[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-stumptown-comics-festival-portland-oregon":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"Jet-lag and catching up means it's taken me a week and a half to blog this, but here it is, my Stumptown blog post! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/portland-0f21daa109.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nMy family used to go every year to the Oregon on holiday (\u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannon_Beach,_Oregon\">Cannon Beach\u003C/a>, to be specific - here's a photo. Cannon Beach was where a lot of the outdoor scenes of \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goonies\">The Goonies\u003C/a>\u003C/i> was filmed.) Since it's our old vacation place, I've always thought of Oregon as my favourite state.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/childhood_canonbeach-4dcb71764e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAs I flew over from \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/391570.html\">MoCCA festival\u003C/a> in New York City, I drew \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/389474.html\">this mini comic\u003C/a> on the plane to Seattle and roped my parents into helping me put it together. Which I'm glad I did, as it turned out to be my best-selling item! (Apologies if you already read it in \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/391570.html\">an earlier post\u003C/a>.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/389474.html\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/stumptown_1-81bf396952.gif\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nThere's been A LOT going on in Portland since I emigrated to Britain. It has a thriving arts and comics scene; in fact, \u003Ci>such\u003C/i> a scene that there's now a whole TV show called \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portlandia_%28TV_series%29\">\u003Ci>Portlandia\u003C/a>\u003C/i> that parodies the city 'where young people go to retire', 'all the hot girls wear glasses' and 'you can put a bird on something and call it art'. Portland residents have very mixed reactions about the series, it does hit a bit close to the bone (and particularly annoying if your art career involves a lot of birds.) But I love this clip. The '90s are how I remember America, so it's ALL STILL THERE... in Portland! Ha ha... \\r\n\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"722\"/>\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVmq9dq6Nsg\">\u003Ci>YouTube link\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more **Click here for LOADS more photos, videos and write-up under the cut!**-->\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"723\"/>\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://youtu.be/0XM3vWJmpfo\">\u003Ci>YouTube link\u003C/i>\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nI was trying to think of things to draw in Seattle when I was trying out \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/389677.html\">encaustic wax painting with my sister\u003C/a>, so... yeah. The bird. I think in Britain right now it's unicorns, possibly shifting toward \u003Ca href=\"http://plarchie.tumblr.com/\">tentacled creatures\u003C/a>. There was even a brief period where everyone seemed to put Abraham Lincoln on things.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/put_a_bird_on_it-5ee2e6b3cc.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd here's how it looks if you put three birds at a table. Here I am with my fab table mates, my studio mate \u003Ca href=\"http://www.littlewhitebird.com\">Ellen Lindner\u003C/a> (\u003Ca href=\"http://ellenlindner.livejournal.com/\" class=\"lj-user\">ellenlindner\u003C/a>) and \u003Ca href=\"http://www.ztoical.com\">Cliodhna Lyons\u003C/a> (\u003Ca href=\"http://ztoical.livejournal.com/\" class=\"lj-user\">ztoical\u003C/a>), pronounced 'Kleena'. I sold lots of copies of my new all-ages comic book \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/vernlettuce-book.php\">\u003Ci>Vern and Lettuce\u003C/i>\u003C/a> and generally felt pleased about its US launch. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/stumptown_table4-4da31dcb8b.jpg\">\\r\n(Photo by my sister's partner, reporter Mike Lewis)\\r\n\\r\nA big thanks to visitor \u003Ca href=\"http://www.ednapurviance.org/\">Linda Wada\u003C/a> (who knew of me through British comics creator \u003Ca href=\"http://www.garenewing.co.uk/rainboworchid/\">Garen Ewing\u003C/a>), who shot several videos during her day at the festival. It cracks me up that in this one, I'm signing a children's book while Ellen talks about polyamoury in the background.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"724\"/>\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://youtu.be/8LHbSa03Di8\">\u003Ci>YouTube link\u003C/i>\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nHere's Linda making a video of Ellen signing her graphic novel \u003Ca href=\"http://www.littlewhitebird.com/comics/undertow.htm\">\u003Ci>Undertow\u003C/i>\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/linda_wada2-f887a1a37b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nYou might have seen this video by Linda on my earlier post, but it gives more of a general sense of what it's like to walk around the festival.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"725\"/>\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://youtu.be/haVod1OUR4I\">\u003Ci>YouTube link\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nWe really liked a lot of stuff about our crash pad, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jupiterhotel.com/\">The Jupiter Hotel\u003C/a>. The first thing Ellen and I did was decorate each other's chalkboard doors.