Shellback Artworks group signing August 11, 2012

I had fun with the Mirage Studios crew -- Dan Berger, Mike Dooney, Jim Lawson, Eric Talbot, and Steve Lavigne -- this past weekend. We all travelled up from Massachusetts to do a signing at Steve's store "Shellback Artworks" in Wells, ME.

Here's a sampling of photographs from the event. (Of course, I followed my usual bad habit of not getting the names of most of the people I took photos of. Sorry!)

There was one gentleman who drove a LONG way to come to the signing -- I can't remember which midwest state he was from, but I think he easily took the prize for "most miles driven to get to Shellback Artworks". He brought with him a nifty vintage VW van toy, which we all took turns signing. Mike even did some "Turtleizing" of it, adding some shell texture to certain areas.

I think this next person's name is David, and after talking with us for a while and getting some things signed, we posed for a photo with him. Then he went to the local Wal-Mart and got it printed in a large format, brought it back, and we all signed it. 

Cool idea! I had no clue that you could get prints done like that at Wal-Mart.

Here's Eric signing the photo.

Chris Parlon and his girlfriend Katie, who were also at the grand opening signing, showed up for this one as well.

We signed this dude's yellow shoulder bag…

… and the back of this pizza box (which had previously held some of our lunch).

I have to draw particular attention to the thing Jim Lawson sketched on this box -- something that, in all the years of the TMNT, with all the references to pizza and surfing, has NEVER been done before (as far as I know): a Turtle surfing on a piece of pizza. 

Genius! Jim, you're too much.

Here's Jim in the act of creation -- I was fortunate enough to be sitting next to him at the signing, and thus caught this moment for posterity.

Mike took it upon himself to, um, enhance the image of infant April on the cover of this fan's copy of TMNT Volume 4 #22.

Here's Steve posing with one of his store t-shirts which we all signed. I don't know where the shirt ended up.

It was great to have Eric with us -- I hadn't seen him in months. He brought with him some blank stickers with the die-cut shape of a skull and crossbones (the result of a printing error) and invited us all to draw something on them. Here's a photo of Eric working on one…

… and here are five COMPLETELY different approaches to using that space. Can you guess who did which?

All in all, a fun time! -- PL

Paint and Pixel Festival

Yesterday wasn't the most promising of days for bicycle riding -- kind of chilly, with predictions of serious rain. But I went out anyway, on my favorite bike, leaving from the MIrage offices and heading out to see if my favorite loop was free from flooding.

First, though, I had a stop to make -- at the "Paint and Pixel Festival" put on by "Runners" artist Sean Wang and his wife, Peggy (although, according to Sean, Peggy was the person most responsible for organizing the event). It was being held in the Old School Commons in the center of Northampton, and many local artists were going to be there, including some of my Mirage pals -- Mike Dooney, Jim Lawson, and Dan Berger. Here's a photo of Dan and his wife Jess (Jim Lawson was sitting at the table to their left, but I guess he'd stepped out at that moment).

Mike Dooney was set up right behind Dan, and next to mecha artist Dave White.

And here's a reverse view of that scene...

I got there about an hour after the event had begun, and it looked to me like it was already a success. The modest-sized exhibitor's hall was busy, with lots of people wandering around talking to the various artists and looking at the wide range of small press comics, books, prints, posters, and original art that those artists had for sale. Here are a few random photos of the hall and various exhibitors. 

I tried to get photos which could be stitched into panoramic shots, but there were enough people moving around that I was only able to do this one.

Overall, the show kind of reminded me of a few of the small comics conventions I'd been to years ago -- it had that friendly vibe, but without all the tables full of old comics. If I am invited to the next one, I will very likely go.

Here's a shot of Peggy and Sean near Sean's table, with his "Runners" comics.

I chatted for a few minutes with local illustrator and writer Diane De Groat, shown here explaining to me her technique of combining Photoshop and traditional painting techniques in her charming picture book "Dogs Don't Brush Their Teeth".

One of the people I wanted to talk to was Howard Cruse -- he's the guy in this photograph with the glasses and t-shirt -- whose "Stuck Rubber Baby" book I really admire. But I forgot to stop at his table! D'oh! At least I got this photo.

After hanging out at the "Paint and Pixel Festival" for about half an hour, I took off again on my bicycle, but sadly didn't get far -- Pynchon Meadow Road was flooded, as you can see in this little panorama:

I put red dots in the middle so you can see where I SHOULD have been able to ride through, had the river on the right side of this image not overflowed its banks. Hopefully, the water will go down soon and the way will once again be clear (and dry).

