A closeup of the sundial face at 12:22 p.m.

In January of 2010 I was approached by my friend Tom Sherry about designing and fabricating a sundial to be located at his home and farm near Asheville, North Carolina. Tom wanted a sundial that would function well, look good and include a commemrative element of his upcoming wedding in May. Other than these parameters I was given broad latitude in the design process.

This sundial is located at Tom’s home and farm, Whistlepig Farm in Candler, North Carolina, approxamately 20 minutes west of Asheville, NC at 35.4831N ,-82.7452W. The wall that the dial was to be mounted to was measured at least three times over an hour long period on several different days and found to face 8.6 degrees east of south.

The dial elements were determined using Fer J. de Vries’ program zw2000. Declination lines were drawn for the 21st of each month. An additional declination line was drawn for the 29th of May as a commemorative marker of the wedding day. Hour lines are drawn and indicated for Eastern Standard Time with daylight savings time and londitudinal corrections. Lastly, a line was drawn indicating solar noon.
Importing the dxf file into Adobes Illustrator program, I was assisted by Alice io Oglesby in the coloring and typography of the dial face. The intent was to imply a mountain sunset scene with rows of crops in the foreground that would incorporate the functional elements of the dial face.

The final sundial is 45 x 21 inches in size and was printed by a local sign shop. The base material of the dial is .080 aluminum signboard that has a baked enamel finish with a printed vinyl applied to the sign board. This material has a warranty of 3 years before fading may occur, but in practice has a life much greater than that depending on environmental variables. The gnomon is a 1.575 inch long .250 inch diameter steel shaft with a conical end and rounded tip of .030 inch radius that is mounted horizontally and bolted to the dial face from behind using a #8-32 machine screw. The dial is mounted to Tom’s house on a pressure treated lumber framework that sets the dial face approximately 14 inches away from the wall surface. This allows for unobstructed illumination of the dial face from the soffit overhang above the dial during the summer solstice.

One final note about this dial regards Tom’s facination with prime numbers. The date and time of the wedding were chosen to all be prime numbers, May (5), 29th, (29) 4:33 pm (433). Additionally the sum of these three numbers is 467, which itself is a prime number.

The Whistlepig Farm Sundial on the side of the house.

For the Fall 2010 catalog we incorporated flowers, candy, crayons, ornaments and other 3D objects to the layout pages for a fun feel. We also balanced full page images with product shots and design details to really give a feel for the Just Ducky style. (Excerpted pages from the catalog are shown.)

As a custom manufacturer of classic clothing for kids, Just Ducky gives parents, grandparents and kids the ability to design clothing that is unique to their style. Each season they offer a line of styles, fabrics, trims and designs that can be mixed and matched for unique garments. The catalog serves both to provide an overview of all the various items that can be blended, as well as examples of the great combinations presented at home shows.

See the full Just Ducky Fall 2010 collection and get information on home shows, as well as place online orders at: www.justduckyoriginals.com

The four color options for men are shown above.

Southern Boys Love Their Toys is a line of shirts from sweet tea clothing co. featuring stylized illustrations of iconic southern items. The first four shirts in the line feature an acoustic guitar, historic airplane, canoe on a river bank, and moonshine jugs.

Each style is available sized for men, boys or baby. For more details and online purchasing, visit the Southern Boys Love Their Toys website (also designed by io design & illustration, inc.).

The sweet tea clothing co. site provides a gateway to access shopping online for either Southern Boys Love Their Toys or Sweeter Than the Tea items.

Sweet Tea Clothing Co. is an Asheville based company offering two lines of southern inspired shirts and accessories. We are pleased to have been working with them from their inception, providing design services for all their needs from a logo and business cards, to shirt designs, signs, marketing materials and websites with online sales capabilities.

Their original line of shirts for women is based around the phrase “sweeter than the tea,” and was the inspiration for their company logo which is an illustration of tea leaves accompanied by a slice of lemon.

This lemon and leaves logo is utilized on the main company website header and is incorporated in the “sweeter than the tea” website, products, packaging and other printed materials. “Sweeter than the tea” items are available for all 12 Southern States and include shirts, scarves and tote bags.

Their line for men/boys is based around the phrase “Southern Boys Love Their Toys.” It has been grand fun creating the illustrations for these shirts. Currently there are four styles available, with more in development.

Visit them online at: http://www.sweetteaclothing.com

Roller skate buttons! Perfect for the daughter of a roller derby fan.

Knitting while listening to a book on tape is one of my favorite relaxing activities.

My favorite things to knit are baby gifts. For Emilia I decided to make a color block sweater as I had some single balls in really wonderful colors of an amazingly soft wool. I used a basic cardigan pattern with pretty scalloped edges at the base, sleeve cuffs and neckline. The fun roller skate buttons topped off the colorful look.

