From Briermere Farms to Bug Light, local landmarks and notable places across the North Fork are the subjects of two new coloring books and postcards created by a 22-year-old part-time Greenport resident.
Jake Rose published “Color Greenport” last summer, just before returning to Drew University for his senior year of college. The history major and photography buff loves researching the architecture, history and culture of towns.
The “Color Greenport” book was well-received so Rose decided to do a book about the Village of Sag Harbor. This time he produced postcards too, featuring line drawings of the buildings and places in the coloring book. Both the books and the postcard sets immediately became best sellers when they hit the shops in Sag Harbor last month.
“Three days after we left 24 books at the Wharf Shop, they called and asked for 48 more,” said Rose’s father, Ron. “And I said, you know, you’ve got a business.”
Rose set his sights on the rest of the North Fork and the Town of Riverhead.
“Color North Fork,” a 68-page book featuring 30 local places to color and an accompanying pack of 24 postcards will be on sale in about a week. The 52-page “Color Riverhead,” will offer 22 local places. The book and a 24-pack of postcards, will be published in three weeks. The coloring books sell for $15, the postcard set for $10.
Rose researches his subjects and writes text to accompany each line drawing. He photographs each location. Freelance artists create the line drawings. He hired other freelancers to color the drawings for large-format prints. He also commissioned 3D versions of the art, made with a 3D printer.
The prints and 3D prints will be on exhibit at the Gish Gallery of the Suffolk County Historical Society Museum Oct. 6 through 28. His prints will also be on display at East End Arts, where they will be auctioned with the proceeds donated to the arts organization. The 3D prints will be donated to the Railroad Museum of Long Island and will become part of an exhibit at its Riverhead visitor’s center, Ron Rose said.
“People have such an emotional reaction to the postcards,” Ron Rose said. “There’s something about them that touches people.”
Jake got the idea to create the “Color Greenport” book when he was eating sushi with his dad at Stirling Sake in Greenport one evening. “My dad commented that Clark’s Garden looked like it came out of a coloring book.”
Father and son drive around together looking at iconic buildings and places — and asking people they meet for recommendations. It was hard narrowing down their picks to include just 20 or 30, they both said.
“People are passionate about where they live, their towns, their neighborhoods, their history,” Ron Rose said.
Jake is next embarking on a project involving his hometown: New York, New York. He’s planning to create coloring books and postcards depicted some 50 NYC neighborhoods.
“Color North Fork” and the “Color North Fork” postcards will be on sale at local retail shops and will also be available on the ColorOurTown website.
Correction: The dates of the exhibit at the Suffolk County Historical Society have been corrected since this article was first published.
