What an adventure! = Comic Con 2013

What a day! Every summer, I've been trotting down to San Diego for the ComicCon. It's really changed over the last ten years. When I first started going there was hardly a female person in sight. Now about half the folks are girls and not just girlfriends dragged along.

"Women 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (31%) than boys age 17 or younger (19%)" ~ These statistics are pulled from the ESA report Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry.

So it is exciting to me to see women dressing up, playing games, buying comics, writing comics and books, and generally having a good time. For one thing it helps me blend in.

I took the train down with The Legends of Animation... that's Bob Singer, Art Leonardi, Iraj Paran, and Wille Ito.

The Legendary Animators of Classic '60s Cartoons
Legendary and award-winning animators Bob Singer (character and background designer, Bugs Bunny/Scooby Doo), Art Leonardi (designer/director, Pink Panther),Willie Ito (layout artist/Bugs Bunny, Flintstones), and Iraj Paran (character and title designer, Super Friends, Josie and the Pussycats), share their vast experience shaping animation history and creating hundreds of classic characters and cartoons we love from Disney, Warner Brothers, and Hanna Barbera, with over 100 years of experience among them.

 The lovely lady in this photo is Hiva Paran, who is one of the nicest people on the planet.

After taking the Orange line instead of the Green line and getting lost, we finally got to the Convention Center. This is Art doing his best "where the heck are we?" face. He had everyone on the trolley in stitches. Many thanks to all the kind folks who helped us get turned around and back in the right direction. 

 One of my favorite things is the people who cosplay and dress up as their favorite characters. This group of Classic X-Men was awesome.

Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones was epic, complete with wooden sword and neck wound.

I"m not sure who this Superhero is... any ideas?

 I checked out the Warhammer booth for limited edition show specials for the Boy.... because I'm THE BEST MOM EVER! Why, might you ask? Because I fought my way to the Hasbro booth to ask about Magic the Gathering cards and these words actually came out of my mouth...

"Uh, hi, do you have any Alternate Art cards of Garruk Caller of Beasts?"

Nope, they were sold out. 

This panel of the Big Bang Theory as Keane paintings was cool.

As was "Geek Chic" truly droolworthy custom made furniture for gamers. www.geekchichq.com

I had a pleasant chat with artist and weapon designer John Chalfant. www.jchalfant.com

It's the 20th Anniversary of The Sandman this year. I love Neil Gaiman's stuff, he's the hardest working writer in town.

 I also got to meet Jeanne C Stein and Samantha Sommersky who make up the writing team of S. J. Harper. Here they are with their new book, Cursed.

 The highlight of course was the Legends of Animation Panel. The room was packed and the guys were so funny. An hour was way too short to hear these wonderful artists talk about their experiences as animators for Hanna Barbara, Disney, Warner Brothers and UPA.

Leslie Combemale of the ARTINSIGHTS Animation and Film gallery did a wonderful job of moderating the panel.

Afterwards we had a delicious dinner at the Marriot Hotel in our own private room. Swanky! That's Michael H. Payne on the far right, author of "The Blood Jaguar"

Bob had the tallest hamburger in the history of food.

Then like Cinderella, the ball was over and we took the long train ride back home. Willie said that he had a long list of chores and gardening waiting for him, but that it was nice to be a star for a day. I agree. I had fun. Thank you ComicCon, see you next year!


"The Brigadoon-ish village of Comic-Con becomes more tangible each hour as it slips out of its long sleep to emerge into the sunlight." ~ Larry Marder

Sewing for The Curvy Closet

My daily wardrobe is pretty pathetic. I keep expecting those people from What Not To Wear to show up at my door and start smacking me around, but to my knowledge that hasn't happened yet. Most days I'm a tee-shirt and jeans kind of gal.

But I got to thinking... back in the day, I used to be kind of glamorous. Heck, I was a fashion designer for years, going on research trips to Paris and London. I had silk suits and heels, leather gloves, and Italian handbags. But as the years passed my life changed and my priorities. I worked at home and didn't need suits or uncomfortable shoes. I was busy doing other stuff, being a mom, driving to swim lessons, baking cupcakes and cleaning up cat barf.

Shopping got to be a maddening experience. Cool clothes are easy to find in smaller sizes and cheaper too.  Plus size clothing is for the most part frumpy looking, not flattering and hard to find.  Old Navy's website sells larger sizes "Exclusively Online!" with an exclamation mark, like it's some kind of bonus feature. I used to wear a lot of J. Jill but they too only sell larger sizes online. I want to try things on before I buy them, thank you very much.

So I decided that if I couldn't find cool clothes that fit me then I would punch fashion in the nose and make them myself.


Here's a list of what I don't have...

•  tons of money

•  a big closet

•  a tall and slender supermodel figure

•  a tolerance for uncomfortable clothes


Here's a list of what I do have....

•  feet that are practically square, like Barney Rubble after a bad night of bowling

•  a hobbit shaped middle-aged lady figure, like a trashbag filled with water balloons

•  the ability to put a product line together.

