Word Under the Street 2009: it was awesome!

Finally getting around to posting this somewhat depressed looking photo of me at WUTS. Thanks to Brian Nicol for taking it– not sure what my problem was. But look at all my stuff! I can’t believe I got it done. On the right you can see the fridge door I got from the recycling transfer station; it’s got my fridge magnets on it– two designs sold out that day! Also on the table: tiny books with my creatures in them, a new small dog story, the ever popular small dog romances. Also bookmarks! And that weird cyclindrical spotted container is for entries in Eve Corbel’s and my contest where people tell us a short story about themselves and we illustrate it. (OK, so we haven’t informed the entrants who won yet, but we will! Comics artists move slow sometimes!)

Anyway, WUTS was lots o fun. And the Vancouver Public Library bought some of my stuff for their zine collection. How awesome is that??

And one more thing– the book on the table is Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? by the lovely lovely Brian Fies. I contacted Brian for advice about my book and he has been extremely generous and supportive. You should check out his book and become a fan of his on Facebook. I put the book on the table so that I could send him the photo for his collection of images of his book “in the wild.”

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Oops. I got a bit overzealous deleting spam comments and deleted all comments since January 2009. So if your comment is missing a) don’t take it personally and b) consider commenting again. Sigh.

Vancouver Folk Music Festival 2009: Paper Blog, Part 4

I hate to end on a negative note, but my last couple drawings are of the potential dangers of Folk Fest. First, the after-effects:

Then, this drawing, which is meant to be part of my friend Tara’s list of Top Ten Folk Fest Hazards. Hopefully she will at some point post these online for all to see. For now, here is my contribution.

Vancouver Folk Music Festival 2009: Paper Blog, Part 3

This year, Geoff Berner played again. I think I am in love with him. He is so sarcastic and rude! And bitter! What’s not to love? I drew this while he was singing his global warming song and everyone was dancing.

I am also in love with Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. The Reverend and his wife, Washboard Breezy, are two of the most talented and hottest performers I have ever seen. The Reverend is the only man with a giant beard that I have ever found sexy. Breezy lit her washboard on fire!!

This, and the fact that I am hesitant to buy CD’s at Folk Fest (explained in next entry), led me and my friend Tara to get our cleavage signed by the Rev and Breezy.

Vancouver Folk Music Festival 2009: Paper Blog, Part 2

One of the best things about the Folk Fest is the dancing. It’s also one of the funniest things. I love the dancing because what could be better than dancing in a park with happy people to beautiful music surrounded by mountains and ocean? And then on the other hand, what could be funnier than earnest people who rarely dance totally letting loose?

These are some classic Folk Fest moves:

Free flow by pretty, well-groomed middle-aged blonde women who probably live in Kits or Point Grey or maybe in an East Van heritage house and do lots of yoga and like to connect with their inner sensual selves at Folk Fest:

And all the moves by this guy– he cracks me up because he is so serious!! He skips through the crowd–skips!– with this incongrous earnest expression on his face.

And then, heartwarming and funny– these guys generally wear socks with their shorts and look a little lost but super happy:

Vancouver Folk Music Festival 2009: Paper Blog, Part 1

I like to think I coined the term “paper blog”– my first try at a paper blog was at Northern Voice 2009. I got out the paper and pen again this past weekend for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.

Here I am, hard at work near Stage 2 (thanks Michele Brayton for the photo).

I am using this cute little book from my friend Eve Corbel. It has a lovely magnetic clasp that clicks in a satisfying way, and lined paper. I like drawing on lined paper. The book is from Paper Blanks, the Lyon Florals series, if you must know.

I’ll divide these up into a couple posts. First of all, let me say that I have gone to the VFMF almost every year since 1993– that is actually a lot less than many of my friends. I worked at Sage’s Kitchen the first year, a fundraiser for the now defunct Vancouver Lesbian Connection. After that I volunteered for five years on the Recycling Crew. The Folk Fest has always been such a lesbianic thing for me– and it was again, this year. Connecting with all my dyke friends, being openly affectionate without fear. I did find that the beer garden and the police presence this year kind of put a damper on things, but it still was awesome. All the following sort of poking fun stuff is done with a lot of affection for the old VFMF.

So here is my first “post,” drawn Saturday morning. Things I expect to experience on Folk Fest weekend… I didn’t erase the page edges so that you can tell it really was done on paper. 🙂