THIS IS SAVANNAH, VOL. 2

THIS IS SAVANNAH, VOL. 2
DRAWINGS: 2008 - 2010
PUBLISHED: DECEMBER 2010

Limited Edition: 50 Books
This is Savannah, Vol. 2 is the second Volume in a series of drawings which combine elevations and perspectives to illustrate the architectural edges of the streets of Savannah, block by block. Vol. 2 is comprised of 18 blocks on both sides of the famous Jones Street, from Tattnall to East Broad. Jones Street is praised for it rich architecture as well as its lush tree lawns. It's almost decadent, just to walk down the street under the magnificent branches of the live oaks, dappled sunlight filtering through to cast shadows on the facades, building details, garden gates and walls that form the street wall. The details, often hidden from view by the wonderful canopy of street trees, emerge in these ink drawings. The original drawings are made freehand at a scale of 1"=20' to 1"=6' with a 1949 Parker ink fountain pen and printed onto natural cardstock. The "signature" (the book's pages) is bound into a hard cover under a sheet of patterned red paper in a variety of designs, some handmade. A pouch on the back inside cover holds a folded print of A Map of Savannah, Georgia.

Bonus Material!

This is Savannah Vol. 2, like Vol. 1 is an Accordion Book. However, this accordion signature is attached at the front only, so it can easily function as a standard book, turning page by page - Or, position the book in a super long hallway and gently pull the last page, pull, pull, pull to unfold the pages into one long continuous streetscape! At 9" x 12", Vol. 2 is larger than Vol. 1 and the drawings are larger and, if I may say so, better. You'll enjoy finding familiar buildings and appreciate the rich context of historic architecture - and details - in this renowned city. This is Savannah Vol. 2 is also a perfect souvenir, to remember Savannah and to share her with the folks back home.

Available in Savannah at the Telfair Trunk Show, December 4. Come see me!

Also Available at shopSCAD and in MY SHOP - or just send me an email.

The Vol. 2 Solution

I spent some quality time (racking my brain) with the insightful and provoking comments from my friends, revising the Jones Street page layout. Here are the issues and resolutions:

1. The test prints proved the grey bar unsuccessful. The ink was not crisp around the white sketches, and it is impossible to print full bleed and retain the 11" width of the paper. I also agreed the grey fill lent itself to a digital feel, rather than the look of a printed page. And - I preferred the white space beyond the streetscapes, uninterrupted.
2. I recognize that the column of sketches, as it was, seemed a little rigid. I wanted to vary the scale of the sketches, but none seemed to work well large, as they were drawn at such a small scale, and the variation ultimately drew the eye from the streetscape which needed to remain dominant. So I varied scale selectivly and subtly, but kept the vignette sketches quiet, in their column.
3. The column seems at odds to the row of the streetscape drawings, surely. Once I looked at the block layouts in context with their neighbors, the columns appeared to mimic the cross streets between blocks, and they finally had a place, a reason for being as they were, in seeming opposition to the row.
4. Most of the blocks (those that are a full 300' long) worked well with the column layout but I was still at a loss on the three shorter blocks and one extra-long block at East Broad.
5. So, I focused on the necessarily wholistic design of an accordion book layout, not simply 11x17 pages, but (19) 8x11 pages that form a 160"-long layout. With this in mind, I shifted the first block right and allowed a gradual entry - and a subtle introduction - to Jones Street. I rolled the last three blocks together, slightly tightening the space around 300 and 400 blocks to allow for the 500 block (the extra-long one) to be a little bigger, though still not the same scale as the other blocks.
I think it was a good compromise, in that it honors the book's format as an accordion and also creates a pleasing composition, page by page. I'm glad design in a vacuum did not prevail - THANKS, friends!

Help me make it Perfect for the People

version 1click to enlarge

version 2

click to enlarge

I'm a little nervous about doing this: It seems a bit unprofessional, perhaps. But - Help! The book covers are ready for their signatures, and I am still waffling about page layout. Do the architectural detail vignette sketches work better in a column or in a row?

