into the wilderness we go….

I’ve recently begun a masters in Illustration at the University of Hertfordshire which I’m very excited about, and also a little terrified by as I work full-time and have a 2 year old son who means the world to me, and with whom I try to spend every possible second with. The masters is an endeavor I’ve wanted to take on for some time now, and although the circumstances dictate that I have to do  a lot of the work alone and in the wee hours of the morning, its a journey I’m very excited to have begun.

As I begin writing this post I think of a television commercial I watched recently for The Hudson Bay Company (a Canadian Department store) which featured one of the company’s most famous sons; David Thompson, climbing the Rocky mountains, and looking rugged. Mr Thompson was many things to many people, most notably: map maker, surveyor, fur trader, astronomer, revolutionary, explorer and epic adventurer! He is most renowned for having mapped more of North America than anyone else, which he accomplished by horseback, canoe, dog sled and on foot. He traveled some 90,000 kilometres, (is this how I should spell it in Canada?) equivalent to circling the globe twice,  and mapped some 3.9 million square kilometres of wilderness, quite the undertaking! He is also well respected for having contributed to Canada’s development as an independent nation. As I write this post I wonder how  he felt as he started his journey, and walked his first kilometre, was he as excited as I am right now? and how did he feel when he walked his 90,000 kilometre? was he overcome with emotion and joy at what he had accomplished? or just plain tired… He accomplished things most of us could never dream of, but yet it started with one step, so I’m left wondering how far this journey will take me?

I’ve  spent the last 4 weeks considering a topic that I’d feel comfortable dedicating the next 2 years of my life to. I’ve spent most of the last 15 years  working as an animator,  so its been a while since I’ve done much writing or research, but I  hoped that I would have an idea jump out at me. Well there have been numerous nights recently where I’ve begun developing ideas for my topic around 9 in the evening after a long days work, and worked till 3 in the morning thinking I was finally getting somewhere, only to throw the idea in the garbage  go to bed setting my alarm for 6, defeated, and getting ready to do it all over again the next day. With that thought in mind, going back to David Thompson for a second, I wonder how he felt around his 900th kilometre? did he ever spend hours or days portaging  through mosquito ridden swamps and forests, or paddling into headwinds across lakes only to realize he had left his compass back on the other side? (I’m guessing that was fairly important to him!) Maybe some of you reading this now have shared similar experiences researching your topic, spending way more time trying to decide where you should focus your energy than you thought you should, but hoping to get the result right in the end. In my experience putting the time into the idea up front has usually been worthwhile and pays off in the long run, but if it will here, only time will tell I guess… I know when I see themes that fellow students have selected, I think Wow! what an amazing subject… there is just so much excitement going on in the field of illustration and applied arts in general right now, its just such an incredible time to be creative and alive!

I hope that this blog will survive into the future. I’ve begun blogs in the past only to watch them fall by the wayside and loose direction, but feel I may have found a subject with meaning here that I could continue on with for many years . (pause for a bedtime story)

The topic I’ve chosen to focus on for our first 2 modules “Is Canadian Identity in children’s picture books”. In our practice 1 module (illustration course) I have selected the keyword of “story” with the intention of exploring uniquely Canadian myths and legends that could be applied to illustrated children’s books. To back this up conceptually I have begun researching the topic of “Canadian Identity in children’s picture books”. It is my intention to undertake thisin order to gain an understanding of where this topic lies currently, and begin to piece together where it has come from historically, politically and ethically.

I had originally intended to cover this topic primarily from an internal perspective, but realized that it would be beneficial to first gain an understanding of the facets that are involved in establishing cultural identity as a whole. So for that reason I will begin by researching the broader area of “Establishing cultural identity through illustrated children’s books” with the intention of focusing on how it relates to Canadian culture.

Well its currently 10 in the evening (EST) here at my home in Canada, so goodnight, I’m off to research books!

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