MSCA Art Day in May at Woodruff Fontaine House Museum

From MSCA president Kevin L. Williams:

 

Greetings Digital Doodlers, Ink Slingers, Pencil Pushers, Wordsmiths, Collectors and Enthusiasts,

Sunday, May 21, 2023, from Noon-4pm our friends at the Woodruff Fontaine House Museum have invited the Mid-South Cartoonists Association to come draw at the museum.

 

It’s a great time to practice drawing architecture, still-life, portraits, flowers, photography, and more, inside and out.

The museum is located at 680 Adams Ave., Memphis, TN 38105 (near the  medical district and Sun Studios).
https://goo.gl/maps/Jr1TGEcyGLAmLY2v5

ABOUT WOODRUFF FONTAINE HOUSE MUSEUM

This Victorian era mansion was completed in 1871, has been through the Woodruff and Fontaine families, seen multiple wars and pandemics such as Yellow Fever, and once even served as the first version of the Memphis College of Art. After having been reconstructed by the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities it has become the beautiful place presented today!

 

You can find out more about the Woodruff Fontaine House Museum at:
https://www.woodruff-fontaine.org/

ENTRY FEE AND ART SALES

Free entry for MSCA members this day only (donations to the museum are welcome). When you arrive, just let them know you’re with the MSCA. Art created this day can be sold as prints (or originals) by the house on a consignment (25% to the museum), so we hope to offer the museum a few of our pieces that they can sell – they are a 501c3 for tax-minded people. {General admission is typically $16 (membership for the year is only $30).} The Woodruff Fontaine House has been good friends to the Mid-South Cartoonists Association (and I’ve served on the board and am a long-time member of the museum). I think you’ll enjoy all the art opportunities you can find there in its many beautiful details!

HOUSEKEEPING RULES

Keep in mind, the furniture, flooring, everything about the property is vintage Victorian, so we want to be sure we’re super-duper respective of the property and keep it as clean as possible. We can’t sit on the furniture, but we can sit on the floors (small stools or camping chairs are OK). Also, because it is a living museum with regular operating hours, be sure to position yourself in areas that tourists can easily navigate the halls and rooms of the museum.

Indoors, feel free to bring your sketch books and sketch pads, pencils, colored pencils, ink pens/brush pens, Copics, markers, cameras, tablets, and erasers (keep the eraser dust cleaned up, please). Inside, we don’t want to use inks, brushes, paints – nothing that can stain, spill, or splatter.

Outside, feel free to set up your easels, canvases, paints, ink and brushes, pastels, but if you use paints/watercolor bring along a drop cloth/tarp to work on and be cautious of your surroundings.

This will be a great event for artists to practice with architecture, still life, portraits, photography, and more!

Kevin

BTW – any “Young Rock” fans may recognize this part of the WFH grounds…the Gjelgjuighm coffee shop is the Woodruff Fontaine carriage house!

The MSCA On Display At The Tennessee Valley Museum of Art

Pop! The Art of Comics” exhibit at The Tennessee Valley Museum of Art in Tuscumbia, AL.

The exhibit covers comics history and notable comic artists and spotlights works by the Mid-South Cartoonists Association (MSCA) and the late Hanther, a comic artist from McNairy County, TN.

TVMA will hold a number of comics related events over the six-week run of the exhibition, including some movie nights. Be sure to keep track of them to find out more – tennesseevalleyarts.org.

Thanks to Brent Bonds and the Tishomingo Arts Council for getting us involved with the art exhibit (and thanks to Brent for the photos and transporting the art).

Some of us in the MSCA may make a roud trip over to see it if we can work out all the travel arrangements. Keep an eye out for an email about it, or contact MSCA prez Kevin L. Williams at midsouthcartoonists (at) gmail (dot) com.

Below is the press release….

MSCA: Comics Art Exhibition at the TN Valley Museum of Art

The Mid-South Cartoonists Association (MSCA) is proud to announce that member art is on display in the TennesseValley Museum of Art (TVMA) from March 18 – April 29, 2023.  The broader display will include pieces of original, vintage comics by Christopher Hanther of Marvel Comics, as well as MSCA members’ finished sequential art and process pieces from published pages of comic books and graphic novels and comic strips, to pieces used to propose projects.

