A curated selection of Seattle’s finest contemporary drawing.
Remarkably, artists were selected by the unjaundiced eye and not chosen because of their reputation in either the fine art or cartoon art world, ahem.
Artwork was chosen by proximity, spiritual connection and contribution to the Northwest Tradition as pioneered by the likes of Morris Graves, Mark Toby, Peter Bagge and Jim Woodring.
Remarkably (yes, again), the artwork featured in SKID ROAD TO FLOATING WORLD is a mixed miasma of drone drawing, figure drawing, pattern cartooning, metamorphic automatism, cartography, illustration, totem drawing and good ole rain soaked mysticism.
We will also have advance copies of Jim Woodring’s new graphic novel, CONGRESS OF THE ANIMALS, available for sale.
LISTING INFORMATION:
WHO: Skid Road art collective, artists in attendance TBD
WHAT: Art exhibit & book release for Jim Woodring’s CONGRESS OF THE ANIMALS
surveying the room i sensed the pma had been brought
i know i was bringing it
i was still smelling the foul fumes from last year
last year was dismal
depressing
brutal
by the first hour there was a nice murmuring buzz and sneaker squeak serenade from all the foot traffic
folks seemed to be digging the mix of mini comics, undergrounds and zines i had to offer
yes! people were buying zines at a comic show (scandalous)
talking talking talking
and selling stuff
i talked horse
no pit stops just a couple of water breaks
i was busy busy
i managed to get out from behind the table one and a half times and checked out only half the show
in real life i'm not one of those people that plays dog and has to sniff other dogs
but at these shows i like to sniff
so i'm wistful about the lack of odor i took in
blink
the show's over
it was a short show
a lil guy
only four and half hours
but i was beat from all the jawing
i was also hungry
quick tally of sales surprised me and more than made up for last years loss
before expenses i took in two hundred and fifty bucks
figger fifty bucks for table / gas / food / coffee
figger minus a hundred for what i pay out for merch
so i made around a hundred bucks in four and a half hours
it'd be cool if i could average that at other shows
success
i had lots of fun
met cool new folks
and made a little scratch so i can re-up my depleted stock and buy new stuff for the hill
a gaggle of us went to darby's to get some eats
i used to work at darby's
it was nice to be back
new owners but still good eaten (i recommend the rueben)
when i worked there i'd show up early in the morn after working graveyard shift at toys r us
after walking in the door and taking my coat off
someone would hand me a mimosa and a spliff and away we'd go
i was the dishwasher
(when i told this to dylan he sed being a dishwasher is the common bond between most cartoonists (that and alcoholism))
i'd wash those dishes buzzed and sleep depped until three when
i'd then go to the spar bar and continue drinking and dance to the juke box until
i had to go back to toys r us and work another graveyard shift
and then i'd go home and take a shower
and then go to darby's to drink mimosas, smoke a lil sweat and wash dishes until three
and then go drink a bunch and finally crash broken
up for three days of obliteration...
it was fun to reminisce with friends about that youthful destructive behavior
but i'm glad i can be energetic and regenerative with my actions today
my haul:
jagoff by al frank published by teenage dinosaur
i'm a big tad martin fan so i'm always happy to see and read new comics by al frank
we rode with the clowns by steven stwalley, maximum traffic, ed devour, chelsea baker, harry bell, roldo, bob vojtko, brad w foster, bruce chrislip and steve willis
instant classic
the 2011 cartooning class giveaway special! by madison and aki kurose middle schools
comics like this always help me to look at things differently
which is a very good thing
glitter tooth and the godly goop by pylon prometheus
stoned stoner jams
this was free
untitled by calvin wright
crass doodle mania circa bored in tenth grade math class
this was free
one great taste by marc palm and max clotfelter
classic new wave mini comic by two classy guys
a matter of life and death by tom van deusen
just diving in
looks awesome
bad breath #2 and #3 by josh juresko
haven't read these yet but the look great
classic style executed in a similar vein to eric haven
untitled by joel skavdahl
this might be my favorite thing i got
wonderful drawing merging in and out of narrative
joel's had work in smoke signal
this zine is beautiful
reminds me of a mash between bruce bickford and orc stain
but really its own beautiful thing
ebbits #0 by michael s liven
wonderfully complete and exhibits a mature graphic style
impressive for a first
untitled by drew miller
awesome silk screen zine
edition of twelve!?
i feel very fortunate
void is god #1 by cullen beckhorn
fascinating and welcomed addition to the burgeoning onesheet form
DEEP SEED and SAD SACK scribe and nicest man you've ever/never met, TIM MILLER has started a blog dubbed OATMEAL TEARS... so far so good TIMs put up a bunch of awesome totem drawings that i recommend you peep directly... TIM is also the sole ink dipper for the up and coming soon to be screen printed PROFANITY HILL #2
what is right or wrong with being creative because one is feeling creative?
what could be more meaningful?
"art for art sake"
creativity and hand made art, in my opinion, are a humble pairing of beauty and positive energy.
i much prefer human inspiration finding hand made artistic expression as opposed to the destructive organization associated with governments and corporations exerting their reach.
there seems to be an aesthetic authority, an aura, attached to hand made art.
i am almost always interested in folk expression...
(maybe "folk art" is a better more popular term than "hand made art" but there seems to be unnecessary baggage with "folk art" leading me from a broader, richer and more mysterious path.)
...hand made art, by it's nature, acts as a container and distributor of energy from the hands of the maker to the hands of the reader (don't forget reading is making too).
i typically find containers of human idiosyncrasy almost as beautiful as nature.
between 52nd and 55th on the east side of the ave theres a weird black newspaper box with a white z on it (although some turkey put a sticker over the z)
put yer stuff (like yr zine or art or whatever) in this box and take some stuff from the box
last week i made my offering... but i didn't take anything (the only stuff to take was a box of crackers and a rolled up coke bill)
