One of the more visible is a just-published book, "Garden of the Spirit Bear," written for readers age 7-10 by nationally recognized Missoula author Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, and illustrated by Deborah J. Milton, regionally known for her watercolors and artwork and as a therapist.
They've worked together before - teaching workshops in Yellowstone National Park, for instance - but this is the first time they've partnered up for a book.
"Nature is so inspiring, so healing," says Milton, a self-taught artist who often uses art to help people understand themselves. "There is something about sitting next to a tree or water or even a rock" that penetrates the soul; using words and art together "somehow activates different paths to the brain," she says.
Patent and Milton are guides for the "playshop," providing "tools, not rules," and easy, nonthreatening exercises that aren't "mystical or woo-woo, but just some solid skills," Milton says.
Adds Patent: "We make it safe enough to dare."
"It's very comfortable and safe," agrees Lois Schlyer, who has taken workshops from Milton and Patent.
"There is not any criticism and absolutely no requirement to be working at any certain level of skill." The focus is on opening up to creativity, and "once you experience this letting go, this new ability to turn off the internal censor, it can start to change your life."
"Garden of the Spirit Bear," published by Clarion Books of New York, is subtitled "Life in the Great Northern Rainforest." It introduces young readers to old-growth rainforests of western Canada and the forests' spirit bear, a subspecies of the American black bear. Chapters discuss how bears use trees, what threatens the environment in the area, what the forests give back to the Earth, and how the bears and other wildlife live in the region.
Particularly challenging as the illustrator, said Milton, was reproducing the many types of water and moisture in the rainforest - challenges that helped inspire the use of water in this month's workshop.
Although Patent has written scores of books, she said she still needs new creative experiences to keep her refreshed and thinking. And Milton considers illustrating "Garden of the Spirit Bear," her first book, as her most recent risk-taking venture, which now has her once again encouraging others to paint, draw and write for themselves.
Features editor Mea Andrews can be reached at 523-5246 or at mandrews@missoulian.com
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