Long overdue

Hey all.

It has been a really long time since I have updated this blog. Why is that you ask?

Well I've been a busy bee. I've wrapped and I am currently working on several great projects (that I will include images of in the next few weeks), but the bulk of my extra creative energies have been going right into my new project Queeries Mag!



Queeriesmag is an online mag for queers and other lovely like-minded folks. I'm pretty excited about the site and though it is in early stages still, there is SO much potential! Do poke around on the site if you have time, you'll find lots of my writing, photography, graphics and even the occasional illustration there. You'll also find amazing articles, great videos, beautiful photos and insightful interviews written by and about lots of other talented folks we all adore.

Etymology Apology

Here is the illustration I just recently had published in No More Potlucks.

I'm having a wee bit of fun Queering instructional ASL illustrations.

Queer Graphic Novel List for Converge

Hey Wonderful Converge-ies! This post is for you. First of all thanks for coming out to Converge, for sitting in on my "History of Queer Comix/Graphic Novel" presentation and for being so excited about reading Queer comix. I love that many of you asked for a list of recommended reads.

Below is a select list of Queer Graphic Novels or Comix Collections that might be of interest to you, and a good place to get started.

And because you also asked... Beguiling is a good and friendly place to buy Queer Graphic Novels Beguiling is at 601 Markham Street Toronto, ON M6G 2L7 - (416) 533-9168
Open Mon,Thu,Sat 11am-7pm; Fri 11am-9pm; Sun 12pm-6pm

Ok now here is your list!

Award Winning must reads.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic - Alison Bechdel
This autobiography by the author of the long-running strip, Dykes to Watch Out For, deals with her childhood with a closeted gay father, who was an English teacher and proprietor of the local funeral parlor.


Skim - Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki
This auspicious graphic novel debut by cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki tells the story of "Skim," aka Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a goth girl in an all-girls school in Toronto, circa the early '90s. Skim is an articulate, angsty teenager, the classic outsider yearning for some form of acceptance


Stuck Rubber Baby - Howard Cruse
The story is set in the South in the early '60s and deals with homophobia, racism and the gay subculture of that period.

Highschool and or Teenage Crush stories:
Emiko Super Star - Mariko Tamaki and Steve Rolston
This title introduces "Minx" - a new line of graphic novels for young adults!Emi, a 16-year-old babysitter, is desperate to break out of the suburbs and become part of Toronto's vibrant art scene.

Charm School - Elizabeth Watson
Charm School is a book set in a Twilight World where monsters and magical people happily (and wickedly) live. In the town of Little Salem, good teen witch Bunny has a perfect girlfriend in vampire biker Dean, until a dark, and very insistent faerie comes along. Can Bunny resist Fairer Than's charms?

My Brain Hurts Volume 1 & 2 - Liz Baillie
A Degrassi-style teenage soap opera about queer punks in New York City!

Tough Love: High School Confidential - Abby Denson
Inspired by shounen-ai manga—melodramatic Japanese comics by girls about gay boys—Tough Love is a teen romance and coming-out story about a shy boy named Brian. More realistic than Japanese manga, this story centers on the relationships Brian develops with the boy he likes, Chris, and Julie, the girl who befriends him.

Max and Sven - Tom Bouden
Story of Max's coming out and crush on Straight boy Sven.

Awkward & Definition
Potential,
Likewise - Ariel Schrag
Comics chronicling her teenage years through the mid-'90s. Each of the volumes in Schrag's series was created in the summer of the year it chronicles.

Tales of the Closet - Ivan, Jr. Velez
Eight teenagers at Decatur High School in Queens are gay and they come together, becoming kind of a secret, multi-racial gay-lesbian club.

Yu & Me Vol 1-3 - Megan Rose Gedris
Manga influenced crush series.

Soap Opera:
Chelsea Boys 1 & 2 - Allan Neuwirth & Glen Hanson
An adventure in roommate relations.

