Customer Reviews

A Trail Through Leaves: The Journal as a Path to Place

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For those of us attempting to cut through the clutter of busy urban life, this book is a beautiful reminder of how to use close, patient observation of what's around us to enhance our enjoyment of life. Hannah Hinchman even includes practical tips for equipping yourself with thetools of a field artist. After reading two chapters, I bought three pencils and a sketch pad and went to a local park to find something to draw. I hadn't seriously drawn anything in twenty some years, but her book reminded me of how important excursions into the woods had been whento me when I was young. A Trail Through Leaves made my eyes hungry to observe quirky insects and plants, and my hand itchy to draw again. The hardcover book is beautifully printed and laid out and feels good in your hands. It's not a "can't put it down" read--it's a book to dip into and go back to. For animal lovers, it should be noted that Hannah Hinchman's love for horses and cats is contagious; her respect for them and sense of wonder about her connection to them are commmunicated through her sketches and her writing.

Having kept journals since I was a kid, I thought this book might help to renew my passion for the activity and inspire me to see new things. The premise of the book seemed perfect: the journal as a path to place. But be forewarned: this book is not a manual for how to explore the world around you or examine your life through journaling. It is a wordy autobiography of one woman and the techniques that work for her. The first chapter is nothing but an exhaustive summary of her own life and the journals she kept; the second rambles on and on about the differences in ball-point pens and small art brushes, all described through the experiences of the author: "I like the Bic much better than the heavy, pretentious Mont Blanc ballpoint pen that my friend found in the street. It's unbalanced, and the tip is stingy and stiff. But the Mont Blac fountain pen - there is a truely loveable tool."

Reading this book, I can't help but feel that it is a forged account of being true to oneself. Each illustration, supposedly taken from the author's journals, is picture-perfect and ready to be hung on the wall. Any written text that accompanies it is painstakingly neat and labored. There isn't a visual hint of imperfection anywhere, and it makes the book seem commercial and not very real.

This book does have several good points: it has some very good lessons on art technique and it does hold some very thought-provolking observations amidst the flowery language and self-absorbed babbling. But if you're like me and looking for a book to help you dive below the surface of perfectionistic drawings and whimsical, unobtrusive text, look elsewhere.

In my 15 years of keeping a diary, I spent the first 10 keeping a conventional written record of thoughts, ideas, and occurances. But about 5 years ago my diary keeping received a pleasant and unexpected jolt when I encountered Hannah Hinchman's 'A Trail Through Leaves: The Journal as a Path to Place'. This beautifully written and illustrated book on keeping a visual diary completely enlarged my ideas of what a diary could be: a visual record as well as a meditation on the material universe.

Having briefly met the author and once lived in the geographical area the book was written, I'm quite biased, but I find this a fascinating piece of literature. Whether exploring the shady side of a mountain or traversing a city street, Hannah records her life every step of the way. Her observations are astute and profound, her drawings astonishingly detailed and thorough. She has the knack of soaring you into flight, propelling you underwater, or delicately placing you inside a fragile blossom. This is more of a dabble and browse book, and it's wonderful if you just want to look at the pictures. Journalists, authors, artists, or anyone who wants to bring more focus and an appreciation for the art of paying attention into their life will find this book a creative revolution.

Hinchman writes about her own experiences about journaling why she continues to write and draw in them. She breaks the book down into different parts of journaling at the end of each chapter she has a few pages of activities that you can use in your own journaling. But the book isn't preachy she talks about journaling from her point of view. What makes the book so beautiful is that it is filled with excerpts from her own journals over the years, both drawings and words. For me this book was especially good because it didn't tell you how to journal as if it was some set of instructions. Instead she, as in the title, led me down a trail.

Hannah's book is a delight - especially in the way she leads you along through her thought processes. She is skilled at both writing and drawing...but more so at helping you to see a different way of percieving and experiencing the world around you. This book is one I will treasure for a long time.

This book is a breath of delight. Any writer who is serious about capturing the natural or personal world needs to keep this book at the bedside (and another one in the car!)

I simply want to say that, as a professional biologist and avid naturalist, I have enjoyed this book and benefited from the techniques Ms. Hinchman presents. As for the book being offensive? While I have scientific habits of mind, science has its own biases, it isn't for everyone, and I think this book provides an alternative way of seeing and observing. The inscription above the library door at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts says it all: "Study nature, not books". To the extent that Hinchman encourages nature study, her book is a real winner.

If you are a biologist or scientist who also does art, this book may be as offensive to you as it was to me. This person presents an approach to 'seeing' which she suggests is the only true way to see. She gives extensive examples of how blind biologists/scientists are to the world. Her pretention only uncovers her own ignorance. I had such high hopes for this book. I had hoped to improve my field sketching skills. The only information I got from this book was an updated list of supplies. No useful technique information. Quite a bit of quirky annoying dogma.

I bought this book for my brother, Jamie, the artist. He always sees the subtle, gentle, spiritual side of things, the same way Ms. Hinchman does. I know it'll be a great inspiration to him to keep on doing what he does so naturally.