Hope everyone has a great 3 day weekend & stays warm–it’s supposed to be a chilly one in NYC…
To go…
Not many events happening this weekend persay…and sadly missed out on Chip Kidd speaking last night at MOCCA…ah well.
• One event to get excited about, however, is Comics Out Loud, 28 January from 1–5pm. Seems the Society of Illustrators has wrangled together some writers, inkers, colourists & letterers including: Louise & Walter Simonson, Bob Wiacek, Chris Sotomayor and John Workman. The event will be curated by the editor, Danny Fingeroth and presents “a rare opportunity to see top creators doing…their work.” While it’s not exactly cheap–tickets for non-members are $50–it sounds like a pretty awesome event.
To see (or listen)…
• If you haven’t yet seen Martin Scorcese’s latest film, Hugo, go do so without a moment’s delay. I saw it last weekend and was completely entranced by the visuals, storytelling and whimsey that it conjured up. Don’t know much about it? Well, neither did I and actually am glad about that. I’ll give you a hint though: you’ll meet the man who shot the rocket into the moon…er many moons ago.
• For my British friends (close to London), Laydeez Do Comics will be meeting Monday 16 February from 6.30–9.30pm. Daniel Locke, Jacqueline Nicholls and Karin Rubins will be the ‘featured artists’ of the night.
To read…
I love perusing the many used book stores in NYC and recently snapped up 2 very nice discoveries:
• Marzi– a graphic novel about a young girl growing up in Poland before the fall of Communism, it’s more of a series of anecdotes instead of a fully drawn out narrative. As a result it’s a bit choppy, so I’m wondering if this might be a better “children’s graphic novel” due to it’s child narrator and simple, non complex style of storytelling. The jury seems to be out as to whether or not Marzi succeeds as a graphic novel–while NPR (or the NYTimes**) reported that many Polish residents identify with the story (and are quick to share it with friends) others feel it’s “unsatisfying“. Which just means you should read it for yourself **I could swear I read the article on either the NYTimes or NPR about this yet now even “googling” fails me and I can’t find it.
• Gemma Bovary– I was quite happy to pick this up for $7 at Housing Works Books! Much of the action takes place in France, so I had a lot of fun reading the bits au francais that are sprinkled throughout this riff on the great novel “Madame Bovary.” Written by Posy Simmonds, (the second graphic novel I’ve now read of hers), her sketchy, naive style and the wit of her characters make for another engrossing tale of love, lust and the confusion of the two.
To do…(warning: shameless self-promotion ahead)
Buy my “Yoga Desk Calendars”–that’s right folks, I’ve turned my 12 Days of Yoga illustration series into a 2012 desk calendar. Please note that since it’s a desk calendar, it’s rather small (about 3.75″ x 6.5″), but I happen to love small things so I’m sure you will too! I’ll be updating this post soon with a link to purchase them, so get excited!
To celebrate!
Two of my best British buddies (Paula & Thom) have been shortlisted for Myriad Editions’ First Fictions competition. Guys, this is pretty prestigious, so go check out their work and cross your fingers for their success–I’m personally hoping for a ‘tie’.
And another ‘hip, hip hooray!’ goes out to “Dr. Smoo” (of Better, Drawn) & that over achiever Thom Ferrier for being chosen as exhibitors at the “awesome…Toronto Comics & Arts Festival” for 2012….There is 1 small problem though, since they’ve spent all their $$ on paper, ink & tea, they need some help getting there–won’t you donate to their trip?
Well, that’s all folks! Good luck, and if you happen to read or do anything listed about, let me know how you enjoyed it–or didn’t! Also, be sure to check back here, next week for new artwork and stories…