This coming Saturday, May 14 from 10am-4pm, I’ll be tabling at Broke – an affordable art fair, part of Peterborough, NH’s Thing In The Spring. Broke is a multidisciplinary arts event that has taken place in Peterborough, NH three times since its inception in 2008. The Broke philosophy is simple: art is for everybody. All Broke events are free to the public, and *broke vendors commit to presenting at least 75% of their wares for less than $50. It’ll be at the Fellowship Hall of the Union Congregational Church in Peterborough, NH. Come out & say hi!
Surprises from Headville
The other night on a whim I Googled “Headville”. I guess I thought the only results would be mine (see Winter & Spring in Headville if you don’t know what I’m talking about), but it turns out there are other things with that name.
As far as I can tell it doesn’t exist anymore, but apparently there was a place called Headville in Vermont, as evidenced by the postmark on this postcard (I’d be tempted to buy it if the word “Headville” weren’t cut off the way it is). There’s also Headville Grain & Feed in Kansas (not Headville, KS, though). The business info site identifies itself as “a D&B Company”, which I guess stands for “Dun & Bradstreet,” but coincidentally is also a common abbreviation for “Drum & Bass,” a type of music I’ve enjoyed for years. Then there’s Headville, LLC in Colorado. That site gives no indication what they do so I was totally going to call them, but I Googled instead and found their Twitter, which tells me that it’s not only “a high quality smoke shop”, but also has “locally made tees, jewelry, ceramics, and fine art.”
The thing with the most results was Headville, which as far as I can tell from skimming their uninformative, script-requiring page and other search results, is some sort of video mystery puzzle. But the best result so far was a track by Isness called “In Headville” – I like it pretty well and It’s not a bad fit for the comic, so now there’s a soundtrack to listen to while reading Headville comics!
I’m on Etsy!
I didn’t think I had any use for Etsy because I already had a shop on my website, but Josh Blair’s post about it changed my mind, and now I’ve finally set up there. If you like buyin’ things on Etsy, get on over there!
(You may notice I’m selling the anthologies I’ve co-produced there; I plan to do the same here, but not ’til after I redo my shop. I was going to set up a separate Etsy shop for Trees & Hills, but the process to post a new item is cumbersome enough that I don’t want to do it twice for each item.)
More Spring Tour dates
I had a good time at Paint & Pixel this weekend! If you missed it, you can still catch up with me at these events:
- May 7: Free Comic Book Day Festival (Rochester NH). Free Comic Book Day is a highly publicized national event. Comic Shops across the country bring in hundreds and thousands of people on this day! The city of Rochester is unique in that Free Comic Book Day is promoted as a city-wide festival, organized by Jetpack Comics and the Rochester Main Street Association. 10am-4pm, multiple locations (cartoonists will be at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 40 Columbus Ave. For more information, email Ralph at jpcomics(at)worldpath(dot)net.
- May 14: Broke – the Affordable Arts Fair (Peterborough, NH). Broke is a multidisciplinary arts event with a simple philosophy: art is for everybody. All Broke events are free to the public, and Broke vendors commit to presenting at least 75% of their wares for less than $50. Broke will take place from 10am-4pm at the Fellowship Hall at Union Congregational Church, 33 Concord St. Broke is part of the Thing In The Spring, an annual weekend of art and music.
- May 22: Maine Comics Arts Festival (Portland, ME). The Maine Comics Arts Festival (MECAF) celebrates the wonderful world of comic books, comic strips, graphic novels, web comics and more. The festival will feature a wide variety of comic creators, writers, artists and publishers. 10am-5pm in the beautiful Ocean Gateway Building on the waterfront. Admission: $5 (kids 12 & under free). Presented by Casablanca Comics.
Hope to see you!
Square Dance #5
Sam and the Prophecy of the Allrus
Resources For New Music comic #2
I have another 1-panel comic over at Jacob Feinberg’s Resources for New Music blog (concept by him again).
Dervish
Comics for Resources for New Music
I’ve started drawing occasional 1-panel comics to illustrate Jacob Feinberg’s blog Resources for New Music; you can see the first one here. The concept for this one was by Jacob, as I expect will generally be the case.
Wizard
Transcript
1. A wizard performing a magic ritual at an altar: “AZNHORUM BINCLEITH IOR VANRID ECSORETH”
2. “ECTHOR!” Wizard raises arms and sparkly fire erupts on the altar.
3. A sandwich has appeared on the altar. Wizard smiles & licks lips.
2. “ECTHOR!” Wizard raises arms and sparkly fire erupts on the altar.
3. A sandwich has appeared on the altar. Wizard smiles & licks lips.
I bet he’d think splitting atoms to boil water is a great idea.
April 16: Paint & Pixel Festival in Northampton, MA
I’ll be tabling for Trees & Hills at a new comics festival right in our own region!
April 16, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Northampton Center for the Arts, 17 New South Street, Northampton, MA
Celebrating illustration online and in print, Paint & Pixel showcases Western New England’s talented book illustrators, comic artists, and cartoonists in one venue. Meet and get to know talented creators and their work ranging from sci-fi and indie comics to award-winning children’s books, prominent webcomics and comic strips. The annual event is open to comic and art lovers alike and promises to be the region’s largest gathering of talented illustrators.
Admission: $4 for adults, $2 for children 6-12, Free for children 5 and under
More info: paintandpixelfestival.com
A Boy and His Gum 4
The Comics Journal reviews Square Dance #4
This particular edition of Colin Tedford’s Square Dance suggests what underground comics might have been in their nth iteration if maybe America and its cartoonists had progressed differently. For instance, what if, when head shops disappeared, the undergrounds migrated and were sold in farm and feed supply stores?
…so begins Rich Kreiner’s review of Square Dance #4 at The Comics Journal.
(If so inspired, you can of course buy Square Dance #4 here or here.)
A Boy and His Gum 3
The Unexpected Volume
Recently while perusing the used children’s books at Toadstool, trying to decide what to read to some 3rd-graders, I found something surprising on the shelf: The Haunted Looking Glass: Ghost Stories chosen [and illustrated] by Edward Gorey – for $3! (click image to enlarge)
I probably wouldn’t have bought the book just for the illustrations, much as I love Gorey’s work (and the book is physically charming), but having gone through a period of strong interest in ghost stories this past fall, I think it’ll be a fun read. It includes Charles Dickens’ “The Signal-man”, perhaps my favorite of the stories I read last fall, and a bunch of others I don’t know.