Madeline Island Sketchbook

“The lake is the boss.” – Julian Nelson, Commercial Fisherman on Lake Superior When I read that statement in the National Park brochure for the Apostle Islands, it gave shape to everything I would see and learn during my week on Madeline Island, Wisconsin. I was there to teach a workshop for Madeline Island School of the Arts, and my class outings took us to forests, cliffs, and dunes on the lakeshore, and to the local historical museum in the tiny town of La Pointe. The lake—big, cold, deep, and windswept—influences it… Read More

The Earth in the palm of your hand

“A map says to you…Read me carefully, follow me closely, doubt me not. I am the Earth in the palm of your hand.” So wrote Beryl Markham (1902-1986), the first person to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic from Britain to North America in 1936. She wrote about her adventures in her memoir, West with the Night. I love the perspective that sketching a map can give you. It is a wonderful way to learn about the places you visit and to record your experience. Teaching a class this week on how… Read More