I Heart Autobio Comics

My awesome hub does comics. Yep. He does. And they are cool. He hasn't always made comics. No. He hasn't. He's been an illustrator for a loooong time and has done some pretty cool things. Like bookcovers (including this series for HarperCollins), character design, editorial illustrations and band posters. He has also been a lecturer at university. BUT, all those things have been eclipsed by comics. He is obsessed and has finally found his true calling. It's awesome.

The kinds of comics I'm talking about here are not your average superhero comics but autobiographical comics. These are comics about real life. They are often just small observations about a particular event that happened during the day. A quick insight into someone's life expressed through comics. They are amongst my favourite comics to read.

One thing that often comes up in these comics is that the artist wonders if documenting seemingly insignificant observations is worthwhile. I say hell yes! I can't get enough of autobiographical comics. Not only because I am inherently nosey and like spying on people but if they are done well, autobio comics help ground you a little. They remind you we're all in this together. We all have quirks and we all have times when there's not much going on. Life is like a seesaw, sometimes it's up, sometimes it's down. So much of our lives are spent trying to impress people, to make others believe we have it all together and we're so busy with fun, amazing things all the time. I love how a good autobio comic is not afraid to remind you that the little things (like having a good dance or listening to a friend laugh) are experiences worth sharing. These kinds of comics are awesome and very much an important part of contemporary comics.

Through his blog Chris has met some super cool people doing similar stuff. Comics have been swapped and sent across the globe. We feel like we know people we've never even met! It's COOL. Most recently, we got some stuff from Sam Spina (you have GOT to check out his daily comic here). His comics, as well as his envelopes, are most awesome.






Inside one of the envelopes was Sam's latest autobio collection. Go buy it.


We even got a print from Sam's lady Samantha (underneath our Tasmanian Devil Head - not a real head folks). How cool is that?!


Here are some of my current favourite comic artists you need to have a look at -

The godfather of daily comics James Kochalka
The awesome Chris Downes (go back to 2009 for the daily comics, there are over 300)
The aforementioned Sam Spina
Cool UK chick April Nash
Lucy Knisley
Jeffrey Brown
Hope Larson

Who are your favourite comic artists right now? Leave me a comment so we can check them out!

Click click!

Hurray! It's time for the RSPCA's Cupcake Day again! The RSPCA are an awesome charity devoted to looking after the well being of animals all around the world. They work tirelessly to make sure our furry friends are treated nicely. We love them for that. They gave us our lovely kitty cat Pucca too!

So, normally you make lots of yummy cupcakes and sell them to your friends and workmates on Cupcake Day (August 16th this year). This will still be happening BUT they have now added online fund raising pages for all the participants! YAY! This is a super way to donate if you live far away and still want to support my efforts in Cupcake Day.


CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO MY PAGE

All donations over $2 (made online) are Tax Deductible.


Some of my 2009 cupcakes. Nom nom nom.

In other cupcake news, I just received word that my Zombie Cupcake brooch is all sewn up and nearly ready to sell. The lovely Candy Bandit stitched up my design (along with LOTS of other cool designs from Australian makers) as part of the heartFELT project. All proceeds will be going to the charity of the designer's choice. Double Complete Rainbow Happiness!



My prettied up page all set and ready to go on Leeloo (an ace online shop for crafty kids).

Special Things

I had a birthday a few weeks ago and turned a big 32. Only one year away from 33 (For some reason I've always looked forward to that age. Double numbers are cool.) Hurrah! We usually have a quiet celebration doing whatever we feel like. I got to have pancakes for breakfast, lunch at a favourite bakery, noodles for dinner and a nice ice cream cake for dessert. Yummo. It was fun.


Anyways, as birthdays sometimes go when you get older, I woke up thinking about my lovely grandfather who passed away ten years ago. He was such a driving force of goodness in my life and while I feel that in some way, he is still with me, every now and then I miss that goodness terribly. He always had a way of making me feel so incredibly special. I have countless books with little cut out book plates of teddy bears bearing my name. Daintily cut out with big hands and carpenter's fingers. He would write me long letters, even when I was a punked out teenager. He taped me the entire series of The Wonder Years from TV. He recorded Triple J off the radio because I couldn't get reception in my country town. I love him dearly for that. I love him dearly for so many things. There aren't many people in life who express love so selflessly. I hope that one day, I might express that kind of love to my kids. It is so needed, especially when you're young. But also when you're older, in a different way. To know you are loved unconditionally. Not for what you have or what you can give to someone else. Just for who you are. No strings attached.

