Heading to Nashville

This weekend, I'll be exhibiting at Handmade & Bound, a small press expo sponsored by the Watkins College of Art. Believe it or not, this will be my first small press/book arts show on my own; without a school group (UICB) or trade organization (Ladies of Letterpress). I'm excited to show my new crankie, The Bad Sparrow, along with digitally printed codex versions of the scroll. I'll also have new prints from my recent show at Blue Spiral 1 Gallery in Asheville. And of course, I'll have plenty of Moral Code and Art School Chronicle zines. Stop by and say hello!

A fan of Fanaticon

Yesterday I exhibited/vended at Fanaticon, Asheville's first comic con, and really had a great time! I've gone to a few comic cons in the past few years, but this was my first time showing and selling my own work, so I was a little nervous at first but people there turned out to be super nice and friendly. I shared the table with partner-in-crime LuckyCreature, and we took turns watching the table and running around to see everything else there. We were lucky to have a good location, and we could even see the music acts out in the courtyard without leaving our table unattended. The turnout was wayyy more than I'd expected, and such an incredible mix of people - all ages, girls and guys, normal-ish to very weird. Definitely not the same crowd I've gotten used to seeing at other comic cons in the past few years! I'm inspired by other local artists I met there, reminded of how much I love making comics and zines, and definitely planning on being there again next year! Some of my favorites: Comic Envy, Rice Boy, Deaver Park Press, Hope Larson, and Wide Awake Press.

Team Zine

I've just joined Etsy's Team Zine. According to Alex Wrekk, "The Etsy Team Zine seeks to bring together the zine contingent on Etsy, raise awareness of zines within Etsy, and bring other zine editors to Etsy creating a vibrant and diverse selection of independently published titles available on the site." To see who else in on the team, just do a search for "TeamZine" in tags. Or just search for zines - you'll find plenty of good onees out there. Some of my personal favorites:

Obsessive Consumption

Sugar Cookie

Ker-Bloom!

MyMy

Brainscan

post reading

Thanks to everyone who came out to Zine Machine's first ever Zine Reading - it was a sweet night. We heard readings from Cody G., Natasha B-R., John G., Christina M., and me, Jessica W. To top it all off, John Porcellino told us about his long journey with King-Cat Comics. Here are some pictorial highlights:

Zine Reading

The Zine Machine is hosting a ZINE READING on Tuesday, October 16th at the White Rabbit Gallery (13 S. Linn St., above the Yacht Club), from 7-9pm. We're thrilled to welcome John Porcellino of the long-running King-Cat Comics as a presenter. John will be stopping in Iowa City as a part of his King-Cat Comics Midwest Tour. To find out more about John or to get details about the tour, check out www.king-cat.net.

We still have openings for more readers, so if you'd like to read your own zine, or would like to read someone elses', email Jessica White at jessica-c-white@uiowa.edu so she can add you to the list. It'll be a casual evening of snacks and zine sharing - don't be shy!

What's a zine? Find out at www.ZineMachine.org.

grand summer finale

Well, here it is... the final week of summer freedom before schools starts. I'm madly finishing up personal final projects before school swallows me up and free time becomes a figment of my imagination. I'm in the inking stage of Art School Chronicles Year 3, and will soon be foiling it for color. Yes! It will be in full color, and FOILED! I know, you're giddy just thinking about it. Here's a sneak peek...

We're also finishing the last page of the new hisWorld/herWorld, which will probably be out as soon as next week. We have a special surprise for hW/hW fans - for the first time, it's a comic! It's all making sense... we like comics, so why not make it a comic? This issue has talking mushrooms, a little story about growing up in Taipei, and a Furikake demonstration. It's the best hW/hW yet!

Some things that have been recently crossed off my to-do list: I've put up a new item at Heroes & Criminals Press, the adorable Surprise! Porcupine Fish Card. Go check it out, and surprise someone with a spikey fish. Also, just sent off is my design for a "Ladies of the Letterpress" embroidered badge. These were made for an amzing group of ladies here in Iowa City, but I'll put any left over up on Etsy for other letterpressing ladies out there who want the official badge.

Heroes & Criminals Press

Many of my books and broadsides are now under the imprint Heroes & Criminals Press, which finally has an official online presence at Etsy. There is also a link to it from my website Bittersweetness And Light. It's sparse right now, but I'll continue to add other items so keep checking back!

Dingbat!

