Mouse Serial

A POST MODERN BEATRIXPOTTER-ESQUE TALE
inspired by Morrocan Mint Iced Tea, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and Douglas Adams - The Salmon of Doubt






THE END

here is the page in entirety:

Neonlove: fire one

Here are page one and two and the beginning of page 3 of the comic I am illustrating written by Dave Grilli: Neon Love.

This is my first crack at comic illustration. I am doing all the layout and line work by hand and color and text in the computer. I am coming at this from a filmmaking stand point, drawing how i would shoot it and then tweeking the page layout to do things linear moviemaking cannot.

I've got another 30 pages to go and am kind of stunned how long this small step has taken me (a year, real life being a constant distraction) Reinventing the wheel probably isn't helping the rate of progress. I'm just hoping I will be able to hit on some evocative element I find missing from most comics in the process. The parts of humanity not containable in text and little boxes but available in physical expression, the malleable nature of time and complexity of the thought process.

Being a theatre artist by education and trade, I find it excruciating to wait so long for response to the work. I guess I'm looking for feedback of any sort.

Take a peek, if you have a mo.

Thanks!

*by the by, for some reason, the colors are much more muted when viewed in firefox, safari not so. might just be my old lady 'puter...

Sketchbook: June

The Sketchbook Project!

I am thrilled to be taking part in the Sketchbook Project 2011

I just got my blank sketchbook in the mail.

It goes like this: Each sketchbook has a theme. You fill the sketchbook along that theme and send it back. all the sketchbooks are filed with the others of that theme and the sketchbooks make a journey on a six city crosscountry tour next spring where folks can look at them and then they live at a library in brooklyn where they can be checked out forever more.

A supercool aspect is that the barcode on the back of each sketchbook means you can not only track where your sketchbook has been but also receive notifications every time someone looks at your book. notified right on your phone, even.

The theme I chose was "it will be fun, i swear"

yes, it will.

Sketchbook: Evelyn Evelyn Tour

Vancouver...............

Tenderloin, San Francisco............

San Francisco...................

Somewhere In Wisconsin...............

Falling Asleep in Public

I adore watching people falling asleep in public. People wrestling between states of consciousness. Body consciousness drifting away. Unhinged vulnerability. Here are some videos of folks falling asleep in public. It starts off with the wonderfully observed bit by Mr. Bean in church. then on to real-life examples; politicians, businessmen, bus patrons, and a ubiquitous cute baby animal thrown in.



As a follow-up, the beautiful work of a friend of mine, Brian Scott who has a whole corner of photographic work dedicated to the subject: look at the awesome here

MoustacheMay Love

So, last year i got the chance to make a design for the very first official Moustache May t-shirt.

I got to see various folks popping up wearing it.
It was totally outta sight.

THEN, i was browsing around this year's Moustache Mayor page, where all the best photos are posted and what to my bugging-out eyes should appear? a beautiful tribute to the design by the tireless Tashy O'Toole.

I was knocked out.

Now I share:

Sketchbook: may begins

..............may 6...............















..............may 7...............

Stop the Gene Wilder Remakes Tshirts

TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY! {approximately}


It has been two years since the cry went out in the shadow of the movie remakes of Willy Wonka and the Producers, the new Broadway production of Young Frankenstein and rumors of Blazing Saddles' movements toward the stage. Gene Wilder's genius is not replaceable and needs to be preserved for future generations. So i got out my Sharpie and made some calls to screenprinting friends of mine.









The first generation of guerilla t-shirts grew from worrying if I would make the 12 shirt minimum to my inbox filling with impassioned pleas for shirts from around the world. News spread by word of mouth and internet posts until I was stuffing envelopes destined to New York, LA, and Tokyo. A second run (with maroon ink) was demanded after the first sold out.



The wonderful folks at wireandtwine.com caught wind of the design and asked to carry it and hand-print each one for eager customers across the land. i was delighted. I held an informal poll on new color schemes. (the colors of this first run needed to be kept sacred to those lucky enough to join early)

Even picking the perfect chocolate-y brown proved tricky.









