A Coyote Tale

Me and Casey Silver from 80% Studios.

Event News

I had a blast at the BLICK Artist Alley event on July 16th.  The event was organized by Ladykiller with fabulous comics artist Rhodora Jacob and organizer extraordinaire Danielle Davis on point.  

I sold enough minicomics to buy a replacement laserjet printer and got to goof off with my table mates Casey Silver of 80% Studios and cartoonist/illustrator Robert Tritthardt.

Also, I was accepted to be one of the curated comics exhibitors for the 2016 Short Run Comix and Arts Festival!  The festival happens at Seattle Center on November, 5th of this year.  I am REALLY happy that my application was accepted, as I am planning to debut some new work there, including my collaboration with Anne Bean, Coyote and Butterfly Woman.

Coyote and Butterfly Woman

I've only just met comics writer, cultural critic and raconteur, Anne Bean, in the past year.  In 2015, she was awarded an Artist Trust GAP grant, in support of the creation of four comics based on fairy tales from around the world, and a coyote tale that originated in Nez Pierce tribal mythology.

Magpie with a human eye.  That guy sees everything.

The coyote tale, Coyote and Butterfly Woman, centers around Coyote needing to subdue the powers of Butterfly Woman, who is standing in the way of his travels.  Anne revised the story to reflect modern power relations between genders.

We discussed the possibility of me taking the story on as it's illustrator.  

I have had experience updating the Bohemian folk tale, Jezinkas, and have ties to Indian country through both relations and through my work with Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center.  Anne's story is heavy on content, and I was attracted to the magical realism element of the project, so I here I am, illustrating a coyote tale.

Coyote hitches a ride in Eastern Washington.

I'll be honest - this has not been an easy comic to climb into.  I usually draw my own stories, so I automatically feel strongly about the ones I'm compelled to surface in my art.  Anne's writing is visceral, and I had to spend some time with it and process a handful of issues before I got to the mechanics of the drawings.  

There is a character sporting a confederate flag hat.  There are on-page depictions of violence.  The google image searches alone were daunting.

First, I had the idea to experiment in making ugly drawings to reflect the ugliness of some of the story elements.  No, no and no.  I drew pages of work that will never see the light of day.   I think, ultimately, it's a good thing.  I had to work through that as part of the process.

Butterfly Woman in the works.

Luckily, we have until mid-October to get the story done.  I'm a third of the way through, have worked through the major issues and drafted the main characters.  Now I'm working on the fun part - the inking.

In November, you will be able to pick up a copy of the story, along with other work by Anne Bean and me, during Coyote and Butterfly Woman's debut at Short Run 2016.

Girl On The Road posts about comics, publication and community on Tuesdays.

Come Up And See Me

The beautiful artwork of Stefari & Rhodora Jacob.
Come by BLICK and say hello.

July 16th @ BLICK

If you happen to be in the Seattle area this weekend, you should come see the amazing and diverse crowd of cartoonists who are participating in the Artist Alley, hosted at BLICK Art Materials this weekend.

BLICK is the hold-out arts supply store on Capitol Hill, and it's located in close proximity to Seattle Central Community College, on Pine and Broadway. 

I will only be tabling on Saturday, July 16th, so if you want to see me, come then.  But there will be artists there on Saturday and Sunday for you to visit.

I swore up and down earlier this year that I would table no events until I have new comics to sell.  Well.  I WILL have new comics in October, but I don't mind being at BLICK with Gone Girl Comics 1 & 2 plus Jezinkas.  It should be a new audience for me and I was part of the I Heart Comics Art awards. 

BLICK will be offering 50% Custom Framing discounts as well as other in store promotions. See you there! Special thanks to BLICK and Ladykiller for hosting.

Hot Off The Press: A Cool Summer Book Fair

A wide view of the event.  I'm hanging out in hot pink.

Me with cartoonist and poster artist extraordinaire, Pat Moriarity.
Behind us, wielding grilling tongs, is Seth Goodkind,
another fine Seattle cartoonist and co-founder of
Push/Pull Gallery.

The BLICK event will happen exactly one week after Hot Off The Press:  A Cool Summer Book Fair hosted by Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery.

I already knew there was a shindig going down at Fantagraphics last Saturday.  The Intruder, a free comics newspaper that I blogged about earlier here, decided to sunset their publication after four dedicated years and were throwing a sort of goodbye party there.  What I did not realize was that there was a mini tabling event featuring local independent cartoonists.

It was a sunny, sunny Seattle day and the artists were set up on the sidewalk.  I thought I was getting there early but the tables were full and I ended up setting up like a sunglasses salesman at a street fair (which I actually had fun with.  NO COMPLAINTS) between veteran cartoonist and illustrator Pat Moriarity and Eisner-Award winning cartoonist David Lasky. 

For Seriously.  Pat Moriarity and I both have stories in the Serbian anthology Skulptura? - though Pat did the cover!  I was thrilled to have such great neighbors.  Throw in the fact that we were also sharing space with the fabulous Fogland Studios and I couldn't have been in better company.

There were hot dogs, beverages, a ton of people, a lot of camaraderie, and I made enough in sales to buy a badly-needed new laser jet printer.  It's the kind of comics artist hang out you really want to be at - most of it most likely thanks to Fantagraphics heavy-hitters Larry Reid and Janice Headley.

The photos are by Mark Campos.  He's gotten good at the documentary thing.  You can find more event photos on the event Facebook page here.

Next week, I'll get back to the actual art.

Girl On The Road posts about comics, publication and community on Tuesdays.