Finding the Right Expression

 

As previously discussed, as each map is more fully drawn, it takes on a life of its own.  The backgrounds give way to more detail.  The details require more research and careful consideration and this often leads to further areas of study not originally planned for.  This is not only OK but positively exciting.  The maps aren’t produced on a schedule and each one has to take as long as needed to reach a satisfying place.  Sometimes these investigations are really fruitful and supply especially salient tidbits that really add to the overall quality of the finished map.  And other times, they are just pleasant detours into obscure areas that don’t provide anything particularly useful to the finished product.  There is no way to know ahead of time so the search must be done.  Making a map is literally not just about the product, it is all about the process.  The “getting there” provides as much of the pleasure as the final result.  In fact, there is a bit of melancholy when a map is “finished” because it means this particular process has ended and all the pleasant or frustrating interludes along the way are over.  And until the next one is started, that aspect of my daily life is set aside.  And I won’t know until the next one if I will even have that much fun, as there is no guarantee that each place will be as fascinating as the last in terms of what I’ll find and what the research will require of me.  Finding this data and deciding how to record and represent it for others to appreciate is often the crux of how successful or popular a finished map may be.  Peoples’ gut reaction to any piece of art is pretty unpredictable and I have certainly seen this with the range of my maps.