Today the shirts are still available for purchase online.

In this time of when remakes seem to outweigh new original work {Clash of the Titans, anyone?} Let's make sure art history is not recorded over and let's make room for more new original view points, how bout.
LONG LIVE THE ORIGINAL CINEMATIC WORK OF GENE WILDER!


Much thanks to Shannon at Commonwealth Press, Michael at yewknee.com and Tom at wireandtwine.com and all the folks who told their friends for helping an idea become reality. xx

Sketchbook: aprilshowers

..................................april 13th.................................

...................................april 17th................................

..................................april 21st.................................

.................................april 23rd.................................

Sketchbook: marchapril

performance reel 2009

selected performances 2004-2009

featuring:

*NY Clown Theatre Festival 2008
*"Stagehand"- Voltaic Vaudeville 2005
*"Stagehand"- Dresden Dolls Live in Paradise DVD 2005
*El Circo Cheapo 2009
*'Wanted' original clown show 2009
*'Bony Lil's Creation + Distraction' Short film duet 2007
*"Stagehand"- A Stupendous Display of Kickshaw Hibernaculum 2004

Sketchbook: march

fall10RTW: Rebel Yellow

galliano.......................................miumiu

I have been reviewing all the fashion from the Fall10 Ready To Wear collections. I spend hours on style.com clicking on all the slideshows. I only made a small dent, covered my favorites, discovered some new-to-me. I found some nice pieces. I was inspired to empty out my locker full of fabric all over my apartment. I bought grannypanties from the Sears so i could dress like dolce & gabbana.

One thing i found particularly and viscerally striking was a color used in a couple collections. Galliano was the first i saw. In amongst the piles of frosty grey, there was a shock of bright-rich-yellow-orange. I see this as today's reincarnation of Elsa Schiaparelli's shocking pink. But, it transcends gender. To me it felt like a call to rebellion. It is Vivienne Westwood's gorgeous hair.

But it's not angry.

It's finding motivation in intense positivity.

revolution through in-your-face love and smiles and humor.

This is the color of my freak flag.

And this is my call to arms, abrazos.

I call it: Rebel Yellow


balenciaga..................viviennewestwood

Video Archive: Romance

Dug up this vintage footage circa 2003, playing the Straight Man to Brian Viglione's overwrought romantic. A belated Valentine to the world.

Dream: gunball

I dreamt I burst into a crowded bar with some sort of a machine gun in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. I yelled to announce my arrival, and when that failed to garner much attention, I shot some holes in the ceiling. I started to wave the paper around and demand to know who wrote the few partial sentences on it. It was some sort of half-baked philosophical statement on human existence. It became clear, and somewhat bewildering to my lucid self, that the primary reason for my toting a gun into a public place was to engage people in a philosophical discussion. The bar patrons were not interested. Most ignored me and my gun. A few started to leave. I shouted about how they couldn't in my best wild-west, to no avail. Not wanting to kill anyone I shot at an outward bound calf muscle. I then learned that my gun shot what appeared to be white gumballs at a very sluggish velocity. I gave up.

Sketchbook: january, february

jan17....................................................................jan19


jan28.....................................................................feb07

Monsters of Their Own Bedrooms

I don't know what to say, really. but, this seems to be what people want to see. no irony. no glossy stardom. "reality." jerry springer, reality tv, american movie, youtube clips, monsters of their own bedrooms. celebrities are too easy to knock down. eminem's winning rap in 8 mile.

or don't bother with my psuedo-anthropological meanderings and just enjoy some good flop-crotch.

Bill Watterson: interview

I used to fantasize about making a "Searching for Bill Watterson" sort of documentary, driving around ohio in a van. But, I thought about how upset he'd be if I showed up on his lawn with cameras rolling. So I didn't do it.

But he's an interview with him.

via yewknee {happy birthday!}

And Another Thing!