Cavalcade of Boys - Tim Fish
Trust/Truth - Tim Fish

Humour / Sticom-esk
Jane's World Volume 1-10 Paige Braddock
Jane is the hapless heroine of a slightly wacky world, where women wash up on desert islands and are kidnapped by adoring Amazons, where random ex-girlfriends morph into monkeys, where best friends are always loyal (and occasionally even lustful!) and roommates never change... Not even their socks.

Max & Lily - Kris Dresen
A stip about queer best friends.

Adam and Andy - James Asal
Big gay hunks in domestic bliss.

Bi:
Liliane Bi Dyke
Assume Nothing: Evolution of a Bi-Dyke starring Liliane - Leanne Franson

Dar: Super Girl Top Secret Comic Diary - Erika Moen
Autobiographical comics with titles like “Boogie”, “The Truth About Queefing”, “Bike Slut”, and “Dyke With a Boyfriend”.

Gender Queer / Trans:
How Loathsome - Ted Naifeh & Tristian Crane
All four chapters star a lesbian in SF's "genderfuck" community of those of deliberately confused sexual identity.

Other:
Locas: A Love & Rockets Book by Jaime Hernandez
Locas II: Maggie, Hopey & Ray by Jaime Hernandez
These superb stories from the nearly 20-year run of Love and Rockets define a world of Hispanic gang warfare, '80s California, punk rock, women wrestlers and the subtle battle to stay true to oneself. Hernandez's main characters are Maggie and Hopey, two adorable lesbian rockers who start out in a somewhat vague relationship and are then are separated by adventures both grand and demeaning.


Modern(ish) Anthologies:
Stuck in the Middle: 17 Comics from an Unpleasant Age
- Editor Ariel Schrag
Juicy Mother - Editor Jennifer Camper
The Book of Boy Trouble - Editor Robert Kirby

Press related to the I Heart My LGBTQ Family Project

Scroll down a bit to check out my card being featured in the event section of Small Print Toronto.

I Heart my LGBTQ Family - Launch Info

So here are the final cards I have created for this project:



Project and Launch info:

The LGBTQ Parenting Network is proud to announce:
I Heart My LGBTQ Family! Illustrated by local artists, these cards celebrate all the amazing people that love and support kids in LGBTQ families. Give one to a special person in your life on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or any day that celebrates the people you love!

Cards are free and will be available between May 1 and July 31, 2010.

Don’t miss the
"I HeartMy LGBTQ Family" Launch!
Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON
Saturday, May 1st, 2010 ♥ 2 pm – 4 pm

In collaboration with Small Print Toronto (www.smallprinttoronto.org), this event will include a morning writing workshop for teens with LGBTQ parents and a heart-filled afternoon cabaret with music, readings, and crafts for tots (childcare available)!

For More info on this event and on the LGBTQ Parenting Network

I Heart My LGBTQ Family Card update.

So the LGBTQ Parenting Network likes me, they really like me ;)

They have requested 3 of my designs for use in their upcoming I Heart My LGBTQ Family card project.

Here is a tiny sneak peek of one of the cards (I'll post the rest soon).


Although accessible to many, I made the Sea Horse card with the kids of Trans Dads in mind.

Here is a small write up on the I Heart My LGBTQ Family project from the LGBTQ Parenting Network site:

The LGBTQ Parenting Netwwork is proud to announce the impending launch of the "I Heart My LGBTQ Family" Cards, a series that celebrates the many people that are the parents, caregivers, supporters, and loved ones of kids in LGBTQ families. Illustrated by local artists, including Maurice Vellekoop and Suzy Malik, "I Heart My LGBTQ Family" cards will be launched on May 1st, 2010. Stay tuned for more information!

“I Heart My LGBTQ Family.”

Happy 2010!

Ok so we're well into the new year and I figure its time to update and let you all know what I'm up to so far this year.

I’m working on a wonderful little project called “I Heart My LGBTQ Family.”

I was approached by the LGBTQ Parenting Network to create a much more open ended and inclusive take on “mother’s day” and “father’s day” cards.

Here are some of my sketches. Final selected versions should be done and posted by the end of Feb.