This has been a hard year. I know my art helps keep me grounded (maybe not today, but most days).

Tammy