Often, when you design something, you are just too close to be your best critic. It is really important to me that This is Savannah Vol. 2 be Perfect for the People.

So - If you please...Which page layout do you prefer: 1 or 2?

Thank You, Miss You, Happy Occasions

Introducing...

NEW Stationery!
...fun, hand-drawn designs for lots of occasions.

Available in MY SHOP

individually and in sets THANK YOU

Spinning Chandeliers

Folded Note Cards

Mandalas, Snowflakes, Doilies...Beautiful...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Folded Note Cards

More Cakes! Inspired by my favorite bakery and the goddess of cake

MISS YOU
Folded Note Cards
front (above) & inside (below)

THANK YOU
THINKING OF YOU

Folded Note Cards

Vintage wallpaper paired with accountrements of home, in pale pastels

HAPPY NEW BABY
Folded Note Cards

Boy, girl, or undetermined as of yet...baby nestles under a mobile hanging from a felt cloud.

Remember Pat the Bunny, anyone?

TEMPLE WEDDING

Folded Note Cards

It's good to take a break from straight lines and architectural drawings on occasion. I spent an intense and wonderful week designing all of these new note cards in preparation for the Stationery Party & Open Studio this Saturday. With help from my business partner, My Mom.

Stationery Party & Open Studio

Thank You, Veterans

This is Savannah, Vol. 2 - Available December 4!

This is Savannah, Vol. 2 Jones Street is in the making. The hardbound 9" x 12" book features cardstock accordion pages and a fold-out map. The pages exhibit eighteen Jones Street blocks intricately ink-drawn by hand. In addition to the streetscape drawings, one architectural detail from each drawing is featured larger on the page. This is Savannah, Vol. 2 will be available DECEMBER 4, in Savannah at the Telfair Trunk Show and at shopSCAD. Also available online in my shop.

Great Holiday gift! Please contact me to reserve one now or if you are interested in carrying the book in your shop.

The University (of Virginia)

It is not visible in the dark, but behind the pediment is the Rotunda.from the portico of the Rotunda, across the Lawn flanked by the Ranges. Looking back across the lawn toward the Rotunda. The contrast of light and darkness manifest Jefferson's classical spaces in their essential relationships of solid and void, proportion.
Student rooms occupy the Ranges that extend from the Rotunda to enclose the Lawn. A rocking chair and a stack of firewood seemed to be standard issue at each door.Here, at the School of Architecture - Campbell Hall, I felt like I time-travelled back ten years to Cowgill Hall where I worked in studio for five years at Virginia Tech. Both Campbell and Cowgill are tucked away behind the venerable halls which define the dominant architecture of the campus (or, "the Grounds") - Jeffersonian neo-Classical at U.Va and Gothic rendered in limestone at VT. Both are modern, with egg carton concrete, a full glass wall on the second (administrative) floor and glass bays on the upper (studio) floors. The "feel" inside was similar, with almost every wall surface covered with student work, students and faculty engaged and excited about architecture. There were models and travel sketchbooks, both rendered by hand - I appreciated seeing these, in particular. The new wing at the School of Architecture by W.G. Clark, who gave a tour and explained that: Design decisions were made to accomodate student pin-ups with large doors, easy to open with a shoulder while one's hands are full with drawings and models, concrete walls on the south to block the light from the President's back yard at night and glass walls on the north to admit light into the pin-up spaces during the day and spill the interior light onto the plaza at night so the buildings speaks its use to passersby. Clark said the President, passing by one evening, appreciated seeing the building in use, students working. A patchwork of transparent and translucent glass in the stairwell casts moving bodies through the space as unwitting actors on a stage, at night.

Telfair Art Fair 2010

Madison Square was finished just in time to be accepted for exhibit in the grand atrium of the Jepson Center for the Arts, in the Open Art Category of the Telfair Art Fair.