Interior & Environment
Keeping a balance of physical and digital design is really important to me. I am a big believer in sketching on paper, taking walks to sort out ideas, and working with my hands. As such, I decorate, sculpt, and garden; have designed restaurants and cafes; window displays, sets, and textiles; and I’m currently fixing up my first home in Hudson NY.
Hudson Garden
My largest and favorite personal project has been landscaping my garden in Hudson. Transforming it from a treeless, fenceless lot in one summer season was an immensely satisfying experience, (and a lot of hard work). I did most of the excavation, planting, and stonework myself, learning how to fan cobble and dry stack a wall. I created a sunken patio and tiered pollinator garden bookended by a pond and a stone staircase. There is also a 100ft serpentine pea stone path along the side of the house, and in total 10 trees and over 200 plants were added. It's ideal for hosting parties or just finding a moment of solace, but the garden's real clients are my three cats, and it was designed with them in mind. All of the plants are edible and include cat nip, grasses, a weeping Pussy Willow, and a Tiger Eye tree, and there are many bends, ledges, and reveals to explore or private patches of sun and shade to rest within.
Design, Sketches, Landscaping - Jack Dylan
Halloween Mystery Party
The year is 1933, and you have been invited to a Halloween party. The hosts are an excentric couple with too many cats whose home has fallen into disrepair. Not long into the party, a tragedy is discovered. It appears that one of the host’s many cats has been murdered. Immediately suspicion falls upon the guests, and for good reason. There is the ornithologist couple studying rare birds, the gossip columnist who’s not above concocting a good story, and the wealthy industrialist neighbors who just purchased a new roadster, and are rumored to have proto-fascist leanings. To catch a cat-killer, the guests must find clues hidden within the home's crumbling estate, which includes a carnival in a graveyard, a purgatorial parlor, and an exit to the unknown.
Game Design & Copy, Decorations, Cake, Staging - Jack Dylan
Holiday Window Display
The “Catskills Meowtain Line”, was on display in Hudson NY, and won the “Best of the Best” award for holiday windows. Each element was handmade, using embroidery, metalworking, and woodworking, to create Catskill’s winter scene of two trains crossing a bridge over the Hudson river. A silk flag featuring an eight-pointed star was also made as an accompaniment.
Design & Construction - Jack Dylan
Halloween Decor 2023
The sculpture of the spider, “Daddy”, stood 6’ tall, and was assembled from foraged fall flowers in my garden. The flag was hand-sewn in felt and burlap. Both were on display on Warren st. in Hudson NY.
Sculpture, Flag, Decor - Jack Dylan
Wedding Venue
A passion project of mine, I find it endlessly exciting to design and imagine a yet-to-be-realized wedding venue. As someone who grew up in a Bed & Breakfast, the idea of opening your doors to strangers and having your house be your art and your business feels like home to me.
Sketches, Copy, Moodboards - Jack Dylan
Fort Greene Garden Apt.
My first and only apartment in New York was an 8-year stay in a Fort Green garden level. It needed a lot of work, from the mantel, which I transformed into a subway mosaic, (S. Portland was the street name.), to its originally fallow and sizable backyard; it became a happy oasis in the city for me and my two cats.
Mosaic, Decor, Garden - Jack Dylan
Photos No. 4-10 - Esar
Brooklyn Restaurant
Interior design of a small restaurant and bar in Brooklyn. Featuring custom booths and bar back.
Design & Sketches - Jack Dylan
Warehouse Roastery
Interior design and layout of a coffee shop and roastery that was to be set in a very beautiful location. This was just a preliminary sketch for the parties, but unfortunately the project did not go through.
Design - Jack Dylan
