Scott Valley Sketchbook
Product Description
A sketchbook guide to Northern California's beautiful, but little known valley...with historical notes.
by John D. Jenott
Returning to Scott Valley, after 20 years, I still expected everything to be the way it was when I had left. Wrong expectation! Things had changed. Certainly not like the urban areas where the scene seems to change on a weekly basis, but the valley was, and is, changing. Old familiar buildings were gone or in the process of being torn down - some in the book are now gone before I could even get it to press - history was being lost. Children of children of pioneers were passing on and taking their valuable memories with them. It seemed to me it was an urgent time to put these old buildings down on paper with a few historical notes. I figured it would take about a year to accomplish this.
Wrong expectations again! That was 3 years ago. The more I sketched, the more there was to sketch. The seasons of the year also presented problems; winter is not a desirable time to be out - frozen fingers. In the summer the foliage around many of the older homes is so thick it obscures the building - which is why you will notice many of the trees being leafless - they were drawn mainly in the spring or late fall.
Gathering historical notes was, in some ways, the best and hardest part. Folks were very generous with their time and recollections, and I heard some wonderful stories. Some of the notes were well documented and others wer vague or in conflict. I had to use best judgement on what seemed logical.
You get caught up in the stories of the pioneer families. It took 6 or 7 months to cross the country under what we today would consider impossible conditions (no fast food cafes or motels), wresting out a homestead by hand (no chainsaws or machinery), and then often trekking back east again to marry their sweetheart, then trekking west agin with his new wife by his side. Those incredible pioneers.
(This gem of a book is entirely hand-sketched and hand-printed by Mr. Jenott. He is currently working on a similar book about Mount Shasta.)
by John D. Jenott
Returning to Scott Valley, after 20 years, I still expected everything to be the way it was when I had left. Wrong expectation! Things had changed. Certainly not like the urban areas where the scene seems to change on a weekly basis, but the valley was, and is, changing. Old familiar buildings were gone or in the process of being torn down - some in the book are now gone before I could even get it to press - history was being lost. Children of children of pioneers were passing on and taking their valuable memories with them. It seemed to me it was an urgent time to put these old buildings down on paper with a few historical notes. I figured it would take about a year to accomplish this.
Wrong expectations again! That was 3 years ago. The more I sketched, the more there was to sketch. The seasons of the year also presented problems; winter is not a desirable time to be out - frozen fingers. In the summer the foliage around many of the older homes is so thick it obscures the building - which is why you will notice many of the trees being leafless - they were drawn mainly in the spring or late fall.
Gathering historical notes was, in some ways, the best and hardest part. Folks were very generous with their time and recollections, and I heard some wonderful stories. Some of the notes were well documented and others wer vague or in conflict. I had to use best judgement on what seemed logical.
You get caught up in the stories of the pioneer families. It took 6 or 7 months to cross the country under what we today would consider impossible conditions (no fast food cafes or motels), wresting out a homestead by hand (no chainsaws or machinery), and then often trekking back east again to marry their sweetheart, then trekking west agin with his new wife by his side. Those incredible pioneers.
(This gem of a book is entirely hand-sketched and hand-printed by Mr. Jenott. He is currently working on a similar book about Mount Shasta.)
