UNVEILING THE JOURNEY: Maps, Fly Fishing & Creative Exploration

There may be no better time for this two-part series from Jeff Kennedy as we're all feeling the post holiday doldrums and getting inside an artist's head as he tells the story of his late summer
"Artist in Residence" experience at Gates Au Sable Lodge.

Leading up to this trip, Jeff had reached out asking if I had any maps from my years banging around northern Michigan and I sent a few things that I had stashed in an old cigar box.  I was glad to help fuel his "creative exploration". 

Like what you see in this T.F.M. post?  You can re-visit the "Artist in Residence" posts from the 2019 series of posts that we did together.

Jeff Kennedy wrote...  "I was ecstatic at the prospect of spending a week at Gates Lodge, nestled on the banks of the Au Sable River in Grayling, Michigan, for my second artist residency.  This program offered me the chance to embark on a transformative journey, seeking refuge in the realm of artistic creation—a sanctuary beckoning me to escape the ordinary and embrace the extraordinary.  As I explored the purpose of an artist in residence, unraveling the layers of creative passion and thematic exploration, a unique synergy emerged between fly fishing, my insatiable curiosity, and the art that would unfold.

To help provide some focus and a framework for the residency, I needed a theme.  Themes serve as a compass, providing a direction for my creative endeavors.  After brainstorming some ideas (a go to design thinking process rooted in my Industrial Design profession) I settled on "Maps" as my theme.

I must admit this theme is a favorite of mine.  That is because I am a Cartophile, Map Junkie, Map Nerd, and I am addicted to everything about maps.

The word cartophile refers to those who have a strong addiction to maps.  As an Industrial Designer, I am responsible for designing the user experience for our new products.  Creating journey maps, empathy maps and behavior maps are all part of my design toolkit.  I collect everything maps as far back as I can remember.  Growing up I remember waiting with anticipation for the monthly issue of National Geographic and search for the hidden fold out map that was contained within the issue.  Unfolding these maps became a ritual, a sensory experience filled with the aroma of ink and the anticipation of the adventures each fold would unveil.  Maps are not just navigational tools; they are gateways to magic, adventure, and exploration.

A map points me to a small location and lets me know that “I am here.”  Maps unveil our relationship to the world at large.  Maps set curiosity into action, our wondering makes us wander off in search of something, the act of exploration is launched.  Visually expressing these explorations of the mind, dreams and visions easily result in maps.  Maps do not provide answers, it only suggests where to look.  Discover this, reexamine that, orient yourself, begin here.

“To ask for a map is to say, ‘Tell me a story.””
-Peter Turchi, Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer

Another passion of mine is visual storytelling.  Maps are a great vehicle for visual storytelling.  Creating maps as part of my artistic endeavors becomes a tool for storytelling and self-discovery.

Some of the questions I use in map creation are:

• What is the territory, moment, story, or journey of my map?
• Is the place lost, found, real or imagined?
• Is there an “X” on my map?
• What is the purpose of my map? To share, relive, explore, record?
• Who does the map serve?
• Are their dangers? What are they and where do they appear?
• What is the time frame for the map?
• Should I include latitude and longitude or other lines of division?
• What is the mood for my map?

One can make a map of nearly any journey, place day or experience, however menial it may seem.  A map is simply a visual record of meanderings both mental and physical.  I enjoy the physicality and experience of maps.  The unfolding, anticipation of the adventures that are revealed with each fold.  The texture of the paper, the aroma of the ink, the visual grandeur that is taking place.  This is lost with digital GPS.  It is functional, utilitarian, “get me from point A to point B in the shortest and most efficient amount of time.” There is no physical experience.  I confess, I use it today.  It is convenient and always ready.  But some part of me misses grabbing a Gazetteer or unfolding a travel map and charting the exploration.  The physical act of marking up the journey.  The handwritten notes, written in the margin of a map, what did they mean?  I think of a map as a means of time travel forwards or backwards."

Look for the second post in this series later this week and in the meantime, make sure that you are following Jeff Kennedy on Instagram.