Palms, Passion & Penitence

I'm back from a fabulous weekend in Philadelphia with my family. I travel there every March to judge a bookmark-design contest at the Abington Library (where my sister volunteers). Yesterday we attended church, and participated in the Palm Sunday service. I sometimes struggle to understand biblical language, but having a sketchbook in hand helps me feel more connected to the service.

Robin (on the upper left) is a wonderful minister; she'll be retiring in April after leading this congregation for over 25 years. Here, she and fellow parishioners play roles in reading the Passion Gospel.

Our tour-guide is the guy just under the cell-block"5" on the right.

On Saturday we visited the Eastern State Penitentiary - a former prison in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Cell Block #11 on the left. The entance to a cell on the right.

The prison was 'designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of convicts' - many of whom lived in solitary confinement.

Al Capone's cell  (ready for a write-up in Design*Sponge?)

Most inmates experienced a bare-bones existence in tiny cells, but there were exceptions. Legendary gangster, Al Capone, was allowed to live in relative luxury.

Only a handful of inmates have escaped over (or under) the walls towering around the prison.  Fortunately, all these convicts were rounded up quickly. It's striking how nice the neighborhood surrounding this prison is. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is only a few blocks away.

Luckily, I'm just visiting.

These are just a few snippets from my weekend of palms, passion and penitence. A special thanks to my hosts, Ellen & Rob, for a great time - which also included delicious Mexican food and margaritas at la Calaca Feliz . We also watched another type of passion play - in the form of NCAA March Madness basketball on the tube.

Thanks for visiting. You can see more sketchbook images here.

Athletic Management

Here are recent pieces for Athletic Management - a publication geared towards high school and college-level coaches & athletic directors. The drawing above accompanied a story about helping student athletes become responsible social-media users. Emphasis is placed on Twitter, a popular platform for students. Athletes receive training on how to tweet responsibly - with knowledge that they represent their schools (and their individual reputations).

The above drawing accompanied the 25th anniversary installment of the Game Plan column. The author, a former athletic director, answers questions about various issues which affect athletic programs. This article addressed the need to continuously emphasize safety to coaches - in the form of videos, meetings, checklists, etc.

Here are some of the sketches I submitted:

Ideas for the Social Media story.

Ideas for the Game Plan story

A special thanks to art director Pam Crawford

 for another fun and informative assignment!

You can view my new illustration website here!

The Science Gap

Here's a drawing for a local publication, About Town. It accompanied a story about the Rhinebeck Science Foundation, an organization attempting to close the 'science gap' in the local school system. They offer resources and opportunities for students to build on their existing science education. For illustrators, focusing on a straightforward concept like 'closing the gap' makes brainstorming easy. It's good to know organizations such as this are providing important building blocks for young minds.

Here are ideas I submitted for this story:

 Thanks to Paul DeAngelis for another fun assignment.

You can see more fun About Town drawings here and here.

Thanks for visiting. Come back soon!

ETF Overload

There's something fishy about this illustration, which appears in today's Wall Street Journal. It accompanies a story about screening the myriad of ETF funds flooding the market. The article highlights various websites which help investors sort through, and target specific investment vehicles (which could benefit their portfolios). This metaphor of isolating one fish (in a sea of many) seemed to crystallize the story's theme just right. Maybe because I'm a Pisces, there's something very satisfying about drawing these underwater inhabitants. Thanks to Orlie Kraus and Jia Baek for another fun assignment!

Here are some the ideas I submitted for this story:

You can see more fun Wall Street Journal illustrations about investing here, here and here.

Thanks for visiting. Come back soon!