3 minute read
A Visit with New World Cartography
What could possibly be more awesome than a hand drawn map from a cartographer? Only a hand drawn map of oysters!
Southern Tides was thrilled to meet cartographer
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Travis Folk, of Green Pond, S.C., earlier this year at the Southeast Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) in February. He was there representing his business, New World Cartography, with maps from all over the southeast, on a variety of themes. After learning of his oyster map, we knew it had to be included in our Oyster Issue.
Travis was nice enough to answer a few questions for us.
Southern Tides: Why hand drawn maps? How did you get started in this?
Travis Folk: I started New World Cartography for several reasons. I’m a PhD wildlife biologist and work in a firm my father started in the 1980s (and this is still my full-time job), managing plantations. Back in the 80s and 90s, all the maps for plantations were hand drawn. This was done when a timber sale was planned, work in the rice fields needed organizing, and most other land management activities that required a map (and spatial measurements). At that time, my father had an old crusty forester (who was also a former Marine) named Henry Sauls who drew the maps and also had an incredible artistic talent. As a result, we have drawers full of hand drawn maps of plantations that also are beautiful. Many of the maps were hung in the plantation homes and Henry would usually do one of the entire plantation and add sketches of wildlife to them as well. Fast forward to 2006 when I came back from graduate school and started to work in the business. I was doing the same types of work (timber sales, rice field work, etc.) as had always been done but was using GIS to develop the maps. These digitally derived maps were accurate and utilitarian but lacked the passion and beauty of Henry's hand drawn maps. (Henry passed away in the late 1990s.)
I started to think several years ago that there must be a way to get my laptop to produce a map that has the look and feel of a hand drawn map. I tried to use my mapping software to do this and I can definitively say it cannot be done. It’s as simple as a straight line segment – you can tell a hand drawn line from a computer derived line instantly. No contest. At that same time I’d become friends with an artist in Charleston named Tony Waters. He too, loves maps but never knew how to create one. I knew how they should look and be designed but have zero artistic talent. With these two components NWC was born. I design and layout all of the maps and Tony and several other artists help those cartographic visions come to life.
Southern Tides: What led to a map about oysters?
Travis Folk: Like most of my maps, it was something I was interested in. Several books had come out about oysters, especially Rowan Jacobsen's The Essential Oyster. I grew up in the lowcountry and had always heard the mantra that our oysters were the best. While I am partial to ours, I also enjoyed trying oysters from all over. And they were pretty good too! I can remember being in an oyster bar in Charleston and just ordering oysters from places I had never heard of but wondered what their oysters looked like and tasted like. In fact, I pulled my phone out several times to Google different places. So all of these things converged and I decided to make a map that had as many oyster types on it as possible. While I try to be a locavore, I also enjoy the regionalism of food. It was a fun map to put together!
Southern Tides: What an amazing thing to be able to create! Any other fun new maps on the horizon?
Travis Folk: We're currently working on map of southeastern barbecue sauce regions. I have it designed and might have it done in the next several months.
Visit the New World Cartography website to order a copy of The Oysters of North America, any of their other gorgeous creations, or even request a custom map of your property, favorite island or other some other area dear to you. And be sure to let them know you heard about them in Southern Tides! www.NewWorldCartography.com
Oyster knives haven't changed much over the years, other than to become more ornate. A good oyster knife and shucking glove is always a great gift idea for the oyster lover. And so is this map!
