"Matisse gives the following example of not connecting:

I have often asked visitors who came to see me at Vence whether they had noticed the thistles by the side of the road. Nobody had seen them, they would have recognized the leaf of an acanthus on a Corinthian capital, but the memory of the capital prevented them from seeing the thistle in nature.

(Kent & Stewart, 2008, p. 100)"

View the three different films of the town and consider how the voice of the filmmaker comes through, what is missing or included in each. How might you represent this data?

Visit the interactive map tool for this area. Add your location relative to the place these films were taken. Notice differences in the data shown on the map of your area in relation to this city. If you already live here, can you detect any changes between neighborhoods within the city, or between the university area and the outskirts?

A tremendously constricting force on our contemporary society is the concept of the professional or specialist, who deals for the most part with what has already been done and builds on his own limits. To the extent we can approach our job as an amateur (from the Latin 'amare' meaning 'to love') will we be successful in our work. When we pursue a thing for love, we are free to fumble and make mistakes. The course of our work may not run smoothly, but we are open to possibilities, embracing everything we have contact with. Our vision is not narrowed by convention. We notice the thistles and connect them, with surprise and delight, to the Corinthian column.

"For ten minutes a day look at a plant that is native to your area. Write about the plant for fifteen minutes every day, describing visual details, as well as the feel, the fragrance, and the sound made when the wind blows through it. Do ten drawings each day of the leaves or other foliage and ten drawings each day of the whole plant. This is a wonderful exercise to combat the habitual" (Kent & Steward, 2008, p. 33)