Dancing With the Sky
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The Flight series is another project that’s coming along nicely,
with three volumes to date. How was your involvement with that?
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Flight
came about as an anthology of work among friends. Most of us were avid comic
book fans but never did a comic before. I was one of the newbies. My story
Tumbleweed was the very first twelve-page comic I ever did and it
proved to be one of the best things that ever happened because it forced me
to finally commit to a story and finish it. I am really proud that Flight
came together and am proud to be associated with what is now a growing community
of online and local comic artist friends.
I loved how Tumbleweed and Fall in Flight felt so dreamlike. How do you capture that feeling of fantasy?
I worry mostly about the feeling of the piece instead of the technical presentation and I think this translates into a dreamlike feel because the environment is loose and open for interpretation.
Fall especially struck something in me, possibly because it felt like such a somber departure from Tumbleweed.
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Fall
is about losing oneself. I just finished reading On Beauty by Zadie
Smith and the character of Kiki is a perfect example of what I mean. When
I was starting out at art school, I fell into this horrible fog in both artwork
and relationships. I saw myself hiding behind other artists and peers that
I looked up to and I ignored my own art. Once I gained a bit more perspective,
learned to invest time in myself and improve, I let go of all that I felt
was holding me up. I was surprised at how good it felt to be standing on my
own two feet. I painted Fall while looking back on that.
I'm looking at the Healer print and you said that it was inspired by the story on This American Life. What do you think about miracle healers and the matter of faith?
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It's
heartbreaking. When I hear stories like the one on This American Life,
there's a side of me that wants more than anything want to believe that miracle
healers can actually heal. But I strongly believe that miracle healers are
just con artists.
But the matter of faith is a little bit harder to pin down to a simple “yes” or “no.” I think that there are things that I know to be true but there are also mysteries that make life interesting. Lack of proof now doesn't mean that it can never be proven.
Is there a certain story that is especially meaningful to you?
No, not one in particular, but I can list stories (and it's a long list)
that are memorable: “Miracle Cures” because it was very honest
and heartbreaking, “Fiasco!” because it was hilarious, “Superpowers”
because it made me wonder about where I stood on superpowers, “My Pen
Pal” because it reminded me of me when I was ten, “After the Flood”
because it is important, “Squirrel Cop” because it was horrible
yet you can't help but laugh, and the list goes on. It's hard to pick one
because there are so many amazing stories; that's the great thing about the
show.