THE PROLOGUE
I tried to run from this place. This mid-sized city with a small town feel. If you stay anywhere long enough, I guess they all start to feel small. Carver Elementary. Byrd Middle. Godwin High. VCU. If you know, you know. I made it as far as Kansas City. New York. North Carolina. Traveled a great deal. With family and opportunities here, RVA called me home. Once I came to know Richmond as home home, I made the decision to better this place. I invited others in and along the way, I. became a host to travelers from Korea, Sweden, Brazil and every corner of the US. In doing, I fell in love with my city.
If you’re an intrepid wanderer and you double down on life at home, you find your way to the fringes. Abandoned warehouses, forgotten statues reclaimed by nature, a train yard that doubles as a graffiti gallery, obscure pipelines over raging rapid, a sunken boat in drained canal.
There is an even older and forgotten history between the cracks of cobblestones. If you look close, there are stories wanting to be remembered.
When I was approached by the Founders of Belle Isle Moonshine to design the bourbon label for their 2025 artist series, it was an easy “hell yeah!”
I try to begin all of my projects with what I call “a living research”. Go to a place. Learn as much as you can by doing as much as you can. Draw it. Photograph it. Talk to people. Shut up, sit still and draw.
With as much time as I’ve spent in Richmond, my visits to the Belle Isle distillery, Belle Isle proper and the James River Park was a reminder more than an revelation.
From Belle Isle, you can see the younger city rising from the banks of the James River; a visual timeline as history rolls backwards to the top of Richmond’s seven hills. Church Hill and St. John’s are there, for those who remember. Patrick Henry’s words still linger, though they’ve been carried far.
A walk along the river reveals the mighty Osprey. Watch them hover and dive from the flood wall. The overpasses hidden from public view become galleries for street artists desperate to be seen. The pillars of long ago bridges want to be foundations for ancient statues that will never be. Log jams set afire by “river rats” are charred and smoldering. Rock quarries and climbing routes. This is Richmond.
A walk brings back these remembered memories and I carry them back to the studio in the pages of my sketchbook.
THE PROJECT
March 23, 1775
Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” rang through the bell tower of St. John’s atop Richmond’s Church Hill two hundred and fifty years ago, giving voice to an indomitable American spirit fiercely determined to be free. The weight of these words carried through the dark corners of taverns, the open markets of town squares and the rafters of churches, setting into motion events that led to our Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The fierce battle that ensued as men raised words into a revolution and shaped a revolution into a nation, was carried by those with the conviction of virtue and an undeniable faith in ideas that were greater than men.
As the war continued, the cradle of a of a nation came to be baptized in the broiling waters of the mighty James River, with Richmond becoming the capital of Virginia in 1780.
America’s Native Spirit
Bourbon, known as America’s Native Spirit was infused with the same grit, ingenuity, wood, ash and grain that would define a Nation.
From here on Belle Isle, Richmond’s seven hills rise up, layered in buildings born of a fiery history, framed by tatted bridges that span generations and remind us of the irreverence of harder days where men and women were tempered by the virtues of our Nation’s youth.
Thus always, Virtus stands guard at the fall line to keep the tyrants at bay.
Raise a glass of bourbon this year with Belle Isle to celebrate two hundred and fifty years of creativity, ambition and grit and a tip of the hat to those with the courage to forge their own path.
About the artwork
Born in Roanoke and raised in Richmond, I’ve grown to love our history and the complexity of RVA’s piece of our larger story as a young Nation. I chose to illustrate an idealized view of Richmond from Belle Isle, as we see a story unfold from our newest buildings towers lining the banks of the James to St. John’s Church and the row-houses of one of our oldest neighborhoods.
Symbols
Given the 250 year anniversary that we celebrate this year, choosing an eagle seemed a bit too obvious. Now, the Osprey, there’s a bird that invokes a uniqueness that’s true to our city. From the flood wall, you can watch these fierce hunters climb and dive. The foundations of bridges claimed by the river can be seen in the shadows of the newer bridges. They often hoard deadwood and from time to time, you’ll see these log jams on fire and charred. I can’t help but think of the charred oak barrels that give bourbon it’s unique flavor.