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/jupiter_hotel-1eac6f279e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nMy sister, Mary, and her partner, Mike, came down by train with me from Seattle, and it was a lot of fun having them along. Mike took this great picture of Mary in the hotel lounge. Note the rather bizarre attacking world mural from \u003Ci>Little Red Riding Hood\u003C/i> on the outdoor wall.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/jupiter_mary-5cd7888a8c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nStumptown was great for meeting in real life people I'd only known over the internet. I knew \u003Cb>Madeleine Flores\u003C/b> from three different places - LiveJournal (\u003Ca href=\"http://hey-madeleine.livejournal.com/\" class=\"lj-user\">hey-madeleine\u003C/a>), Twitter (\u003Ca href=\"http://twitter.com/#!/heymadeleine\">heymadeleine\u003C/a>), and her Blank Slate book \u003Ca href=\"http://blankslatebooks.bigcartel.com/product/the-girl-and-the-gorilla-madeleine-flores\">\u003Ci>The Girl and the Gorilla\u003C/i>\u003C/a> (which I bought at \u003Ca href=\"http://goshlondon.blogspot.com/\">Gosh! Comics\u003C/a> in London, on 11-year-old Molly Bruton's \u003Ca href=\"http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2011/richards-propaganda-list-best-of-year-2010/\">recommendation on the Forbidden Plant International blog\u003C/a>), but it took me a few minutes to click that they were all the same person!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/madeleine_flores-b4541ec272.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nLike MoCCA, the exhibitors were mostly adults, but that didn't stop 11-year-old \u003Cb>Mackenzie Meredith\u003C/b> from selling loads of \u003Ca href=\"http://www.doctorzombie.microbrewcomics.com/?page_id=10\">Doctor Zombie\u003C/a> comics from her table, written by her, lettered by her dad, \u003Cb>Brian Meredith\u003C/b>, and drawn by \u003Cb>Erik Thompson\u003C/b>. Very impressive!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mackenzie_meredith-77e7593ce9.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe got to see \u003Ca href=\"http://mollycrabapple.com/\">Molly Crabapple\u003C/a> draw this intricate mural over the course of two days.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/molly_crabapple-13bf652158.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nLovely \u003Ca href=\"http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/gingerbread-girl/737\">\u003Ci>Gingerbread Girl\u003C/i>\u003C/a> comic, drawn by \u003Ca href=\"http://www.colleencoover.net/\">Colleen Coover\u003C/a> and written by \u003Ca href=\"http://www.paultobin.net/\">Paul Tobin\u003C/a>:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/colleen_coover_paul_tobin-4cc539203d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWhile he didn't have a table, I was hugely pleased to see Seattle-based comics creator \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lasky\">David Lasky\u003C/a> (\u003Ca href=\"http://dlasky.livejournal.com/\" class=\"lj-user\">dlasky\u003C/a>). He's currently working on a \u003Ca href=\"http://carterfamilycomix.blogspot.com/\">graphic novel about the Carter Family\u003C/a>, and we had fun playing around with his comic about Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin (or Dave Gainsbourg and Ellen Birkin.) \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/gainsbourg_birkin-a67edea59f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOur whole festival experience was made loads more fun by having a table next to comic creator and DreamWorks animator \u003Ca href=\"http://team-spectacular.com/\">Scott Wright\u003C/a>. (Thanks for being such a fab tablematey, Scott!)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/scott_wright-0ba96f7a85.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOne of my big discoveries at the festival was the work of \u003Ca href=\"http://penguinsdawn.blogspot.com/\">Tyler Parker\u003C/a>, who went to art college in the south of England (Brighton) but now lives back in the USA. I love his colour palettes and sense of design, do have a look at \u003Ca href=\"http://penguinsdawn.blogspot.com/\">his blog\u003C/a>.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/tyler_parker-ee690bef45.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI'm hoping we can get \u003Ca href=\"http://saraholeksyk.com/\">Sarah Oleksyk\u003C/a> over to London to talk at a meeting of \u003Ca href=\"http://www.laydeezdocomics.com\">Laydeez Do Comics\u003C/a>. She knows a lot about women in comics and has a lot of interesting stuff to say. Speaking of which, I was wondering if there was a database of UK and Irish female comics creators and Cliodhna pointed me toward this handy list, \u003Ca href=\"http://splinister.com/post/women-in-comics-in-ukireland-redux\">Splinister, compiled by Maura McHugh\u003C/a>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/sarah_oleksyk-a62117fb22.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOne Stumptown highlight was meeting amazing photographer \u003Ca href=\"http://www.visioluxus.com/\">Elisa Lazo de Valdez\u003C/a> (\u003Ca href=\"http://visioluxus.livejournal.com/\" class=\"lj-user\">visioluxus\u003C/a>). I love her updates on LiveJournal, and I was pleased as punch to find out that the person who makes some of the gorgeous and haunting paper masks in her photos is actually her husband, paper artist \u003Ca href=\"http://phillipvaldez.blogspot.com/\">Phillip Valdez\u003C/a>. Wow, what a team! Have a look at both of their websites, some truly brilliant stuff there. \u003Ci>Caution: Some of Elisa's photos include (very tasteful) nudity, so possibly not safe for viewing at work.