Jedediah Hotchkiss (November 30, 1828 – January 17, 1899)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedediah_Hotchkiss

So most of you know that I am obsessed with my home, the Shenandoah Valley. I have been doing historical research when at home and have plans of getting involved in the Historical Society for the area ideally photographing and documenting historically places, etc.. someday.
So I have been introduced to Jedediah Hotchkiss who lived not far from my home, over in Churchville. Firstly I am obsessed with maps, and have a collection of them. I am also very good with directions and this comes from being raised on the road, in a car, in a tractor trailer, driving is just what we did as a family. Riding around on backroads was our bonding time.
Being obsessed with maps as I am I have fallen in love with Hotchkiss' hand drawn maps of the Shenandoah Valley. His maps were hand-drawn so well that they were used up until the technology allowed for accurate mapping capabilities. Please just go to wikipedia and read all about him instead of me having to rephrase everything said on there...his story is really quite remarkable and his maps are what made Stonewall Jackson such a successful general for the Confederacy

Anywho, I want to create hand drawn maps and figure out some way of pushing them further from being just maps through collaging or alternative techniques of which I am not yet sure. Perhaps photographic compositions which include maps? photoGRAMic maps? Maybe treasure maps that lead to nowhere or just a really cool spot? Kind of like an artsy way of Geocaching (http://www.geocaching.com/) I was also thinking since I love riding around backroads I could map out driving routes, name then funky names, and create compositions on the maps through the lines on the map of which I have traveled then print them out give them away so people can drive those routes. An artsy way of perhaps giving people something fun to do or somewhere to go.

As an artist I cannot focus entirely on one concept for my whole body of work. I will need to take a break to make something completely unrelated to my other works. A kind of side project...