•   a fifteen-year-old sewing machine

•   time

•   manic optimism


So I put together a plus size clothing line for one person, me, and started sewing. Here is what I've made so far... Some pieces missed the mark, like the flannel pants... they are huge. I feel like Kipling's rhino when I wear them, and one of the pockets is backwards. Other pieces are wins. The kimono sweatshirt is amazing, simple, warm, yet much more flattering than a regular sweatshirt.

 

This is my "to make" page... One of the local JoAnn's is closing so I picked up a shoebox full of patterns, five for a dollar. I bought a bunch of fabric for 75% off. I am set!

I also want to try more tee-shirt hacks and do more tie-dye.

How about you? What would you make if you could make anything? What's your favorite creative activity?

Marilyn.

--

Imagination creates reality.

~ Richard Wagner

The Lost Blog

Jeepers, I haven't written anything in a long time. Silly Facebook gets posts every day and my newsletter goes out every month but poor neglected blog... you get nuthin' I wonder why that is?

We have been busy... in no particular order...

 

The Wonderhub and I went to a concert in the park last Tuesday. Tasty sandwiches and a Beatles Cover Band. 

 We went to see Emo Philips reading Peter and the Wolf at the Huntington Beach Library. He was wonderfully funny and we got to meet him.

 I made focaccia for a potluck, stuffed with olives, artichoke hearts and cheese, topped with home grown tomatoes and Parmesan. Tasty!

I've been trying to sew a little every night. One of the local fabric stores is going out of business so I've been stocking up. I'll post more on this mania later.

 The Secret Garden Book is coming along nicely...

The cats have been helping out as only cats can. The boy is learning how to drive... so creative and busy! That's our summer. How about you?

Marilyn.

Oh be swift to love,

make haste to be kind. 

 ~ Henri-Frédéric Amiel

A Lovely Day

The Mencats made a lovely Mother's Day brunch this morning for me and my awesome Mother-In-Law...

The boy came up with the menu. Bacon and cream cheese stuffed French Toast.

He chopped and fried the bacon, then beat the eggs.

 The Wonderhub was the head supervisor and dish doer. 

 I'm a vegetarian so my French Toast was stuffed with berries and cream cheese. So fine!

The boy made me a little heart carved out of oak.

This is the boy with my amazing Mother-In-Law. She just got back from Burma.

This is what my hub wrote about his mom,

"My mom rocks!

She taught me how to make hospital corners and do sutures like a nurse (I'll show you the scar later) She taught me how to re-finish furniture.

When a teacher wanted to send me back a year because of my dyslexia, she got me tested, but then wouldn't let them move me up a year.

She taught me how to grow tomatoes like a farmer and how to curse like a sailor.

She once got in trouble for riding a donkey through a hotel rec-room on a family vacation.

Because of my mom, I love travel, shows on PBS and drinking tea. Sometimes I spell color with a 'U' in it.

Because of my mom I love to read and cook. I can iron.

She's the first person to call if you are hurt or in trouble, because she will get you out it and/or tend your wounds--then threaten to beat the crap out of you.

My mom rocks!"

In case of the zombie apocalypse or getting stranded on a desert island these are the two people that you want on your team. By sundown you would have running water, electricity and be sipping a cocoanut cooler in a handwoven hammock in a two story treehouse.

Tonight we are hanging out with my mom. :-)

Happy Mother's Day!

Marilyn.

--

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.  ~ Marcel Proust

Spring in the Garden

Spring is here!

 

I went to Little India with my friend Aleta yesterday and picked up some delights. We both love to cook so it was a treat to just wander through all of the spice shops and small groceries. I bought Rooster sauce, chapati, garum masala, lovely fennel (so fragrant), broad beans and a used sari from the thrift store.

  

We hung the sari on the gazebo. It matches the tablecloth I made... and the cat.

(Fabric from the outlet store = nine bucks) :-)

 

The pond is doing well and the two new GIANT fish, Odin and Big Pink have settled in. I love to watch them swim around, so relaxing. We've had a few waterlilies so far.

Mister Turtle getting some sun. A student gave him to the Wonderhub because she wanted to make sure he had a good home and didn't think that he would survive at her house. 

Mister Turtle is fat and sassy here.

We have four blueberry bushes. The berries never make it into the house. We just eat them as soon as they are ripe.

The zucchini is coming along in the back raised bed. We have tarragon, thyme, lettuce, spinach, chilies and a huge amount of basil. Bring on the summer pesto!

Artichokes tonight!

The tomatoes are doing well.  The wonderhub planted everything from romas to heirlooms. We grow them in pots because the soil here is adobe.

Limes are done, lemons are coming in.

We had home grown broccolini the other night. Delish! 

 

 The Wonderhub is working on a few new guitars and ukuleles. 

He's also making some very fine pens if you are interested. They make lovely gifts.

Lovely hand turned exotic wood pens = thirty bucks plus S&H.

 

I'm working on two books, more about that later, and waiting to here back from the fabric company about my design submissions. The boy has another six weeks of school before summer vacation. 

What creative things are happening at your house? Do dish!