So with tears in my eyes, I open my present. It is from Chris and is preceded by a card. I open that card and this is what I see -


It makes me laugh out loud. Then I see this -


I laugh a little more. And then I see this -


Needless to say, by the end of the card I was smiling again. How could I not be :) Especially realising that while I've lost someone very dear to me, I have another in my life right now, equally as special. Hehe. Poor smoldering Edward. And poor sparkly Chris. He's a keeper.

PS> While we're on the topic (kinda) of vampires, look what we got the other day! Tru Blood YEAH!!


Complete with Beaver mascot. He was the only thing I could find with big teeth...

Tenth Anniversary of Arts Writing

I've been in the arts writing game for ten years now. It's never been something I talk about much as I'd rather keep my head down, tail up with work. But I've found that lately, when going to meetings and lunches etc with Chris and his comics, people wonder if I have any interest in writing (as my favourite thing to talk about these days is craft). Indeed, I do! Reviews, artist profiles and feature stories have had my sticky paws all over them. If you feel like it, you can check out a few online via these links -

The Dark Woods (exhibition of Australian comics) Review in RealTime
Infinite Empire Review (exhibition on Steampunk) in RealTime
Cool artist Matt Calvert's website
Design Island Profile for Craft Australia

My favourite magazines to write for have been Object, Eyeline, RealTime, Artlink and DQ. Eyeline gave me my first writing gig so I will always love them for that :)


Part of my collection of published stuff (complete with mascots). At last count there were 98 magazines and catalogues. Aw yeah.

Melbourne Delights

Awww, yeah. Melbourne. I love you.


The Dachshund U.N.






Macaroons at Lindt Chocolat Cafe (thanks Cat!)


Their version of Hot Chocolate was pour your own little jug of melted chocolate into frothy hot milk. Make it as sweet as you like. It was HEAVEN.


The finished version of my new tattoo! It's about 5 hours old here and still a bit red. Inked by Dave at Chapel Tattoo.


We worked with the tattoo artist to get a design (using C's original as a base) that would sit well on my arm and work with my other tattoo. I looooooove it! You can find out what it all means here.

Oh, and I made this scarf!



xox

Hosier Lane, Melbourne

During our trip to Melbourne last week for the Emerging Writers Festival we were lucky enough to see a re-painting of Hosier Lane. We were also lucky to know two of the people doing some of the work! Check these out. It was amazing!


Pat Grant. Awesome.


Pat Grant.


Jase Harper. Just as awesome.


Jase Harper.


The rest of these artists are unknown to me but still incredible...














And to end it all, here's a random bride walking down the lane. Noice!

Happy Day

Songs that are making me happy today :)





Have a super day x

New stuff on madeit!

New lavender pillows just posted in my shop on madeit.com. The Michael Miller print is my favourite. Don't pee in the pool people!

New species!

Taking inspiration from the Yucca Plant


It's the Pucca Plant!

Pretty walls

Working at a framing shop definitely has its perks! We've managed to get our sticky paws on some really cool stuff in our travels and have had fun picking out frames for our walls. The only bad thing is that we are running out of hook space in our little apartment! We totally need a room just for storage now :) Check these out!


This is the lovely Marie Antoinette by Grace Garton (aka Little Black Crow. She also makes these). The texture on this is fabulous, lots of paints, found objects and wax. Marie Antoinette is an awesome lady and I adore the playfulness of Grace's painting.


Part of the reason why I bought this work was to remind me of how much I want to visit Versailles one day.



Chris used the proceeds of selling comics at Pocketspace (now sadly closed) to buy Ben Stephenson's Macquarie Street. What makes this image so awesome is that every little detail in it has been painstakingly digitally recreated from an actual photograph. Right down to the leaves on the trees. This is a street right here in Hobart CBD (about one block away from where I work). SUPER job Ben!





This is the gorgeous Mary Mcdonnell. Chris recently met her at Supernova in Melbourne and was able to get this signed photo. We got it for the geek factor of her role in Battlestar Gallactica. President Roslin you rock. Mmmmmm...BSG.