Never completed Arctic Journal

In July of 1974, Monte and three other men, one being Monte’s close friend Marv Robinson and cousin Bob Fidler, embarked on a canoe trip to the Arctic Circle.  This trip has all ready been mentioned and was one of Monte’s most cherished growth periods and troubling times. Monte later stated it was one of those experiences he physically and mentally would have trouble doing again, but it was something he would always be thankful for.

For his artistic creations, it provide many visual opportunities for later works of art.

The trip was so grueling, he was unable to complete things, such as updated journal entries and artistic sketches, as often as he had planned to do.  Later when he returned, an entry in the journal he tried to keep has an entry about attempting to re-create what he had experienced on this trip.

Below are pages not from the actual journal, but an attempt by Monte to create a more artistic version of his experiences, but like many of Monte’s endeavors, he abandoned his creation before it was ever completed.

As for Monte’s penmanship, he did not use rulers or straight edges when he wrote and he spent quite a bit of time practicing his form.

A Handful of Tree Pencils

Below are five pencil drawings of trees by Monte from different periods of his life and from different geographic areas.