New Oh Joy, Sex Toy Guest Comic

OJSTGuestIlloI was so excited to return to Erika Moen’s Oh Joy, Sex Toy this week and deliver a guest comic about the exciting, unorthodox possibilities of the lowly Cutter Snake Bite Kit. The comic is (obviously) very not safe for work, but if you’ve got a spare moment in the comfort of your own home or exceptionally progressive workplace, give it read!

While you’re at it, be sure to check out Erika’s Kickstarter campaign to print the first year of OJST comics — including my first guest strip about rope bondage! The campaign has already shot through it’s initial funding goals, but all the excess funding raised past this point goes towards paying the guest artists a higher page rate, so every dollar helps make it more feasible for me to do many more guest strips in the future.

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TCAF TCAF TCAF

TCAFBannerGreat news, Canada! You can find me slinging comics this weekend at the ever-so-fabulous Toronto Comic Arts Festival. It remains far and away my favorite show of 2013 and I’m sure this year will be even more excellent than the last. For starters I have so many more comics to share with you than I did last year! LOOK AT ALL THESE COMICS: Swag GOLLY. Then there’s the stellar guest list, the super cool panels, and the FREE ADMISSION. Do I have your attention yet? GOOD, ‘CAUSE IT’S GONNA BE A PARTY AND I WANT YOU TO BE THERE. 553135_10201665096283715_1542738035_n You can find me on the ground floor at Table 145 in the Toronto Reference Library from 9am – 5pm on Saturday May 10th and 11am – 5pm on Sunday May 11th so no excuses come say hello.

WOO!

Patron Saint: VanCAF Promo Card

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Had a lot of fun illustrating this exclusive postcard for the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival last week. It’s funny how certain pieces really showcase the concept that “Everything’s a Remix”. There are a couple influences here that I’d feel remiss not pointing out: the concept for this piece is totally a spin on a shoot my photographer friend Peter Chee did a couple years ago. His original subject, my pal Tess Myers, is a metalworker, so the halo featured all her tools. I loved that photo and have always wanted to do something similar for illustration or comics.

The second influence is definitely Erika Moen’s saintly portraits, though they have the benefit of real gold leaf (shiny!). I love Erika’s comics, but I’ve also been really inspired by her mixed media collage illustrations. I have all this fancy paper at home that I never really play around with anymore (I used to be more of a book arts gal), so this was an excuse to try something a little more illustrative.

Anyway, keep an eye out for these at VanCAF 2014! I’ll be exhibiting there in May.

“The Secret Life of Gitmo’s Women” Featured on Narratively

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In-depth, human-interest news platform Narratively featured a comic of mine this week. “The Secret Life of Gitmo’s Women” collects the two interviews I illustrated for Symbolia Magazine in collaboration with writer Sarah Mirk early last year. These two stories haven’t been free to read online before now, so head over and take a look. (Note: these comics deal with issues of harassment and sexual assault. Please read with awareness.)

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The comic has also been accepted to this year’s Open Engagement conference in New York, where Laura Sandow (one of the veterans we worked with) will be presenting it in May. Unfortunately it sounds like I won’t be able to make the conference due to conflicting convention arrangements, but I do hope those of you in the New York area can go check it out. More on the Open Engagement homepage.

Party on Paper: Origin Stories

I finally rustled up another contribution to Party on Paper this week! P.O.P. is a collaborative comics project run by me, Bridget Underwood, and Carolyn Nowak where we draw conversational comics about, well, comics mostly. This round we wanted to answer some of the questions in our Inbox, so here’s my take on an origin story.

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Stay tuned for Carolyn’s story by following Party on Paper on Tumblr.

Holiday Extravaganza Sale!

Festive greetings, friends! In keeping with the season I’ve decided to run a promotion in my store for the next two weeks: 15% off your entire order with the code BIRDBOATS. This includes single issues and bundles of Baggywrinkles, freshly-printed copies of Grand Adventure, nautical button packs, shirts, custom watercolor bird commissions, and the very handsome Waterlogged anthology from Cloudscape Comics. Simply enter the code during checkout to apply your discount. Have at it!

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Grand Adventure: Print Edition Pre-Orders

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Stats: 28 pages, full color, 5.5″ x 7″, $10.

The wait is over! I stopped by ColorHaus this morning to check out the proofs for Grand Adventure, and I can safely say these comics are going to rock your socks off. The printers have done a fantastic job replicating the watercolor and picking out papers that really make the art shine. Couldn’t be happier.

If you haven’t heard, Grand Adventure is my daily diary comic from a three-week rafting trip through the entirety of the Grand Canyon. I recounted the day’s activities each night we were on the river, generally painting the pages before breakfast the following morning. It was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip, and I’m really happy I decided to document it like this.

I’ll begin shipping copies of the comic November 7th, but you can pre-order one today to beat the rush. Have at ’em!