A is for the aspens, Assisi and Acoma.

B is for Basilica, bison and bird.

C is for concha belt, chile and conquistadora.

Seattle architect Anita Lehmann said she began thinking about how to do an illustrated alphabet for Santa Fe after she first visited five years ago.

She did her first in 1987 for the cover of a Seattle magazine edition about the education of architects.

Last fall, as she finished up an illustrated alphabet for the city of Seattle, Lehmann came to Santa Fe to see her friend and fellow architect Melanie Brown, who suggested she do one for the Santa Fe's 400th anniversary.

"She was sort of my partner in crime in making sure things were correct," she said.

Lehmann drew her finely detailed Santa Fe alphabet in plastic-lead pencil on Mylar. In pre-computer days, the durable, translucent plastic was used by draftsmen to superimpose systems over each other — a lighting plan over a floor plan, for example.

"Some (Mylar sheets) are totally clear," she said. "The one I work on is somewhat frosted, so there's a little bit of a tooth to it to work with."

So far, Lehmann has had 1,000 postcards and 500 posters printed. You can buy the postcards (eight for $12) or the posters ($25 each) of Santa Fe, Seattle or Portland, Ore., via Lehmann's Web site at www.cityalphabets.com.

She plans to be in Santa Fe in early April to talk to officials of the 400th Anniversary Committee about using the image in schools and to a buyer for local museum shops. Her Seattle alphabet already is on sale at the Seattle Art Museum.

Lehmann tries to shun the commercial in her work, avoiding, for example, Starbucks in Seattle and the Nike Swoosh in Portland. But her Santa Fe alphabet uses the Rail Runner and Seattle's uses the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's "P-I Globe," despite the newspaper's demise last year.

Lehmann, who lives in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle with her husband, two sons and dog, said her alphabet artwork is a sideline to her independent work as an architect, teaching drawing and painting, and doing freelance illustrations.

"When things were really busy, I was quite busy as someone who draws by hand because it's getting to be ... unique," she said. "I push freehand drawing a lot just because I think it's such a natural tool to design buildings."

And, oh yes, Z is for Zia, zaguan and Zozobra.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.