Marilyn.

--

 "Let the beauty you love be what you do, there are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth." ~ Rumi 

.

Wonderful Wondercon

My love affair with comic books started at an early age. Every summer my family would jam into our car and drive to Mississippi. It was a four day drive fueled by watery Koolaid, ritz crackers and comic books bought at gas stations. Once we got there my grandmother had crates of comics from a drugstore that had the covers torn off, remainders that hadn't been sold. I was in heaven reading my way through Richie Rich, Wonder Woman, Lil Lulu, Dot, Batman and all the Classic Comics, illustrated versions of Shakespeare and Dickens.

One of the lovely perks about being an illustrator is getting pro passes to Comic Book conventions. I've been going to the San Diego ComicCon for somewhere around twenty years but this was my first Wondercon.

Cosplay - Characters in Costume

There were a ton of people in costumes of all kinds, superheroes, elegant steampunk adventurers, Storm Troopers and Wookies, anime and video game characters. Here are a couple of my favorites...

 An adorable Angel Castiel from "Supernatural"

 My favorite for innovation, "CatDog" from the Nickelodeon cartoon.

I saw lots of Doctors from Doctor Who, mostly Tens and Elevens, but also a couple of Fours with long scarves and a Five, complete with celery boutonnière. This guy in red is Doctor Horrible from the online musical.

Small Press

My favorite part of going to comic book conventions is seeing the small press sections, indy self publishers. In the last couple of years the San Diego ComicCon has grown so huge that these small visionaries renting small tables have been replaced by slicker money backed imprints. But here at Wondercon they were out in full force.

A few of my favorites...

Wylon Robotical the world's only flower delivering robots...

I bought a little field guide to these innovative creatures. See more of them here:

http://barrymcw.com/wrylon/

 This array of whimsical handmade toys is from Victoria Rose and Ann Sidenblad's booth, Rawrz Toys. Lovely stuff! http://rawrztoys.com/

This caught my attention, Tapastic. It's a website that hosts webcomics, similar to the way YouTube hosts videos. The interface seemed very elegant and accessable for iPads and other e-readers. I look forward to checking it out. http://tapastic.com/

 How can you not love "Penguins Vs. Possums" http://www.penguinsvspossums.com/


All in all, it was a great event. When I first started going to comic book conventions I was one of the few girls in a sea of guys. Then about ten years ago I started seeing a mom pushing a stroller or a bored girlfriend with her fanboy boyfriend as well as indy tables with female authors and illustrators. Around six years ago I started seeing more Anime and girls would attend wearing hats with kitten ears. Now, I am happy to say that half the people are female, dressed as superheroes, Frodos, angels, Edwardian Adventurers, My Little Pony, Tintin, warriors and yes, Doctors and even Captain Jack Harkness.

It makes me happy to see doors opening and a new generation of women reading comic books, making comic books, writing, drawing and dressing up like heroes. 

Do you have a favorite character? Who would you dress up as?

Marilyn


Here's a photo of my own video game character offspring on the right, Xemnas from Kingdom Hearts. He is posing with a cute girl in a blue dress holding a fanged brain. I can't pretend to know that that means.

Spring Me

Spring comes early here. All the rest of the country is freezing cold and dark. We are planting and planning. The wonderhub built a bunch of new raised beds and cleaned and replanted all the pots.

 My adorable mother-in-law bought us a flat of heirloom tomatoes and basil at Roger's Gardens. They had a special event called Tomatomania, which is the perfect name for a place that sells two hundred varieties of tomatoes. They had everything from romas to beefsteaks, tiny yellow cherries and pink blushes, black zebras and Amish varietals. Now, I'm dreaming of summer pizzas and tomato salsas.

So now are 'maters are in pots up to their necks in good soil, with three aspirin at the roots in full sun. They've doubled in size in the last week.

  

 We had some beautiful guests over last night. Joel and Tori McKinney and their daughter Abby. They are artists that live on the Banks of Plum Creek, in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. http://www.blackhawk-studios.com/

We noshed on cheese and baguettes, drank beer and tea and talked about art. We talked about making art, learning art, art in the schools, selling art,  teaching art. Joel and Tori lead summer workshops in bronze casting, ceramic tile murals and fiber arts. How cool is that?

 

 Tori is an amazing weaver and fiber sculptor. She told me about a spraying diluted bleach on stencils tie-dye technique for dark fabric that I have to try.

 Big Joel and Little Joel. We named our kid after this guy.

 Joel 2.0 and Abby hit it off great. Abby draws Manga and they were off talking their own language.

One of the things that we talked about was how little art education kids get in schools. Big Joel talked about taking middle school kids to an Artist Co-Op and having them pick several artists and write about what they liked and didn't like didn't like about their work.

Art teaches critical thinking, decision making, planning, hand eye coordination. Making art tethers you to the real world and lets you think past it. Making art is a gift that we should give our children.

What are you making this week?

Marilyn.

--

 "Invent your world. Surround yourself with people, color,
 sounds, and work that nourishes you." ~ SARK