Hot off the press, the very first issue of Dingbat from Heroes & Criminals Press is now available in our very own Zine Machine and at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Dingbat is a new quarterly zine that's mostly about printmaking, with letterpress printed covers and a postcard included with each issue for those of the postally inclined. Articles in this issue include: "Movable Type: the non-western history", "Tank Man: Hero or Criminal?" and an artist spotlight on Xu Bing. It will also be available at Quimby's and Chicago Comics, probably in the next 2 weeks. If you can't make it to any of these fine establishments, or just prefer the USPS, send $3 or a trade to P.O. Box 10022, Iowa City, IA, 52245.

publish, print, create

My friend Cody and I have officially started "Zine Friday", a once-a-week shindig for making and discussing zines, and whatever else comes up. We managed to spread out a little working space on the table, but got into a heated discussion about the differences between a press, printer, and publisher. We talked in circles for a while, and the only thing we know for sure at this point is that the lines are getting blurred, especially in the small- and independent-press world. As zinesters, we know all too well the many hats we have to wear, from the conception, the making of the original, the printing and binding, and funding, all done by one person. This is something I find appealing about zines and artists books, the determination of one person to put their own style of creativity into every step.

It's also appealing when zinesters/comic artists like Clutch create their own presses to publish others' work as well as their own (Tugboat Press, in this case). On top of that, we have the wonderful Microcosm, who publish and distribute, the IPRC, who provide the space and tools for others to self-publish as well as publishing for others, and Booklyn, who publish, distribute, and offer workshops, just to name a few in an ever-expanding world of self-publishing.

To bring it home, what about the Zine Machine? It's working hard as a little Iowa City distro, and one day, it might want to expand into publishing. Well, maybe not today...

(PS - Zine Friday is not a private party - let us know if you want to join us for some zine fun!)

Big Day 'o Books

I spent Sunday in Chicago at the Action/Interaction: Book/Arts Conference 2007, held at the Columbia College Center for Book and Paper Arts. Unfortunately, I didn't get to attend any of the panels, but instead spent my time there seeing the exhibits, and it was well worth the trip. I was really impressed with what students have made with book structures, represented by schools all over the country, including my own University of Iowa, and my alma mater, East Carolina University. The exhibit will be up until July 7th, so stop by if you're in the area. At the vendor's exihibit I picked up a small reprinting of "A True Depiction of All Manner of the Book Arts", with engravings and text originally published in 1568. I also got a copy of "Sombras Rojas" by Francois Deschamps, a collection of words and images by Mr. O, a former patient of the Sunnyview Psychiatric Institute who was obsessed with Che Guevara.

Of course I had to visit the Printer's Row Book Fair while there in Chicago, and fought a few crowds to look at more books, mostly used. It makes me appreciate quiet days in the used books stores when I can browse undisturbed. One highlight was a booth set up by Columbia College Center for Book and Paper Arts students where they were busy printing postcards on a little platen press. It was a big draw for the curious.



To top off my Big Day 'o Books, we went to Quimby's, my all-time favorite bookstore (I even named my cat after them). With the few dollars I had left, I picked up Sarah Becan's new comic, "Night and Day", and the new issue of Broken Pencil, a really nice magazine about zines, published in Canada. So much inspiration for my zine-in-progress, Dingbat! but more on that later...

rundown

Here's the rundown of my zine activities for the past 2 months:
- finished new hisWorld/herWorld
- finished Art School Chronicles: Year 2
- started on Choose Your Own Moral Code! part 2
- gallery show involving visitors making zines
- went to Madison Zine Fest
- kept up with Zine Machine
- presentation on zines/MadZineFest
- Zine Workshop
- now working on zine history presentation

whew. i'm getting burnt out on zine stuff. i'm only 1/4 way through all the great zines i picked up in madison, and those are the little visual ones that don't take much time to read. all of this academic zine activity has taken all the fun out of zines for me. i think when this semster is over, all i want to do is read them and make them...

hey, what about all this academic activity around zines? does having a zine fest on a university campus change the nature of zine culture? do we change the fringe-ness of zine culture when we discuss them in a classroom setting? or are we discussing them in a classroom setting because the fringe-ness has changed?

most of the zines i've seen lately don't fall into the stereotypical perception of rebellious, subversive activity. in fact, they're quite charming. lately, there seems to be an inundation of perzines that tell stories of love and loss, shame, guilt, anger, thrills, personal revelations... sure, they're not the stories that you'd typical find in Cosmo or GQ, but they don't really shock, and most of them aren't going to start any revolutions. then again, maybe these are the zines i notice the most because these are the zines i love the most. the simple stories of everyday things that happen all around us - this is what really tells us what life is all about. we're so bombarded by front-page news of astounding events by powerful people, but these make up such a tiny fraction of what really affects our lives. that's how it goes: "small animals make first paths". i love being a small animal, carving out a small path, and i want to know what all you other small animals are out there doing, too.

