Jocelyn Curry

Art & Joie de Vivre

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As a retired lettering artist and illustrator, I still create a lot of visuals and have fun doing it. My website is a place I can post and share them from my Shoreline, Washington studio in my home.

To Make a Map

November 23, 2025

Did I need a deep plunge into a new blog site, right when such a time-consuming challenge really didn’t fit into my crowded calendar? The answer, no surprise, is “no” but at least I was able to navigate the mind-befuddling process of transferring the data from my old platform to this new, AI-enhanced version of good ol’ WordPress. My previous experience of working on good ol’ WordPress wasn’t stellar, so I’m hoping to improve my relationship with it asap. So far I have been able to upload my seasonally appropriate squash painting! But now, HOW do I get rid of “Hello World!” which was placed there by Good Ol. I’m not sure about this, but I think Good Ol’s default tips will stay on this, my First Post until I figure out how to discretely remove them without being told “This is not a good idea.” At least I got my squash up on this new site for your viewing pleasure! Happy Thanksgiving :-).

Before meeting a new group of map drawing students, I spend several days preparing teaching materials for them. There are no prerequisites for the class. Therefore, basic instruction in many different drafting and drawing skills related to drawing maps is necessary. The students never fail to impress me as they devotedly toil over every phase of their map designs. The results are so inspiring that I often take their ideas and suggestions and incorporate them in the next workshop I offer. The photos below were taken early on day 3, before the final push to finish them so what you see are not the finished products. This class was offered through the outstanding North Cascades Institute and was held June 24-26 at their beautiful Environmental Learning Center up on Diablo Lake. I have program director Katie Roloson to thank for including this class in the curriculum. Here are several examples of the participants' hard work:

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Mary and Charlotte Minor, one of two mother-daughter pairs in this class, smile in the midst of creating their personalized maps of Puget Sound, shown above their photo. A lot of hours go into making a map so being able to smile is helpful!
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Alice Hibberd designed a ship's wheel "mandala" format for her map of memories of her childhood home life. She did complete this map over the course of the last day. 
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Not far from our classroom is the Deer Creek Trail, a tranquil walk in the forest. Two of the students in this group did maps of this verdant place.
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Aly Gourd, our NCI assistant for the weekend, designed a cerebrally-inspired pair of maps based on a hike she took with a friend.
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To map one's own home property is particularly satisfying as well as thought-provoking. What matters most? How can certain features be best rendered? This map by Sue Adams was further colored after I took this photo.

 A note to the students: please send photos of your finished maps whether yours is shown in this group or not! I'll add the images as I receive them. It was such a pleasure to work with you all.

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