MADE IN LIBERTY HILL: Smith Map Studio & Edel Golf

MADE IN LIBERTY HILL

Mapping it out

Local artist has flair for cartography

STORY BY SCOTT AKANEWICH

Upon entering the Liberty Hill home of Chris Smith, it doesn’t take long for visitors to feast their eyes on a masterpiece. “Battlefield Texas” is an enormous map depicting the Lone Star State in the days of the Republic of Texas and was the first of over 60 maps Smith has designed and produced since becoming a full-time artist in 2009.

However, it’s no ordinary map. There is virtually not a single inch of unoccupied space of the canvas, as the map not only lays out Texas how it was drawn up back then, but features countless facts about the many conflicts that took place in the state and all of the participants – including Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, Santa Anna and many others in a work that took two years to finish. In the space where the Gulf of Mexico is lies an armada of ships that served in the Texas Navy at the time, further augmenting the completeness of the work from a historical standpoint. The amount of information and illustrations across the entire map makes it as educational as it is stunning in bringing history to life. Not bad for something that was never even meant to be a map at all.

Smith’s first map, entitled “Battlefield Texas,” took two years to create and remains his most popular. His unique maps blend art, history and geography. PHOTO BY CHRIS SMITH

“At first, I set out to create a Risk-like game based on Texas,” said Smith, an Austin native who moved to Liberty Hill with his family six years ago. “I played that game way too much as a kid.” But, after creating the map and doing all the extensive research required, Smith decided to change directions with what he was aiming for, he said. “I realized it would just take a lot more to actually produce a board game, as far as the manufacturing and marketing,” said Smith. “But, I looked at the map and realized I had something kind of unique here.”

At the time, Smith was working as a graphic designer in the publishing industry, but after being laid off in 2009 after 14 years in the business, he wholeheartedly embraced the opportunity to turn his part-time passion into a full-time profession and hasn’t looked back. These days, Smith finds himself on the road most weekends featuring and selling his work at fine arts shows across Texas in addition to online sales through his website. He said he believes the reason his work resonates with people are the memories maps seem to remind one of.

“I think people connect with maps because they use them to remember things like where a honeymoon was or other particular places,” he said. In fact, Smith, 50, began his cartography caravan by mapping out the route of a vacation he and his wife took when he was 31 and before the couple had children. “We went to the East Coast – started in New Jersey, then went to New York, up to Martha’s Vineyard and Maine through all of New England, then back to New York,” said Smith. “I thought it would be a cool thing to do.”

Perhaps the most enchanting aspect of Smith’s work is all of it is done by hand using technical pens and acrylic paints on wood and canvas - athough from a productions standpoint, there’s a price to be paid for doing things the old-fashioned way. “Doing a small map by hand will take about two weeks,” he said. “Where it would take about half the time if I used a computer.”

Smith’s catalog includes a wide variety of works from historical maps featuring the original 13 colonies, the American Revolution and the Battle of the Alamo to smaller maps of particular places such as New York, London and cities all across Texas, with each highlighting the most famous landmarks in each location.

Chris travels the country selling his maps at juried art shows. His maps can be found locally at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. PHOTO BY CHRIS SMITH

Prices for Smith’s maps vary depending on the size, as all of his work is available in different dimensions. Originals range from $800 for an 11x14 rendition to $2,500 for a 24x30. However, bigger maps can range from $4,000 to $20,000. Limited edition giclee (produced by ink-jet printers) fine art paper prints go for $45-$200 and limited edition canvas giclee range from $85-$650, with both based on size. In the future, Smith said he plans to expand his collection with different ideas.

“As an artist, you’re always wanting to challenge yourself with something new,” he said. “I feel like I need to be pushing myself mentally and spiritually.” •

SMITH MAP STUDIO Hand Drawn Maps, 324 Sarah's Lane, Liberty Hill, (512) 825-1511, www.SmithMapStudio.com

Giving back to THE game

Local golf club maker customizes gear

STORY BY SCOTT AKANEWICH

The building that’s home to Edel Golf looks like any other in the small warehouse complex located just off State Highway 29 in Liberty Hill. However, when entering the reception area of the custom-golf club manufacturer, the customer is transported to a world where their golf game can be transformed into what they always wished it to be. Better.

“People don’t understand what we do here,” said owner David Edel. What Edel and his staff of a dozen do is craft custom clubs and putters using a revolutionary method of matching up a golfer’s swing and body type to the proper equipment through a meticulous process during which the goal is to achieve a simplicity as far as maintaining one’s ideal swing. Much like being custom-fitted for a suit by a tailor, Edel crafts golf clubs that best work with what a player already has at their disposal – their own body.

David Edel designs and builds custom golf clubs at his warehouse in Liberty Hill for clients all over the world. Each club is weighted to better suit an individual’s swing for maximum performance. PHOTO BY SCOTT AKANEWICH

Imagine wearing clothes designed for someone else and perhaps you can understand the quandary of attempting to play such a difficult game using equipment not suited for you. Hence the extensive steps involved in determining what works best for each individual – as no two golf swings are the same, said Edel.

“The process validates the purpose,” he said. “But, the hardest thing is to get people to buy into the process.” In order for golfers to achieve optimal performance, a player must maintain a single ball position, swing rate and rhythm rate, which can only be done by having clubs of the same length, weight, bounce, shaft weight and shaft flex.

To do this, Edel uses a sophisticated golf course simulator in his shop that allows golfers to hit shots as if they were on tees, fairways, greens or in the rough, seeing where their shot would go, then adjusting a formula of 24 different components using a number of variations in addition to measuring arm, wrist and foot actions to create the perfect set of clubs based on the player’s needs.

Sounds terribly complicated, but it’s no more really than fitting a square peg into a square hole, said Edel. “We recognize you as a golfer around how you’re built and then process the information,” he said. “What that allows the player to do is bypass the conscious learning process of having to figure out on their own what works best for themselves.”

Edel has been a PGA teaching professional for 25 years and first got into the manufacturing business after he tired of doing nothing but teaching the game. “I started off making a single putter and I got pretty good at it,” he said.

These days, Edel’s Liberty Hill laboratory is where he designs and manufactures irons, putters and wedges, with accounts around the world in far-flung places like Japan. He has the occasional notable visitor to his local haunts.

“I’ve had (former world No. 1 tennis player) Andy Roddick here,” said Edel, who has also worked closely with six-time major champion Nick Faldo. “We had the president of Tyson Chicken in here once.”

However, at the end of the day, Edel wants to leave a legacy of having made the game of golf a better place than he found it and figures the best way to do that is to assist in making it more enjoyable for those who choose to pursue a little, white ball around the world’s courses through lower scores. “For me, it’s not about money,” he said. “It’s about helping people play better golf.” •

EDEL GOLF Custom Golf Clubs, 123 Holmes Dr #5, Liberty Hill, (512) 778-6650, www.EdelGolf.com