California Archives - Hands-on Heritage

Heart Stone an Enduring Inspiration
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Heart Stone an Enduring Inspiration

Are you fascinated by rocks? How about fossils, or artifacts? How we visualize, interpret, and transform the world around us has always interested me. I try to be scientific and pragmatic with my actions, but one day my good friend Tonya Anderson asked me to reach into a bag and blindly pull out a

2023-04-03T10:21:37-04:00By Robin Van Auken|Inspiration, Wholehearted Author|

Sailing to Alcatraz Island

I found this historic postcard of Alcatraz Island on the Library of Congress while researching it for a recent project in California. I also sailed to the island located in San Francisco Bay one sunny day, enjoying a similar experience and perspective of the island as the crew on this boat (but getting there

2021-03-11T10:51:27-05:00By Robin Van Auken|History|

Boo Hollywood!

I'm collecting resources for an ambitious project in a different genre -- gaslight/steampunk. I've combed the Internet and Amazon for articles and books, focusing my research on technology, flight, and European events and people circa 1860-1870. I wanted a visual resource so I ordered Irwin Allen's "Five Weeks in a Balloon." Based upon the Jules

2021-03-11T12:31:05-05:00By Robin Van Auken|Creation, Wholehearted Author|