The osprey holds in it’s talons an ear of corn and acorns from the mighty oak- key ingredients in crafting bourbon.v
Beneath the Manchester train bridge, which serves as the iconic logo of Belle Isle Moonshine, I’ve introduced a bit of color and imagery that I hope brings to mind the many murals and street art throughout our city.
On the back of the label, I’ve poised a restful, but vigilant view of Virtus from the back. Our iconic protector, borrowed from our state seal and flag stands at the edge of the fall line, looking downriver as she keeps watch over things to come.
Breathing-In
My creative process is informed through embedded research. Interesting art should be the response to an interesting life. Whenever possible, I embed in a location to observe, draw and get a deeper sense of connection that can only come from time.
I drove out to have a cocktail with Belle Isle Founders Vince and Brian. We spoke about the project and where things might go. More than anything, it was a beautiful day in a beautiful home with the kind of guys you’d like to spend the afternoon with.
For this project, I revisited Belle Isle at Richmond’s waterfront. I’ve been there more times than I can remember, but I was reminded of so many small vignette’s that are often clouded by memory. Belle Isle is a jewel and if you haven’t been in a while, go. While on the Isle, I saw the charred logjams and the broiling river.
I took a second trip to Manchester Wall and the Flood Wall. Seeing the dozens of birds- the herons, the geese, the ducks, and yes- the osprey!
On a third trip, I visited the headquarters of Belle Isle Moonshine, joined by Abby Giusseppe- a friend and fellow artist, where we met Vince, Harrison and the team. The outside of the distillery was adorned with a mural from my former student, Emily Herr. Be sure to check out her work- she’s amazing. Inside the distillery, we toured everything from the vats where flavors are infused to the label machine. I’m always inspired by fellow entrepreneurs who have the courage to forge their own path.
I then visited the local ABC store to see what was possible with label printing. Having been primed by my previous experiences, I was looking for unique printing options for different types of spirits. I took a bunch of photographs, wrote some notes and put together what we call a “mood board”. This mood board was a snapshot of different references, photos and information from all of my embedded experiences.
THE PROCESS
Breathing Out
With more information to work from, I returned to the studio (or coffee shop) and sketched. Words, icons, pictures, thumbnails. Brian challenged me to rethink the label, and I did. I worked through two-sided labels, transparent labels, printing white on glass and we eventually landed on a label that could cover three sides of the bottle and that was die-cut. Drawing isn’t what people think it is. It’s a thinking process in the beginning- messy, clumsy and everything is in low-resolution as your trying to give hard edges to soft ideas. Icons become concepts, concepts become vignettes and slowly, ideas start to rise to the surface. Once you have one that starts to speak to you, the chase is on. You pursue it as far as it goes, and often, it leads…nowhere. You go back and start again. If I’m being honest, though, I love the chase. If you keep pushing two or three ideas break through and you start to string together small aha! moments.
Then you have it. Something that is thoughtful. More refined. Maybe even interesting.
Share the sketches and thoughts with the client.
Choices are made and the final art is started.
The final label isn’t one drawing, but a combination of a number of them- ink, pencil, paint, digital.
Enter the Printer
Once green-lit, the final art was shared with the printer. No longer an illustrator, I’m now the designer. I was introduced to Zachary and a great art team working at K. Sidrane based out of New York. I ask the important questions- Die-cut? Yes. Foil? Zachary suggested embossing. Hell Yes! These are the things that excite a designer.
Proofs
Once the files are delivered, you’re excitedly waiting for the printed proofs from the printer. Proofs generally don’t include all the bells and whistles, but give you a sense of any printing and cutting challenges. We had a few and adjusted accordingly. Once you sign off, the labels are in production and shipped out.
Government Approval
It shouldn’t be discounted that this label; this bottle of bourbon almost didn’t happen. There’s no lost irony on the implications of a federal government shutdown when you’re working on a label celebrating 250 years from the birth of our government.
Production
Getting the labels on bottles, getting the corks made, making the bourbon, getting them in your hands. It’s all a process. A sequence of challenges, discoveries, new technologies and old school creativity. Loved every bit of it and I hope you love it, too.
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