Savannah to Washington DC

I was racing to finish the Jones Street drawings before I left Savannah for a "sabbatical" in Washington DC. The past few weeks were a flurry of tying loose ends at the office, going through years of accumulated treasures in my studio, discarding, saving, packing, cleaning, moving, spending time with friends, visiting my favorite places one more time (Tybee Island, Terra Cotta, The Paris Market, shopSCAD, Back in the Day Bakery, Forsyth Park) and saying good-bye - for now.

I'm not going to lie - I cried. I will miss my friends, my house, my ward, my city. I can't imagine not walking the four picturesque blocks to the office every weekday, climbing the stairs to the fourth floor where my desk overlooked the live oaks on Chatham Square and working with the smartest (not to mention funniest) guys in town. They surprised me with a going-away dinner that not only included a 7-course tasting menu at the nicest restaurant in town and meaningful parting gifts that were way too nice, they miraculously found time amidst our intense workload and international travel to design a 7-part retrospective of my seven years at Sottile & Sottile titled The Kirsten Charrette. It included seven 3'x6' boards each with a theme expressed in expertly Photoshopped images of me and our times working together and a myriad of jokes that no one will understand but us. I will really miss our little team and hope to reunite for some charrettes in the future.
Excerpts from the Kirsten Charrette: Looking Ahead...
Kirsten in Washington
A Typical Week

Monday: Getting the Lay of the Land H Street...N Street..What the...?
(that's me on my bike doing site analysis on Hutchinson Island photoshopped into DC Rush Hour looking towards the capitol)
Tuesday: Starting a New Book Get the hard ones done first...
(Me drawing at some charrette, photoshopped onto the capitol view..a la This is Washington DC Vol. 1)
Wednesday: Navigating the Historical Society Hmm...Where could I get some old maps of this place?
(Me, photoshopped onto the National Archives)
Thursday: Going Back to School All these books...wish they had a library around here.
(An awful photo of me measuring a street, hunched over under a photoshopped backpack on the UVA campus)
Friday: 'Nuff Said Time to Tickle the Trout.......
(too much to explain on this one)

That's Craig and Anthony fighting over my desk (LOVE the pose) - and a misty photo of me working there on some cold day in history.

When I said good-bye to my best friend Catherine and set off on my drive north this morning, I was excited by the possibilities and experiences that lay ahead and so very grateful for amazing friends and experiences in Savannah. It will always be a place that feels like home to me and I'll be no stranger to her.

For the next few months, I am looking forward to making new work, including This is Savannah, Vol. 2 Jones Street and eventually pursuing a graduate degree in Architectural History and working in Preservation or Education. And some Savannah reminiscing every now and then...