W-or-ks-ho-p

The zine workshop was a lot of fun - thanks to everyone who came out to join us. Here are some photos taken by Cody, and our collaborative zine should be available in the zine machine sometime next week.

Zine Workshop

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Zine Machine crew will be hosting a Zine Workshop this Sunday, November 12th, at the Arts Iowa City Gallery from 1-5pm. We will discuss methods and materials, the history of zines, look at an assortment of zines from around the country, and work on a collaborative zine for everyone to take home. It's free and open to the public and for all ages. Please email us at info@zinemachine.org if you plan on coming (space is limited).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

madzinefest

the madison zine fest this year was a blast. i was surprised at how many people were there - the room was full of zinester tables, and people were milling around all day. i wandered around some to meet people and look at their zines, and everytime i walked around the room i saw a table (or 2) i'd missed earlier. in fact, it was a bit overwhelming - i could stop at at even one table and not see everything, and of course not have time to read any zines. but i think i've picked up some pretty good ones, and i'm all set for reading material for a good long time.

i also got some good ideas for future zines - i'm thinking of the ones that really catch my eye and keep me engrossed, especially when they have a good mixture of text and images. in fact, i'm much more of a visual person so i'm more drawn to the art and comic zines than poetry and writings. i'm also struck by how important a good cover is - just to get someone to pick it up when they're staring at a table covered with zines, in a room full of zines. but then i feel like i have real treasure when i pick up an unassuming zine and discover how wonderful it is inside.

these are some news ones i had to share:
hisWorld/herWorld, a free zine that i make with my boyfriend scott
Art School Chronicles: Year 2, a comic about my 2nd year in art school









and Choose Your Own Moral Code!, a coloring book that lets you decide who's good and who's evil


if you didn't get one and want one now, send well concealed cash to PO Box 10022, Iowa City, IA 52245. They're all $2 except for the free one, which is... free.


here are more photos at the zine machine website.

1/2 & 1/2

Ok, so I've been thinking of things I want to put in my first issue of "1/2 & 1/2", a zine/comic about being half chinese and half american, and I thought I'd google a bit to see how some other have approached the topic, and here's what I found: an intriguing new comic, American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang.

I haven't read it yet, so I'm not promoting it, but it looks interesting.


and then there was this hilarious audio on the Onion

stay focused

Hey check it out - Lucky Creature Attacks is on the front page at the Quimby's Bookstore website. If you'd rather buy it in person at Prairie Lights, look for it in the Magazines/Zines section.

There will NOT be a closing reception for the Graduate printmakers show at the Drewelowe this week, so don't come on Friday night and expect to party.

I'm just finishing up the last page of my new comic, Art School Chronicles: Year 2. It's actually not the last page, but the next-to-last. (I know how I want it to end, but I'm not exactly sure how to get there - funny how some comics realize themselves in unexpected ways). This one has much better illustrations than the first Art School Chronicles, and the story flows better, too. But that's probably because I'm not doing it in 24 hours this time. It's all about my first year here at University of Iowa, and I'm rushing a bit now to get it done before the fall semester starts (Monday). I just know that if I try to remember last year while while starting on this year, everything will just become a muddled mess.

I'm nearing the end of Keith Smith's Structure of the Visual Book. It's my 2nd time reading it, and this time it seems a lot drier than before - more of a mathmatical, analytical approach to bookmaking. I think because it was all so brand new to me the first time, I tended to try his approaches more and experiment with book art in a more random way. But now I have a sense of what I want to do more specifically in my own work, so his style of experimenting just doesn't get me as excited anymore. I'm glad that I can stay focused for a change.

Peas out.

new and maybe improved

This is the new location where news from the Bittersweetness and Light site will be... hopefully it'll be easier for me to post, and easier for you to navigate. So, here's the latest:

The Zine Machine has lots of new stuff for the month of August - a new Uptown Girl, Slugbunny, and a new Daily Comics. Go take a look! In other zine news, I will have a table (and doing a short reading) at the Madison Zine Fest this year, so come by and say hi if you're there. Cody Gieselman will also be there, and we'll bring Zine Machine stuff too. Come see us!

The beautiful Lucky Creature Attacks compilation is now being sold at Prairie Lights bookstore here in Iowa City, and Quimby's Bookstore in Chicago. Or, if that's too far for you to hike, just order one at the Lucky Creature website, and pick up a new cd while you're there.

now reading: Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
a recent issue of Broken Pencil
and The Structure of the Visual Book by Keith Smith

now listening to: Of Montreal (still can't get them out of my mind after Tuesday's concert at the Englert)