In the spring of 2020, during which time I was sewing Covid 19 surgical masks for King County health care workers, I began work on a second book. Originally conceived as a booklet of biographical profiles, it evolved into a linen-bound hardcover book produced as an edition of 150 copies. Also a collaborative work, with my clients providing the colorfully written text, this book was fully illustrated by me with thoughtful, creative guidance from my clients. Calligraphic titles also added interest to the many profiles and historical additions.

The completed manuscript was sent to the publisher and binder in April of this year. Followers of my map artwork may be familiar with the large property map I did for this family in 2018: see my post on this HERE. In addition to images clipped from this map, I created many more for the book.

Custom border design for one of the profile pages.

This spread combines photos, image clips from the map, and one custom ink and watercolor illustration based on an old engraving.

One of my favorite spreads allowed me to draw a fun map showing aspects of the families' historical immigration routes and further travels in the Colonies.

One never knows who will ultimately look at artwork that is sent out into cyberspace via websites. I know some artists who feel very protective of their work, keeping it by and large offline, out of reach of the prowler who might steal an image for use in a project. What are the chances that they would actually ask permission, that they would have the decency to do that before stealing it, altering it, taking advantage of it? I don't know the answer, but I do know that in the past twelve months, I've had at least three pieces of my artwork discovered on this web site that viewers have found and actually written to me regarding my copyright. They wanted to use the work. For one, an eyedropper illustration of a buffalo, I was paid promptly for its use on a hand painted teepee up in Manitoba, Canada. The second one, a horse image, was in the end not used but it was in the running for use in a logo. The third illustration, featured here, was used in trade for one of the products on which it was to be used plus a credit line. 

If you click on this link you will see my previous post the graphic designer landed upon in order to find the line illustration featured on the kraft board cassette tape box below. He, Matthew Miller, had already worked the drawing into his design when he wrote to me. Of course it was fine with me for him to use it. It was immediately obvious to me that Matthew is a fine designer. And after all, I had done it 21 years ago for a personal family Christmas card and it was one of 3 layers of artwork! See how handsomely this Marmara Records packaging turned out. Nice job, Matthew! I'm pleased that my line drawing has found another raison d'être:

An intriguing package for "Family Ark" included ephemera, and a cassette of the music of John Coyle.