Redstone Studios: Off the Map

MARCO POLO!

connie — Wed, 09 May 2012 00:29:06 +0000

The mystery of the Marco Polo maps! Interested? Dr. Benjamin Olshin, Renaissance scholar extraordinare, offers his expertise this coming Saturday, May 12th, 2:30 pm at the Mid-Manhattan Library, 455 Fifth Ave at 40th St (across the street from the main library), on the 6th Floor. Olshin’s lecture, free of charge, is sponsored by the New York Map Society: see their website for details.

Maphead out in paperback TODAY!

connie — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:07:26 +0000

When Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings was seven years old, he bought an atlas: it was his passion during the day, and at night it was his teddy bear, tucked under his pillow. He says he was a weird kid. I identify with that–I was kind of a weird kid myself, now I’m a huge map nerd. That’s where we intersect, me and Ken. Where we hugely diverge is that he’s a best-selling writer/famous polymath, and I’m a gnome-like manuscript map-and-globe maker. No grudges, though: in fact I urge you all–map nerds and generalists alike–to read his wonderful & amusing book Maphead, now available in paperback. For a little preview, listen to a 9/21/2011 interview with Jennings on NPR’s Fresh Air, or read his blog, Ken Jennings: Confessions of a Trivial Mind.

Maps on Stamps!

connie — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:39:25 +0000

Did you know maps on stamps is a thing, has been for years? And did you know there is a CartoPhilatelist Society? Surprising sub-cultures under every rock. I really like this trio of German maps, and the cancellation marks only add to their charm. Here’s the story: “The town of Ingolstadt was first mentioned in a document of Charlemagne in 806. In 2006 Germany issued a stamp to commemorate the 1200th anniversary of Ingolstadt, picturing a portion of a map published by Philipp Apian (1531-1589) in 1563,” says Dan of dans.topicals.com, a website with zillions of beautiful and amusing maps on stamps, including a section of map-on-stamp fails. Next up, maps on the heads of pins.

Who’s the proud teacher!

connie — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:01:30 +0000

Here’s a hand-drawn map by Betsy Booz, who attended one of my workshops. The problem with teaching a one-day workshop is that it’s nearly impossible for me to accomplish more than provide basic direction, and nearly impossible for attendees to design and complete a map in one shot: that’s why I’m going to teach three-session workshops from now on. Hazel Jarvis, featured recently, took her idea home and painted a map on canvas; Betsy, who lives here in town, returned to my studio for a couple of little refresher sessions. Her nostalgic map, executed in colored pencil and pen on watercolor paper, shows the camp she and a friend attended when they were kids–in fact, she made the map as a gift for this friend. At home, Betsy worked on the map in leisurely fashion, weighing design options, and ended up providing a key beneath the round map to identify salient locations. Note her interesting use of negative space on either side of the map at the top, and her use of the map convention called “breaking borders.”

Highland Fever a la Ciao Domenica

connie — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:48:27 +0000

Sunday Taylor has once again featured a map of mine in Ciao Domenica, her exquisite blog about literature, travel, gardens, and the beauty of life. Sunday used my recent Scottish Highlands map (you’ve seen it!) as a departure for a lovely and literary commentary on travel and the associations certain place names evoke. She included four photos taken by Meg Moulton, my fellow hiker and sister-in-law. This photo shows a beautiful scene just north of Loch Lomond. For this post and others, visit http://ciaodomenica.blogspot.com/.

Civil War Map Exhibit, NYC

connie — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:24:59 +0000

Torn in Two: 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. Ronald Grim–Curator of Maps for the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library–has created an exhibit of remarkable maps through which you can glean the history of the conflict. The exhibit opened in Boston last fall, but now has arrived at the Grolier Club in New York City: it will be there through April 28th, 2012. At 2:30 pm on Saturday, April 14th, join the New York Map Society for a (FREE!) tour of the exhibit led by Ronald Grim–note the particulars on the Map Society’s “Meetings” page. The exhibit is great, and so is the Grolier Club: read its history here.

A Map by Hazel Jarvis

connie — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 23:26:59 +0000

Enough of my maps–here’s a wonderful map by Hazel Jarvis, who attended one of my round map workshops last spring. Wow, I’m a phenomenal teacher, right? Alright, full disclosure: Hazel Jarvis is an accomplished and inventive painter in her own right–visit her website, The Art of Hazel Jarvis. Furthermore, she teaches painting at her lovely home studio and at The Garden Education Center of Greenwich; if I lived in Fairfield County, I’d be tempted. While I can’t claim to have taught her a thing about painting, I did provide the pointers she needed to create this map, which is, by the way, 16″ in diameter, acrylic on canvas. But you don’t have to be an artist of Hazel’s caliber to make a great map–if you attended one of my workshops, and want to share your work, speak up!

