Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Beginning 200 BLOCK East Jones Street

Of course, the Jones Blocks drawings will continue while the New Series Drawings for Fall find fruition over the next two months. While I am making outrageous goals, how about a first printing of This is Savannah Vol. 2: Jones Street by the end of the year! Hey, why not?

NEW SERIES Drawings for Fall

I think I am overdue for establishing my production goal for new drawings for Fall. I felt a nip in the air this week. The temps are in the eighties in Savannah. Still a good month, at least, of summer. Garnering the high-speed motivation I feel tonight, I will propose the drawings to be completed by mid-October for the NEW SERIES Drawings for Fall:
: SAVANNAH OGLETHORPE PLAN MAPS (4 new images)
: SAVANNAH MAP-DRAWING: MADISON SQUARE
: STREETSCAPE: LONDON MEWS
: VINTAGE VEHICLES (6 new *motorcycle* images)
: EUROPEAN TRAVEL POSTCARDS (8 new images)

I also intend to finish two projects that began with intentions to graduate in Spring. But - they proved formidable in the midst of a very busy work life in the first half of this year.
: FROM THE BIRDS EYE [Turn of the Century Map-Drawings]
(Savannah, Charleston, Portland, Washington DC)
: Recipe Cards

I should not get ahead of myself, but I am already anticipating Spring 2010 projects. I am excited about:
: Antique Shops
: Libraries & Books
: Savannah's Owens-Thomas House
: Monterey Square, Savannah
: Charleston: Broad Street

GO!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Treasure in the Lane

Today I spied a treasure in the lane behind my house as I turned in on my way home from work. It was exactly what this blank wall below the 1891 Bird's Eye View print was longing for. Aesthetically, the cabinet matches the print and the apartment quite well, from its crackled cream paint to the black top which would likely never be seen while it sat atop a hutch, the shelves at eye level. Functionally, it fulfills the real need for storage of books and supplies within my studio. (In fact, I'd picked up a plastic vertical file in the lane a year or two ago for this purpose but could not bring myself to bring it into my apartment and "own" it. It collected dust on the back porch until two days ago when I put it back in the lane. It quickly became someone else's treasure. Funny how the cycle works...)

The acquisition of this antique was not without drama. After seeing the caninet, I continued home and excitedly changed clothes and parked my bike, then walked quickly back to the end of the lane, to the cabinet. A man with two white fluffy dogs was eyeing the cabinet. A woman emerged from her back gate just twenty feet before me, heading toward the cabinet, talking on her cell phone. Both looked, and stalled. When they appeared somewhat disinterested, I ever so gingerly lifted it up and began the 200-foot hobble to my gate. It was a lot heavier than I expected. I tried to rest it on my hip and balance it just an inch or two above the ground, one slow step at a time. I earned multiple bruises. The woman came to help me about halfway there, as she'd finished her cell phone conversation. She was kind. Another woman approached us, with a dog, and exclaimed, I'm so glad you're taking this. Then proceeded to tell me the whole history of the cabinet as it was once hers, brought here from North Carolina. She left it in the apartment on this block when she moved years ago nearby, and now someone was getting rid of it altogether. She showed me how she'd sanded one side, contemplating refinishing it. Then decided not to. Two holes in the back for speakers. Both women accompanied me to the backyard, and we had a nice neighborly chat. They were assured the cabinet was going to a good home. Indeed.




Friday, August 7, 2009

Tropical Savannah

A pattern of thunderstorms, often preceded by pink skies, have transformed my neighborhood at sundown, lately.