Up To Our Ears In Art

Posted on October 16, 2006 by Howard
As anticipated in my last blog post, North Adams was awash in artists this weekend — and I was right there in the thick of it.
The city’s first Open Studios marathon turned out to be a lot of fun for me and seemingly for others, too. I bonded with a bunch of fellow artists that I had never met before as we hung our stuff and then settled in to chat with the waves of folks who hopped off the trolley the city was providing for the occasion. The talent coming at me from all directions at 107 Main Street was invigorating. And from what I hear, much fun was had at all the other venues where artists were similarly displaying their wares and meeting their publics.

The cartoon originals on the wall behind me enjoyed a gratifying amount of scrutiny on both Saturday and Sunday, and I even sold a few small items. I also met some aspiring high-school cartoonists who thought my cartooning course might be a good reason for them to make MCLA their choice of colleges next year. That felt good.

Last night we began "striking the set," to use theatre terminology, after which I set about reintegrating myself into my normal activities: writing "Mark the Art Guy" episodes and gearing up for this Wednesday’s edition of my weekly exercise in collegiate professoriality.

I have one more hectic weekend to look forward to: Eddie and I will be heading down to Manhattan for the "Out Of The Pages" AIDS-and-comics panel at MoCCA I’m set to be part of next Monday. After that I should be able to at last retrieve the smoother rhythm of work I’m most comfortable with.

Not that visiting Eddie’s folks in Florida, being part of Open Studios, and seeing old friends in New York aren’t all breaks in the routine with much to offer respectively. But having them clustered together three weekends in a row reminds me that letting one’s routine go for a reasonable stretch without getting broken has more than a little appeal for a homebody like me.

About Howard

I'm a cartoonist and writer, best known for my graphic novel, Stuck Rubber Baby, and my comic strip from the 1980s, Wendel.
This entry was posted in Life & Art. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.