Highland Fling: Another Map on Paper

connie — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:21:28 +0000

Last September, Duncan and I hiked Scotland’s famous West Highland Way with our hiking pal Sydney and with Duncan’s sister Margaret: seven days, 95 miles, heather, mist, driving rain (but just one day), sheep, Highland cattle, Loch Lomond, gorgeous and often wild landscapes, B & B’s, 18th century inns, salmon, scotch, scones, sticky toffee pudding, and wonderful camaraderie–among ourselves, and with other hikers. (We did this, by the way, through the Scottish travel outfitter Macs Adventure–they provided great maps, arranged our lodgings, and conveyed our bags from point to point). The perfect occasion for a little commemorative map and as souvenirs for our beloved fellow travelers: I had copies scanned for Sydney and Margaret. Note that the route is long and vertical, but that didn’t stop me from popping it into a circle. I can’t help myself! The circle actually provided me with the “dead space” I needed for the title cartouche, designed to look like a bit of drapery; a written explanation of our week; a little key; and, on the left of the mapped route, a compass thistle (instead of a rose). I fashioned a border, but it’s as simple as can be. Like my Daily Rounds map, this is a 10″ circle within a 12″ square; unlike that map, this one isn’t a circumpunct–in other words, the map doesn’t radiate from a central point. Next up: maps by some of my workshop attendees.

Daily Rounds: A Little Map on Paper

connie — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:24:04 +0000

I’ve made a practice, lately, of creating little round maps, spending an hour each day as a break from commissions. There’s a practical reason: I want to provide good, simple models for my workshop attendees (one–the subject of my last post–late next month at the C Gallery in the Santa Barbara wine country, and a couple of autumn workshops in my Connecticut studio). Beyond this initial reason, however, I’ve really enjoyed these projects–it’s rejuvenating to try new stuff! I’m reminded of my first (unpaid, of course) cartographic efforts, years ago, when everything was new and I was screwing up right and left. I’d forgotten the carefree fun of making mistakes, then learning from them–in my professional work, of course, I wisely avoid mistakes. All my commissioned maps are painted on big canvases (like 3 x 4′), but these little experiments are drawn in ink on beautiful colored Canson art paper, a 10″ circle within a 12″ square, perfect for popping into an inexpensive, ready-made 12″ frame. I love this tobacco shade, but others await me–violet, chamois, amber, terracotta. You know how much I love round maps, and especially radial maps built around a central point. The central point here is our house, a 19th century school building my architect husband, Duncan Milne, recycled for us to live in. We moved here because we loved the house, the historic nature of the town, and the prospect of walking to local destinations. Note our town seal, which I’ve used instead of a compass rose–here’s to you, Durham, CT, and your agricultural heritage!

Map Workshop in the Santa Barbara Wine Country!

connie — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:57:56 +0000

Wouldn’t you like to spend a weekend of April 27-29th at a workshop retreat making a beautiful little map under my tutelage? Here’s the hook: the setting is the gorgeous wine country outside of Santa Barbara, California–if you haven’t seen it with your own eyes, you’ve seen it on the screen in the movie Sideways. Our host is gallery owner Connie Rohde of the C Gallery in Los Alamos, and here’s what she’s arranged: you’ll stay in at a secluded vineyard estate, taste wines, sample local (fabulous) cuisine, and visit the magnificent Rancho San Lorenzo for Sunday morning’s final session. For details, see Connie Rohde’s website description.

THE WORKSHOP ITSELF: You’ll create a round map showing a special place in your life, your daily life, a special event, a journey (real or spiritual), or a memory map of your childhood home. Or maybe you’d like to make a birthday map for somebody you love–maps make wonderful gifts. The circle, symbol of the world, infinity, Mother Earth, and sacred space, is the perfect shape for a personal, hand-executed map. Furthermore, the round map–especially one with a central, important location–easily lends itself to composition, a help for beginners. Working in pen or colored pencil on white or colored watercolor paper, you’ll make a 10″ circular map within a 12″ square, perfect for popping into a ready made 12″ square frame. I’ll give you all the techniques you need to finish this map and start new maps when you go home. You’ll get hooked!

Here’s a round map I made a couple of years ago as a gift for my son Andrew and his fiancee Andrea–they used it as the cover of their wedding invitation. The circle’s central point is WeatherLea Farm in northern Virginia, where the wedding took place (great place for a celebration: check it out). Because Andrew and Andrea live in DC, DC became the outer point of the radius, thus dictating the breadth of the map’s geography. With arrows pointing towards the farm, I indicated where family members were traveling from. There’s also an arrow indicating the direction from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where the A’s met as Peace Corps volunteers. A simple map, but charged with meaning, and executed with love by this mapmaker. As for the sheep, I couldn’t resist them–they positively bleated for artistic rendering!