Exploring Creativity, On and Off the Map

by Marney K. Makridakis

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in my weekly "Memo to Artella Members" a bit about my experience with maps, and how they have been inspiring me creatively, and several Members have written me about this, asking to hear more. So today's article includes ideas and tricks and tools for how maps can play a role in literally re-directing your creativity.

You could say I've had a bit of an obsession with maps over the past few months. It all started when I created the Table of Contents for
Artella 9, THE JOURNEY: Destination & Imagination.

I decided to make the Table of Contents an actual "map", which would guide the reader to move through the issue, passing through both real and imaginary locations. (I'd like to share a free poster of The Journey Map with you, which you can download here.)

It was an amazing experience, creating a fictional Map. It brought me back to a childlike state of mind, where I got to make my own rules. Imaginary continents got to float next to real ones. It was so freeing!

As you've know no doubt experienced, once we're attracted to something, we start seeing it everywhere. And so since then, I've started seeing and experiencing great ways to incorporate maps into creativity. Here are some resources and ideas to share with you:

    * The book, Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer, is a fascinating find. It's all about the ways in which writing and mapmaking are similar, and the intersections between maps and books. It's dense, but a fascinating read.

    * In the book The Creative License: giving Yourself Permission to Be The Artist You Truly Are, Danny Gregory devotes two pages to ideas for drawing maps. He suggests drawing maps of your trip to and from work, drawing your childhood home, mapping your elementary school, mapping places you've ever traveled, mapping the origins of the food you eat, mapping a task you do every day, step by step.

I took out my crayons and drew a map of my elementary school and it brought out so many interesting memories, just trying to recall the space and environment.

    * If you've never worked with MindMaps as a brainstorming technique, it's a fabulous way to get your mind thinking in new ways. Much juicier than lists, MindMapping involves puttnig a central ideas drawn in a circle on page, and then radiating ideas out from that point. For more info on MindMapping, read any of Tony Buzan's books on the subject [e.g. The Mind Map Book], or look up "mind mapping" in a search engine... you can even find software where you can do it on a computer!

    * Create maps of your mind, your imagination, your soul, and your body. Not only art projects, these can be true self-expression exercises as well!

    * Lately I've been on a kick painting on maps, instead of canvas or paper. Read more about this in the Art Tip, below!

Perhaps the age-old mystery in maps can inspire a bit of creative magic in your life, too! You never know where your true north is hiding!

Art tip

I've been painting on old, large maps, instead of canvases or paper, and it's brought a new dimension to both the process of painting and the final work.

Painting on a map is like having a dialogue with lines, shapes, colors, and spaces. You have to choose what to cover and what to leave exposed, and what kind of opacity and translucency to use on the parts of the map that you cover up.

It also involves creating a relationship with the places that the map represents, and asking questions like, "Are these real places?" "What do they add to this painting?" "Why is THIS map in particular in this painting, as opposed to any other?" (an important question when using any ephemera, not to mention when it's your entire painting surface!)

On a practical note, I used acrylic paints to paint on these old maps. I imagine they would be too flimsy to with stand watercolor unless they were first mounted on watercolor paper. In general, old maps in particular can be quite fragile.

For durability, you may want to mount them on a stretched canvas, either before or after you paint on the map.

See the painting in full size, and to see other examples!

Maps are great tools for writing, too. Take a look at these examples:

For fiction:
When you are writing stories, drawing maps for the different locations in the story is a great way to capture details, ensure consistency, and expand your sense of place.

For poetry:
Sketch figurative maps, such as what the map of love looks like, or the map of the ocean's sigh. Allow those images to breathe new life into your poetry.

For non-fiction:
Use mind-maps (see the feature article for an explanation) to help you organize your thoughts and resources.

This is one of those exercises that needs to be done, and not just read and thought about. Give it a try. Your maps don't need to be fancy or "artistic".

They can just be pencil sketches on a piece of paper, or even a napkin. It's just about orienting yourself visually in order to better inform your writing. Why not use all the tools you have at hand?

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This article is an excerpt from the Artellagram newsletter [of 5-26-06]. See the Artella site to subscribe.

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Marney K. Makridakis is the Editor of Artella, who also leads popular creativity workshops and courses for members of the Artella community.  Read about her creative offerings for your Muse and spirit at ArtellaWordsAndArt.com

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