16 November 2012

November 15: Family Project

I spent the better part of my free time yesterday working in support of a family project, instead of my own.
In this case, I am happy to be supporting a very worthy project, about to be launched.
Adding it up, I have spent at least four hours each week since the end of August helping my parents with digital graphics and technical advice, such as I can give.

Artwork for Vanishing Cincinnati Drawing Series by David and Barbara Day
My parents are artists. They have created a beautiful book which represents their careers as designers in business together and their favorite subject: their city, Cincinnati, Ohio. (If you've never been there, you are really missing out. Cincinnati has charm, culture, and multicultural history in abundance.)

My parents have a long standing relationship with the history, architecture, and cultural vibrance of their city. Their lives and work are inseparable from its visual culture. So much so, that the detailed drawings that are included in the forthcoming book are embedded with their passion, as much as with factual renderings of the city as it is, or as it was in memory.

So I am dedicating this post to my parents and their book, which is a celebration equivalent to a lifetime achievement award and testiment to family collaboration. I am also grateful to the many people who have given their time, energy, and resources to bring this book to life.

Vanishing Cincinnati, by David and Barbara Day will be officially released on December 1, 2012, published by Orange Frazer Press, Wilmington, OH.

You can see more of my parents' illustration work online here.
Book Cover Preliminary Drawing, Vanishing Cincinnati by David and Barbara Day

4 comments:

  1. The book is beautiful, Maria! I know you've spent a lot of time with your parents working on it. It's a labor of love and that shows in the illustrations.

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    1. You are too kind, Maryanne. I am only doing some light marketing work so that The Day's art can speak for itself.

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  2. <--- mind blown! I've heard elsewhere that Cinci is a beautiful place. ~adding to my "bucket list" of travels~ Is it vanishing though? I hope not! And if it's being pressed ... or rather de-pressed, hopefully the work of your family, friends and collaborators will help to keep it afloat.

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    1. Thanks, Hilary. No the City of Cincinnati is doing quite well and thriving. My parents are concerned, however, that the citizens care for the architectural and cultural treasures so that future generations will still be able to know about their city's past. New and bigger buildings and neighborhoods aren't always better ones, as my parents say. I happen to agree. Please do visit someday. This unassuming midwestern town has more breathing room than Chicago and more charm than many of the eastcoast cities that I live near today.

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