\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/visioluxus-927656b9ec.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nEliza originally trained as an illustrator, and their daughter, Sophia, also loves to draw. Thanks for this picture, Sophia!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/sophia_valdez-cbfcaa4460.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nA few more creators and links, here's \u003Ca href=\"http://lizbaillie.com/\">Liz Baillie\u003C/a> with her \u003Ci>Freewheel\u003C/i> comic:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/liz_bailie-50f0160b7f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.jonathondalton.com/\">Jonathon Dalton\u003C/a> (\u003Ca href=\"http://jdalton.livejournal.com/\" class=\"lj-user\">jdalton\u003C/a>) and his Mayan-Aztec graphic novel \u003Ca href=\"http://lostcitycomics.bigcartel.com/product/lords-of-death-and-life\">\u003Ci>Lords of Death and Life\u003C/i>\u003C/a>. I read it on the plane; great stuff, and I love the historical setting and intricate decorative details.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/jonathan_dalton-e86600a3e2.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHave a look at the lovely website of \u003Ca href=\"http://www.driveintothesun.com/\">Matt Sundstrom\u003C/a>. I bought his book of Portland drawings, and it made me want to go and make a book of London drawings.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/matt_sundstrom-3a3f18ffe2.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nBeing back in America, I kind of overdid the whole thing of catching up on food that's not so readily available in Britain. (Breakfast pancakes were the worst culprit.) But one thing that's never tempted me has been red velvet cake. I've always been put off by the fact that a single cake uses up something like a bottle and a half of red food colouring. But Ellen, her husband (\u003Ca href=\"http://www.comixinflux.com\">Comix Influx translation website\u003C/a> coordinator Stephen Betts), Mary, Mike and I went to a restaurant that specialises in southern cooking, and that's what Ellen ordered. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/red_velvet_cake-8bd6345a33.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nIt's just so RED! Ellen explained that it's sort of halfway between chocolate and white sponge cake, and when tasted a few bites, it was pretty good. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/red_velvet2-2acfcc9a5b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe ended up having quite a few of our meals in the Jupiter Hotel restaurant, the Doug Fir. My sister and I couldn't get over the stripped-log decor, we really loved it. Here's Stephen with Seattle-based comic creator \u003Ca href=\"http://www.vinylsaurus.com/\">Scott Faulkner\u003C/a> (\u003Ca href=\"http://inkboy.livejournal.com/\" class=\"lj-user\">inkboy\u003C/a>) (with whom I met up on other visits to Seattle, along with David Lasky, Mark Campos (\u003Ca href=\"http://mr-sadhead.livejournal.com/\" class=\"lj-user\">mr-sadhead\u003C/a>) and Jim & Mary Woodring). Scott's part of Seattle's \u003Ca href=\"http://thebureauofdrawers.blogspot.com/2010/07/meet-bureau-scott-faulkner.html\">Bureau of Drawers\u003C/a> comics group.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/scott_faulkner-3aea6d7139.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd I wanted very much to see more of Elisa (\u003Ca href=\"http://visioluxus.livejournal.com/\" class=\"lj-user\">visioluxus\u003C/a>) that we met again for breakfast at the Doug Fir. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/jupiter_visioluxus-39cf476b83.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nActually, I started using the Doug Fir as a sort of meeting room, and the wait staff started teasing me a bit when I came in for second breakfasts. (I only had tea the second time, honest!) But here's a gang of us from college who almost spontaneously rallied on Facebook. Great to see you all! We had \u003Ci>a lot\u003C/i> of stories to catch up on, breakfast wasn't really long enough.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/collegefriends-9da4ec5f75.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>Me, Rachel Duncan, Amy Rohrer Dorr & Heidi Lahart\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nI absolutely love the bride we passed several times between our hotel and the city centre. Its shapes are so beautiful, and I love how it has this strange little cottage on top.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/portland_bridge-e0b669bd90.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe went to see a performance by a \u003Cb>Jesse Reklaw\u003C/b>, creator of a comic called \u003Ca href=\"http://slowwave.com/\">\u003Ci>Slow Wave\u003C/i>\u003C/a>, who also plays guitar in a band, but we got there pretty late and only caught the tail end of the show. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comics_band-f0f839f85c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd here's us dinging around in the freezing cold Portland night. It was such a shock coming back to England in full summer weather. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/portland_night-cfd2176d81.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nStumptown was fabulous! You can see Ellen Lindner's write-up of both Stumptown and MoCCA over on our studio blog, \u003Ca href=\"http://thefleecestation.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/ellen-and-sarah-take-on-north-america/\">The Fleece Station\u003C/a>.","2011-04-28T08:21:00.000Z","stumptown-comics-festival-portland-oregon",[],"stumptown comics festival - portland, oregon",1776628720068]