Yesterday's rants as evidenced by my facebook feed:

If glaxo smith kline gets to make feature-length advert... 'documentary' about how its product, (with an unbelievable, beyond-satire list of gnarly side effects), is best, and political campaigns just became an official commodity, we've got the drugs covered, the funding of glitz and sexual deviations is covered, WHERE THE FUCK IS THE ROCK + ROLL!

Oh right. That's my end of the bargain. Stock up on panties and lighters, folks. I WILL NOT FAIL YOUZ!

and then four hours and some more NPR later...

And another thing! Have y'all seen how the list of side effects for drugs takes the lion's share of the commercial length and far surpasses any attempt at satire? They are asking people to pay huge sums of cash to maybe die very unpleasantly because it COULD make you feel better. Let's suppose that art was allowed a FRACTION of that legal leeway? Artists! Let's step up to the plate. People are willing to suffer intensely to maybe feel better. We can definitely help them with that, am I right!

So a major pharmaceutical company gets featured at Sundance Film Festival. I view this as a blatant breach of medium. Maybe artists should start making up some different stuff for people to ingest that might kill them or at least make them shit their pants. So politicians get mad funding and will get as much moral backlash as Ms. Spears for transgressions. Oh wait, that already happens; men's bathrooms, hired escorts, spooj on blue dresses, etc.

So the politicians are rock stars, the athletes are rockstars and the real rockstars are giving it away for free online.
Tragedy only makes good news if there is "looting" and "unrest". (I listened to this newswoman on the BBC HARPING on this correspondent to give some evidence that people were going lord of the flies)

SMILE BITCHES! It's ALL showbiz NOW!

Welcome to the 20TWEENS!

BEIGE: the saga continues

A year and a half ago, found myself living in the oil to my water, Orlando FL, for six weeks. It drove me a bit batty. I made a video about it: Beige

Last month, I found myself in the same predicament again and decided to continue the saga.

Presenting BEIGE REDUX:

beige redux from Zea on Vimeo.

...aaaaand the director's cut

beige redux: director's cut from Zea on Vimeo.

.......aaaaannd a little bonus somethingsomething

hotel from Zea on Vimeo.

I am safely back in Chicago, now.

Sketchbook: Dec+Jan

first entry: post cirque audition..........................while in orlando


gorillas playing at the zoo.................vulture freezing his tootsies off

Made trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo. The gorillas were playing a game. The huge male silverback would take a scrap of fabric they had in with them and throw it over his head to hide himself completely from the little baby gorilla. The baby would pause, looking, then attack the big male and take the fabric off him. They do a couple laps around the pen and do it again. Unbelievable to see a huge mountain of male wild-beast hiding himself under a shiny piece of fabric. Pure awesome.

Quest for the Church of Peanut Butter and Jelly

Synchronicities. Happenstances. Alignments.

It has become clear to me (at 4:33am) that the next step of my life's journey must feature peanut butter and jelly prominently. One can question the logic 'til the cows come home but one must not ignore a sign. an omen. certainly not three of them.

The First Occurrence:
This afternoon, while browsing through the photos celebrating the charades theme-day on Whiskerino (a fantastic site of beard growing camaraderie) I came across a photo that caused me to laugh aloud. It was this one from sir jellobeard:














fine.
then.

The Second Occurrence:
I was watching the frickin Jimmy Fallon Show (ugh) which i have secretly started to tolerate purely for watching people play games like charades. Today was Taboo. and Jimmy was trying to guess a word (comma) that was described by his teammate as something that goes between two words. Jimmy guessed "peanut butter and jelly". I laughed aloud for the first time ever while inflicting that show on myself.

ok.
hm.
THEN.

The Third Time's a Charm:
I was going back to check out some more episodes of Black Books which i cannot get enough of and Manny is eating toast in the bathtub, squirting jelly on't from a pump liquid soap bottle and then Dylan Moran gets all frazzled and starts threatening people bodily with jellied toast. hilarious.


SO.
clearly.

I am meant to find some way to include peanut butter and jelly more prominently in my life. Open myself to what peanut butter and jelly has to offer.

finally. something to do on my day off.