The Grants Game Part 2

Gone Girl Comics has moved!  And will also be sunsetting the name "Gone Girl Comics" pretty soon here.  HOWEVER, things are kicking up in 2016.

FUNDED!  Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle - City Artist Project Grants 2016

I'm happy to report that my graphic novel has been selected as one of the 30 projects funded by the Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle for 2016.

This is the second grant the project has garnered, after the 4Culture Art Project award.  I was very nearly certain the proposal would not be funded, because the application requires you to select either literary or visual arts, yet comics incorporate both.  In the spirit of "Don't Ask, Don't Get," I went forward with the application.  You can learn more about the Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle here.

Both grants support the creation of the full script plus sample chapters and require a public presentation, so I've got A LOT of work to do.  It will be worth it, though, because I should have what I need to shop the book to an agent or publishing house when I am through.  

Awesome women's comics inside!

The Anthology Game Part 3

I had a fair amount of anthology inclusion in 2014 & 2015.  The highlight for me, hands down, was being included in The Strumpet, Issue #4, "The Friendship Issue."

The Strumpet is an anthology of quality comics by women only, and it publishes in both London and New York!  Issue #4 "is all about lady friends -- from best friends forever to friend with a question mark. [It] explores the highs, the lows, the joys, the sorrows, the awesomeness and the awkwardness of female friendship."

Many of the stories in this issue rocked my world, including one by Casandra Grullon that made me cry.  You can read more about The Strumpet here, and you can buy the current and back issues at Editor Ellen Lidner's Etsy shop here.  

I also have a comic in the most recent issue of multi-medium literary magazine Raven Chronicles as well as Connections, a comics anthology to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Moving forward, I have a 3-party collaboration with Seattle Cartoonist Mark Campos and Seattle Musician Amy Denio, to be featured in the pending 11th Dimension Press' "Rock is Not Dead" anthology with accompanying music CD.  Mark conceptualized the story based on the Throwing Muses song "Not Too Soon" and Amy Denio recorded a cover of the song and had Mark and I play "trash percussion" utilizing only a wash basin and mallets. 

Detail from "Not Too Soon."
Gone Girl Comics with Mark Campos and Amy Denio.

Starting the sample chapters of my graphic novel leaves little room to work on other independent project, unfortunately, but I AM collaborating with writer Anne Bean on her story "Coyote and Butterfly Woman."

The story is a modernized version of a tradition Nez Pierce story, and I get to have fun drawing anthropomorphic characters.  Anne has also joined into the grants game, and this comic collaboration is made possible in part by an Artist Trust GAP grant she secured.

Next Week:  Tabling In Honor of a beloved Seattle institution, The OK Hotel.

 

C-log posts on comics, publication and community that publishes on Tuesdays.

The Grants Game

Gone Girl Comics has been gone for too long.  There's actually some really legit reasons for dropping off the map, but that is a comic for an entirely different day.  TODAY I want to catch C-Log up to speed on artistic developments.

4Culture Art Project Recipient - 2015

 

I will be returning to a weekly blog, not only because I actually love it, but also because I'm now legally obligated to.  No, it's not part of a parole agreement.  I am blessed and lucky enough to have received a grant for 4Culture, the cultural services agency for King County, Washington.  It's in support of creating my first graphic novel, and blogging the process is part of fulfilling the grant.

I want to sincerely thank 4Culture for everything they do.   More about 4Culture, plus a full list of 2015 recipients here.

Danielle Davis of Ladykiller (left) and I and at the I Heart Comics Art Award
Ceremony.  Photo Credit Kristina Moravec.
 

I Heart Comic Art FTW

 

Notification of the 4Culture award came on the heels of Gone Girl Comics winning the I Heart Comics Art award at Emerald City Comicon.  The award is sponsored by female entrepreneur Danielle Davis' promotion firm, Ladykiller, who organizes the contest, raises money and prizes for the awards AND throws a blow-out party to give the awards away.

ALL of the finalists were fantastic.  Absolutely.  The best part about that is Ladykiller works with their finalists all year by curating shows and hosting us at their Emerald City Comicon Booth in 2016.  If you are a PNW cartoonist, I suggest you get involved with next year's contest.  It's been a great experience.

Graphic Novel, I'm Coming For Ya!

 

An idea is just an idea until you secure the resources to make it a reality.  I woke up this morning and realized that the graphic novel is now real.  It's been an idea for so long that having resources, a contract, defined deliverables and a timeline is almost frightening.  Almost.

Graphic novel project binder, with working title, now that
"Gone Girl," my original title for the work, is already in use.

Once I started thinking about a graphic novel in terms of fulfilling a grant contract, my project management brain kicked in.  It's a job now, and for some reason thinking about it that way gives me enough emotional distance to tackle it in pieces and parts.

Today, I created a project binder.  Now it's real, right?  And I wrote this blog.  Next week I'll get down to the nitty gritty of the story I'm about to tackle.

 

Take Away:  APPLY FOR THINGS

 

If you are a creator, research opportunities and apply for them.  Ask for money, for shows, for residencies.  Someone gets them, why not us?  Don't ask, don't get.  

If you are living in Seattle, there's a grant coming up from the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs.  The deadline is July 22nd and you can find details on it here:  http://www.seattle.gov/arts/funding/individual.asp

I'll post deadlines as I hear of them.  Until next week!



C-log posts on comics, publication and community that publishes on Tuesdays.