Dragonstones, Doorbells and Texas Dudes

Sea serpent and a crab by O. Van Soest (Age 10)
Colored pencil and Micron pen on paper

The final week of adventure opened with the smallest enrollment of the summer--two brave adventurers who faced the threatening mists of Terra Incognita on their own. It's amazing how much suspense can be created with only three of us. We were able to take the story further and deeper, so we were "off the page," improvising new material, more often than we were "on the page."

The Dragon's Eye Ventures Facebook page has an album of beautiful photos from the week--the shadowpuppetry was especially stunning. A delightful sea chart was created by one of our two artists, complete with a whole array of hilarious sea monsters. The origin maps were simple in shape and design, yet full of wonderful photos of family journeys.

Here are just a few of the things the three of us learned during this final adventure:

1)  Dragons are not always willing to part with their dragonstones, even for a good cause--like saving the world. World's End may be someone's idea of a good time.

2)  Doorbells don't always signal welcome guests, and even the lords of the underworld can make a foolish mistake. ("Ruh roh ... is that a dragonslayer at my doorstep?")

3)  And finally, the next time you decide to become Bob Marley the Texas dude, make sure the mist isn't listening. Mist has an impeccable ability to mimic any creature. You may find yourself coming back to haunt you.

A week of laughter, fun and wonderful solutions to every challenge thrown by the mist.

Trails, Tents and Turtle Trouble

Secret messages were passed back and forth
in this niche within a tree. This message
had the feel of raven's foot magic.

A trail of open-letter and zigzag codes led the detectives into the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota for the August 2012 adventure Turtle Mountain Dreams.  Were the Mavens of Mystery doing the tracking or being tracked? A little of both, as secret messages were passed back and forth. Having a rain and lightning god of unknown origin on one's tail can be a little unnerving, but the detectives managed to fend off the occasional freezing bolts sent their way.

Tenting and nature huts were part of the fun this week--and an album of images may be found on the Dragon's Eye Ventures Facebook page. Shadow puppetry, turtle mountain maps and a rare Book of Secrets from a mysterious shadowmage added some artistic style to the week.

Origin Maps for Terra Incognita

Origin map by Raphael Foye

I love entering uncharted waters with the Dragon's Eye detectives. This summer, Terra Incognita: The Unknown Lands brought us into new territory with an exploration of eight world tree myths. We had one basic art project for the entire week: The origin maps that each child constructed for the final challenge of the mystery.

We started with a map of the map--a plan that laid out the design of the book. The books trace each artist's journey from birth until today, with the center block representing either their birthplace or their earliest memory of place. The different branches of the book then follow the journeys from that place, with pockets to hold special memories, people, pets and other secrets that hold special meaning.

The books were stunning--and I'm so pleased to share pictures of them on the Dragon's Eye Ventures Facebook page. I've been imagining this project for almost five years now, slowly working on the ideas behind the case and testing different ways of making the bookmaking accessible. So it was deeply satisfying to see the group's enthusiasm and commitment to the project.

Most satisfying was the final game, where the individuals each shared their book with the others. The attention the group gave to one another was wonderful to see--and the books were truly stunning as they unfolded in such interesting and varied ways.