My love of knitting comes from my mom. She taught me the basics and encouraged me on projects throughout the years. I inherited a large portion of her knitting tools, materials, books and patterns. Although it saddens me that I can’t show her my recent projects, it is wonderful to remember her each time I sit and work on a new sweater. Thanks, mom.

"Sunset" placed in the top twenty quilts as choosen by customers in Asheville Cotton Co.'s first Customer Quilt Show.

It took me close to two years, working on and off, to complete my first large quilt. Previously, I had made a few quilts as baby gifts which are generally weekend projects. A quilt large enough for a queen-size bed I discovered is considerably more challenging.

Part of the reason it took a while to complete, was the time I spent in organizing, and reorganizing the blocks. The original materials and base design came from a quilt kit my mom had given to me. I followed the first couple steps of the instructions, but then reached a point where I didn’t like how they were pulling the elements together.

Fortunately, I have a large work table and could spread the pieces out for review. They were there for weeks. Each time I walked by the table I looked and often rearranged the pieces. Finally, I was happy with the layout and could finish up the sewing.

When I got the top pieced together I took it down to my favorite quilt material shop, Asheville Cotton Company, and got terrific advice on fabric for the backing and border. They also suggested I do the actual quilting with a variegated thread. The look is great and makes the flip side of the quilt quite interesting. However, I have to say quilting on a regular sewing machine is a struggle. I think next time I’ll look for an alternative.

Each workshop listing includes complete information on the class and the ability to register from the post.

BookWorks is a community resource for print and book arts located in West Asheville, North Carolina. Through classes, exhibits, lectures, and annual events BookWorks has become a premier gathering place for individuals with an interest in handmade books, papermaking, printmaking, and letterpress in the Southeastern US. We have had the pleasure of working with them on their website as they have grown and their needs have changed.

The BookWorks site is the most complex WordPress site we’ve completed to date. It incorporates blog style studio updates, static information pages, a shopping cart for online workshop registration, calendar of events, as well as instructor bios and separate areas for co-op members and their annual BookOpolis festival.

It was essential that people visiting the site could obtain information regarding upcoming workshops and events in a variety of ways.

• Upcoming workshops are listed in chronological order on the “Workshops” page, with listings dropping off after they have occurred.
• A visitor can select to view workshops by type. Examples: box making, encaustic, letterpress, papermaking, printmaking. The sorted workshops are presented in chronological order with older classes dropping off as they occur.
• The sidebar calendar incorporates rollover features to quickly view what workshops and events are happening on any particular day. Click through directly to the related items is enabled.
• The bio for each instructor includes a link to view all workshops taught by that instructor. Again presented in chronological order with past classes dropping off the list.

Having multiple ways an interested student can access and cross reference workshops takes advantage of the different ways people search for information. Some come to BookWorks wanting to learn a particular skill, so sorting by workshop type is an ideal method for them. Others may be visiting Asheville or be hosting visitors to Asheville on particular days, so accessing the information via the calendar is ideal. And others may have taken a class with a particular instructor and desire to learn from them again.

Registration for workshops is accessed directly from each description listing. The site also includes a “Store” page where BookWorks can offer support materials for classes.

BookWorks staff has embraced the new site whole heartily, actively posting news about upcoming events and daily studio activities. The new site has provided them with the tools to communicate in an engaging way with others interested in book arts and related fields. The site remains current and relevant.

Sunny Point Café celebrates the completion of their outdoor dining space with a ribbon cutting on April 13, 2010.

Having just redesigned their menus using modified illustrations from a 1963 catalog, we chose to make the invitation match.

Adding a translucent roof, drop down curtain walls, heaters and fans, has extended the use of their patio space considerably. We ate dinner out there in late March and found it quite comfortable.

The restaurant’s seating area is in essence doubled, meaning less of a wait when you really need that mimosa on Sunday!

For menus, hours and other details about Sunny Point Café, visit their website www.sunnypointcafe.com

Yeah, I love creating posters for the Blue Ridge Rollergirls (BRRG)!

This time, a double header with the theme “Sibling Rivalry.”

When Drag’n SlayHer told me the theme I immediately pictured two young girls being, well, as sisters can be, bratty. Perfect for my children’s book illustration style.

So, some time at the drawing table, some coloring on the computer, some fun with type and a poster came to life. Well, actually two – one tabloid size and one letter size (shown).

Want to know more about BRRG? Visit them online at www.blueridgerollergirls.com and come out to the bout on April 24th. I recommend picking up your tickets early, saves you some $ and time in line, giving more time for cheering.

And for you fans out there, who do you think was the inspiration for the young BRRG?