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Marianne North Journals

Marianne North

Artists open our minds to experience the world in a new way.  Marianne North traveled the world and showed how the exotic could be found in the everyday.

Marianne North Compendium
Sometimes people you never meet, that lived in a different time and place, can have a significant impact on your life.  Marianne North, a nineteenth century biologist and artist, has influenced generations of artists.
North extensively traveled the world, starting with Syria, the Alps, Canada, the United States, and India.  After exhibiting her art ad receiving acclaim, Charles Darwin suggested that North visit Australia, which was followed by further travels to South Africa and countries in South America.  
Marianne North Birds
Marianne North inspires
Kew Gardens has a large permanent exhibit of North’s work, including landscapes and still life.  The works are vibrant and approachable.  Reproductions are available to a wide range of products from T shirts to postcards.
Personally I appreciate how North was able to find as much beauty and life in her English studies as anywhere else in the world.  There is a continuity of color and form that transcends location, confirming that there is wonder in the everyday, 
Marianne North Flowers
Peg McNamara Latest Book
Some of my favorite living artists remind me of the feel of North’s works.  Peggy McNamara, resident artist at the Field Museum in Chicago is a watercolorist, but something about the vibrance and wonder of her work reminds ne of North.
Uschi Journals

Journal Companions

Sometimes the best co-explorers are our constant companions; the cats, dogs, and rest of the menagerie that inspire us to take photos and try new things,  Our Bengal cats get us outside everyday, enjoying nature rain or shine.

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Uschi is “helping” with the scraps I’ve been collecting to make into a junk journal.  There are pieces of fabrics and papers spread everywhere.
It’s not just getting at ground level, it’s also experiencing the world with curiosity and exuberance.  Time with these companions  takes us down new paths.
Mark carries Uschi
Darwin Journals

Charles Darwin

Journaling has a long history in science.  Before cameras, naturalists sketched the world and wrote detailed notes that described their explorations.  Charles Darwin’s notes made him famous before he published a single book.

This is a photo of notes Charles Darwin made about barnacles, marine organisms with jointed feeding structures. 
Darwin Barnacle journal
Scientists and other science-related professionals are real people that face the same issues and concerns that other people face.  Life experiences impact the way we think about our world and our place within it, and that was the case for Darwin as well.

Charles Darwin’s contribution was providing a detailed description of species changing over time AND an explanation for that change; the theory of natural selection.  

After careful planning, gathering objects, and writing scrips, shooting videos always ends up being barely controlled chaos.  The wind is gusting, rain comes and goes, and the goal is getting a solid take to avoid editing later. 

After careful planning, gathering objects, and writing scrips, shooting videos always ends up being barely controlled chaos.  The wind is gusting, rain comes and goes, and the goal is getting a solid take to avoid editing later. 

Shooting-Videos-A-1

Video Shoots

After careful planning, gathering objects, and writing scrips, shooting videos always ends up being barely controlled chaos.  The wind is gusting, rain comes and goes, and the goal is getting a solid take to avoid editing later. 

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Sometimes we are both shooting videos and vying for the tripods and microphones.
Organized scripts are supplemented with scribbles of last-minute ideas and re-arranged thoughts.  We keep extra notes together for future reference when developing the captions that accompany the videos and photos.
In a way, this has become a form of journaling.  The key is to keep the ephemeral materials together and not lose ideas and thoughts along the way.  Labeled olders with pockets and sleeves keep everything organized.
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