So far the year has been quiet. Did a walking map of the area around Lurganboy and turned 3 days work into a marathon 3 weeks. Transversely, just mapped 25 archaeological sites around Longford in 2 days. With some help from Margaret, I mapped Portumna in East Galway and created maps for this years Sligo Live Festival. Will dedicate the Solstice BBQ to the memory of George Fox.
After nine weeks in India making surveys: published
‘Goa and its Beaches’ map, travel guide and beach guide, (distribution by Roger Lascelles Publishers Ltd). Researched for a West of Ireland pageant to commemorate the French invasion, and popular uprising, of 1798.
1994
Published ‘Cork City and Towns of Co. Cork’ (Ireland) in association with Cork/Kerry Tourism (22 townplans). Further commissions from F. Von Habsburg, the Institute of Oriental Art and The Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Forgot to up-date this last year & I can't remember too many details. In Feb and March went to The Wirral to make maps for my friend Tom Broadbent whose book, Peking to Pindi, was published. Managed to publish advertising maps of Manorhamilton, Strandhill, Carrick on Shannon and Drumshanbo. Did a map of Sligo for Enterprise Ireland and published a complete guide to the pubs and restaurants of Sligo Town. In the middle of summer, stayed with Danny Kirrane on Inishturk and mapped the island and its neighbour, Caher Island, and had much fun in the process. Late in the year got news that George Fox had died in Goa. He was probably one of the greatest men who ever lived and it was an honour to have known him, not to mention the great fun to be had in his company. Unfortunately, his story wont be told, but who'd believe it anyway?
Published map of Sligo and Yeats Country (Ireland) in association with North West Tourism. Commissions from Harper Collins (The Road to Miran), PMG Films and the BFC (British Film Commission) making brochures, maps and videos promoting Britain for film locations. Made the free 'Streets of London' homeless facilities map in association with St. Martins in-the-Fields' day-centre.
1992
Published 1st map: Town plan of Wells in Somerset. Commissions from Francesca Von Habsburg (The Hemitage, St. Petersburg) and Harper Collins (Danziger’s Adventures).
1991-92
Set up Open Road Guides with the Enterprise Allowance Scheme.
1990
Mapping towns and cities of Western China for new guide to Xinjiang. April-May, Ouighour uprising crushed by Chinese. Arrested for spying, house-arrest and interrogation – deported to Pakistan. Working as teacher for U.N. in the Northern Areas. Designed ‘local-style’ hotel complex in Hunza. Designed national symbol for Northern Areas and LB & RD (Govt. body).
1989
1st commission: to make 110 surveys of towns in China for map/travel guide. June 3/4 Tiannanmen Massacre. Spent four months being followed by secret police.
1988
Set-up Open Road Graphics and developed my own cycle-survey technique.
1987
Hitched overland from London to Lhasa, Tibet: selling drawings, mapping the cities and valleys of Northern Pakistan and Western China. Running a flea-market in Tibet, mapping Lhasa and designing bill-board advertising for the Tibetans
1985-86
Working/Travelling Europe: fruit picking, selling drawings and au-pairing in Denmark and Holland.
1984
Travelling artist
USA, Canada, Mexico.
1983
Contract Artist
with S. Leboff (Fobel) Ltd.
1982
Kibbutz Volunteer
Kibbutz Ruchama, Ashquelon, Israel.
1979-82
Trainee Graphic Designer/Artist
S. Leboff (Fobel) Ltd.
Hyde House, Colindale NW9 6LG.
1978-79
Correspondent Clerk
First National Finance Ltd.
1977-78
Trainee Manager
Tesco Foodstores Ltd.
1975-77
Trainee Accountant (ICMA)
The Zenith Carburettor Co Ltd.
Spent the first four months putting together 3 advertising maps. Will publish approx 50 further advertising maps over the next 3 years. Mid Summer is approaching and I'm looking forward to my annual Solstice BBQ in the big field at the back of Harrow on the Hill.
It's been a bit of a mad year, so far. Returned to U.K. from Ireland at New Year. Prepared Artwork for 16 new maps of Donegal towns and put them on the website. Then hitched to Western Sahara just as the allies started bombing Baghdad and realised this wasn't the year for mapping arabic souks so headed home through some very intense experiences. Designed websites for friends, Prepared maps for the Irish Ambulance and Fire Services and put 22 new maps including Cork City on to my website. Last night held an impromtu BBQ on the side of a hill for a few friends. This month in National Geographic Adventure magazine. Great ego boost. Thanks to McKenzie, Kirsty and all the staff. Helped my cousin, Cecily, and a hard working committee organise a benefit for a Kenyan school by running a World Music Dance Night in Sligo (a resounding sucess: we raised over 6000 euro).
Surveyed towns of N.W. Ireland, in association with the Ambulance service. This is part of a broader project to create an Irish national database of town maps. Presently I am applying for government grants to undertake the surveying of the 150 largest towns of Ireland to fill the gap in the Ordnance Survey of Ireland's publication list. I intend to put all the maps onto a free website. Later I intend publishing 4 guides with maps of all the major towns of Connaught, Leinster, Munster and Ulster.
Designed websites, visited India to up-date my Goa map and worked on an outdoor production of Jocasta (a feminist deconstruction of Oedipus) on the Atlantic coast of western Ireland. Gave a lecture on Tourism in Asia at Sligo Institute of Technology and worked as an artist's model in the Model Arts Centre.
2000
Working as a support worker at The Bridge, a mental health rehabilitation unit where I assisted in the publication of Headlines (their in-house magazine). Finally published my map of the Karakoram Highway.
Book: The Road to Miran
"Travels in the Forbidden Zone of Xinjiang"
Author: Christa Paula
Published by: Harper Collins, ISBN: 0-00-255124-1
Mentioned on pages 87, 89, 90-1, 95, 98 267
"On the bed, surrounded by maps, drawing equipment and papers, crouched a young man with tousled brown hair and three-day stubble. He was the map-maker."
Book: Perfection She Dances
The book describes Bob's eight years in a chinese prison
Author: Robert Davies
Published by: Mainstream , ISBN: 1-84018-416-7
Mentioned on pages 26-7
"Another modern-day explorer and regular visitor to Kashgar, the Oasis and room 508 was John the Map. He was a cartographer who travelled around Asia with a foldaway bike, mapping every town he came to."
Book: On Younghusband's Path
"Peking to Pindi"
Author: Tom Broadbent
Published by: Head Hunter Books , ISBN: 0-9548542-2-5
Mentioned on page 120
"The 'relatives' we soon named them as, as the notion of family grew within us. (One was John callanan, who'd just hitched to Kashgar from London. John hitched everywhere, for hundreds of thousands of miles. He also drew maps, and all the maps for this book)."
Worked as a proof-reader and barman while learning to use an Apple Mac computer (including Photoshop, Illustrator and Quark Xpress) to create my KKH map. Returned to Goa to update my map. Exhibited erotic drawings at the Deutsche Film und Fernseh Akademie in Berlin.
Making maps & publicity for The Republic of Connaught, a complete re-enactment of the 1798 French Invasion of Ireland. Worked as a stone mason, creating sandstone bas-reliefs.
Hitch-hiked overland to Iran and Pakistan. Surveyed Rawalpindi and Islamabad and other towns of the Karakoram Highway, including the central Hunza Valley, for publication. Twice narrowly escaped death in a terrorist bomb blast in Rawalpindi and a Kalashnikov attack by bandits on the KKH.
1996
Residential Social Worker with Harrow Consortium for special needs. Responsible for medication, primary care and needs of clients with learning difficulties in day-centres, respite and long-stay hostels.