Better days

Me and Robyn Jordan, Short Run 2016

Short Run this year was phenomenal. And it also feels like ages ago. BT. Before Trump. I have a feeling that everyone who was a part of the fest this year will remember it very fondly.

“Patterns” and “Forty Two” are now both available in my online store. Because of what the Trump presidency promises to bring, I’ll be donating whatever money I make online through the rest of November to the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and the Natural Resources Defense Council. It’s a starting point.

Paul Constant gave a mention to both “Patterns” and “Forty Two” in his “Best of Short Run” feature for The Seattle Review of Books. About “Forty Two,” he writes:

it feels like a personal document, like a handwritten letter. It’s so confessional, and so fun, and so celebratory, that it can pick a reader up even when it feels as though the world is burning down.

It does feel like the world is burning down AND I am really proud of what Emilie, Kelly, and I created in this book. There is a lot of work to be done ahead of us. I am grateful that art will help see us through. Take care everyone.

Short Run is here!

Short Run week has arrived! I’ve just returned from International Comics Night where I had the opportunity to listen to Ivana Pipal (Croatia), Ilan Manouach (Belgium/Greece), Hatem Imam (Lebanon), and Inés Estrada (Mexico) speak about their incredible work in comics. I was blown away by how visceral and present and unique each of their work is. They will all be at Short Run this Saturday. In fact, there are going to be well over 200 artists there this year from the Pacific Northwest and all around the country and world. I’m especially looking forward to seeing new work by Marnie Galloway, Paper Press Punch, and The H_A_N_D collective. But there’s so much to see!—can’t wait.

Leading up to the fest, Robyn Jordan and I stopped by the Accidents on Purpose Studios for an interview about the festival, our work, and George W. Bush’s portraiture. You can listen to it here.

I’m almost ready. My new book, Patterns, is done:

I’ve been wanting to work on this book about the various life patterns we live and repeat and attempt to break out of for awhile now. I started the cut paper work—cutting tiny patterns into vintage sewing transparencies for the background panels—this past summer. And now it’s all printed, sewn up, and ready for you. Rich Smith at The Stranger gave it a generous shout-out in his Short Run shopping list. Grateful.

And here is Forty-Two, the collaborative zine written and drawn by Kelly Froh, Emilie Bess, and me. So proud of this work and thankful for the friendships that made it happen.

Both of these books will be for sale in my online store after Short Run, but if you’re able to stop by the fest, please do!