I didn't get much of a ride that day, but enough to satisfy me. And I did take the opportunity afforded by a more open schedule (one without a longer bike ride) to go back to the "Paint and Pixel Festival", this time to bring a couple of boxes of cookies from the Normand Bakery in Northampton (for the exhibiting artists). I had a specific goal in mind for this second visit (besides delivering sweets) -- I wanted to see if I could talk to the painter and children's book illustrator Ruth Sanderson, who was actually working on one of her paintings at the show, a new cover for a twentieth anniversary edition of her "Twelve Dancing Princesses" picture book.

And I did have a nice chat with her, and got a closeup look at her work on this new painting. She is REALLY good. "Mike Dooney good", one might say. (Which I consider to be a compliment to BOTH of them.)

Although I only experienced a small slice of the whole inaugural "Paint and Pixel Festival", I think it is safe to say that Peggy and Sean should be congratulated for putting together a really nice show. I hope it continues. - PL

Fun with Steve

We were graced this weeked by a visit from Steve Lavigne, who drove down from Maine to hang out and goof around. We were originally planning to wait until Saturday to go for a motorcycle ride, but Friday afternoon's sunny skies and pleasant temperatures convinced us to head out earlier. There is a motorcycle shop up near Keene, NH called "Eddie's Vintage Motorcycles" that Jim and I have been wanting to check out, so we decided that would make a good destination (and close enough so that we would have plenty of time to get back home for Wii bowling, pool and pizza with Mike and Eric and Dan).

Eddie's was a pretty cool place, where the friendly dude in charge (I think his name was Joseph) showed us around. We saw back rooms filled with lots of old motorcycles and pieces of old motorcycles, including one rare Japan-only V4 250cc Honda street bike. In a small barn about fifty feet away from the main shop, there were other vintage bikes, mostly complete and in good condition. Here's Jim standing in front of one of his lust bikes, a Norton 750 Commando.



Just down the line from the Commando was this nifty old Yamaha two-stroke scrambler -- I think it's from the late 1960's or early 1970's.



Eddie's also sells new motorcycles, including Piaggio scooters and Aprilias. In the shop when we visited was this gorgeous green Benelli Tornado, here seen with Jim sitting on it.



After gorging on the sight of all these lovely motorcycles, we headed back to my house. While blasting down Route 91, I snapped these two "action shots" of Jim on his new Moto Guzzi "Griso"...



... and Steve on his favorite bike of mine, the Honda Rune.



We timed getting back just right to meet Eric, who was first to arrive. You may not be aware of this, but Eric is poised to join our brotherhood of road-riding motorcyclists! He's ridden bikes before, but only off-road, so this is a big step for him. He's doing it the sensible way -- starting out small (I'm lending him one of my Honda 250 "Big Ruckus" scooters) to get the feel of road riding before he steps up to a bigger bike. Once he gets his motorcycle learner's permit (probably next week), he'll get started. Here's Eric checking out the bike he'll be riding, while Jim and Steve look on (and offer words of encouragement).



Here are a few photos from our pool game. Mike watches Dan shoot...



... Jim lines up a shot...



... and Mike contemplates a new look.



Saturday, Jim and Steve and I took off on another motorcycle ride -- it was an even nicer day (reaching 72 degrees at one point, by the thermometer on my Victory Vision). Jim had switched bikes for this ride, taking his Yamha FJR1300 instead of the Griso. We headed up to Adams, MA (my Mom's home town) via Route 116, a great riding road (albeit suffering significantly from potholes after the long winter). We stopped along the way for a break near this beautiful, still-icy lake.



Jim wanted to go to this diner in Adams which he had been to years ago, where he had gotten some really good soup. I can't recall the name of the diner right now, but we had some good grub there -- Steve and I each got a "Thanksgiving in a wrap" sandwich (turkey, stuffing, and -- in Steve's sandwich, at least -- cranberry mayo). After a brief stop at another motorcycle shop in Adams (Ronnie's Cycles), we blasted over to Williamstown for a coffee, and enjoyed sitting out in the bright sun in the 70˚ temperatures.

Then it was back on the road, heading home. We took off down Route 7, out to Pittsfield, a quick stop at Barnes and Noble, then off down Route 143 and back home. All in all, two great riding days.

Not so today, unfortunately -- this Sunday is a wet one. It's been raining pretty steadily since I got up. I'm not going to complain, though. It was great having Steve come down to visit, and to go riding with him and Jim, and to hang out with them plus Dan, Mike and Eric. It made the house seem a little less empty (my wife is in England this week with my daughter and her roommate -- not riding motorcycles, but I'm sure they're having a wonderful time!). -- PL