Comics Art Exhibition

MARCH 18  APRIL 29

This exhibition will explore comic book and sequential artwork. It will feature the comic illustrations of Christopher Hanther, who worked for Marvel Comics and illustrated the long-running comic Tandra. Learn more about Christopher Hanther in this video by the Tishomingo Arts Council: www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1221636025029324

Exhibition hours: Tuesday-Friday 9am-5pm, Saturday 10am-5pm

Admission: $5 for adults, $3 for students, and free for TVAA members

The TVMA is located at 511 W Water Street, Tuscumbia, AL 35674

This Tandra comic cover was painted by Memphis artist David Porch. The shirtless guy on the left was modled by the MSCA’s Greg Cravens, and the large alien with the cape was me (Lin Workman). The photoshoot for the reference pics was held in the garage of The Wild Hare on Mt. Moriah back in the ’90s.

Bluff City Life In The 901

On Thursday, March 9th the MSCA’s Greg Cravens and myself (Lin Workman) stopped by the WMC TV5 studios to record a couple segments for thier show “Bluff City Life” with host Gina Neely.

MSCA president Kevin L. Willams was on Bluff City Life back during the pandemic (3/29/22) to discuss the MSCA’s 35 anniversary with then host Andy Mannis. (You can watch the interview by clicking here.)

We were there to talk about our upcoming events, like our monthly dinner meeting in April at Garibaldi’s Pizza, and our Drink-N-Draw and Sat-Art-Day at 901 Comics East.

I dropped off a promo pizza box press kit to the station the week before on my way out to the Spamalittle” art show reception at GCT.

We got to the station a bit after noon, and waited up front with Jamie from the Memphis Public Libraries. We met Gina in the lobby, then hung out in the “green room” for a few minutes with the other guest on the show, designer David Quarles IV and his Chasing Paper Wallpaper associates.

It was strange to be in the studio…there were no camera operators on the news floor. The cameras were all operated remotely in the contol room, and Gina and her assistant were in contact with the director via ear buds.

And the studio was a lot greener than the actual green room! This was the big green screen for doing the Action News 5 weather.

While waiting out front Greg did a quick sketch of Jamie who was there to talk about the Memphis Public Libraries‘ “5 Fridays Of Jazz” events.

Greg warmed up a bit before our segment by doing a quick caricature of Gina while sitting off camera.

Greg got his start as a caricature artist at Opryland in Nashville, TN back in the ’80s.

Notice that Greg lettered this comic strip first before drawing in the figure.

Greg did this comic strip of Gina while off camera after our segment so it didn’t make it on the show.

Thanks to Gina and her crew at TV5. We had a lot of fun in the two or so hours we were there. Hope to get to be back on again later.

The show aired on Tuesday the 14th at noon on Channel 5 here in Memphis, and uou can watch on their site by clicking the links below..

Part 1:
https://www.actionnews5.com/video/2023/03/14/bluff-city-life-tuesday-14-march-pt-4-8/

Part 2:
https://www.actionnews5.com/video/2023/03/14/bluff-city-life-tuesday-14-march-pt-5-8/

The following night we had our latest Drink-N-Draw where as you may suspect, we drink and we draw.

The gang were hanging out in the back gallery room at 901 Comics East out on Macon Road.

We had a great turnout again for this event, and the weather outside was nice and were able to draw with the lights on inside this time.

Jake did some more sketchcard mash-ups…

And I did another Muppets sketcard.

First time attendee Jose’ handed out some great promo business cards.

Our next Drink-N-Draw will be on Wednesday, April 26th from 6-8pm. It’s free and open to the public, but bring a few bucks if you’d like something to drink and/or eat.

Our next MSCA monthly dinner meet-up at Garibaldi’s Pizza on Tuesday, April 4th from 6-8pm. Same as the Drink-N-Draw, it’s free to attend but bring your wallet if you’d like to order off the menu.

Our next Sat-Art-Day at 901 Comics East is this Saturday, March 25th from 10-2.

You never know who’s gonna show up at our events!

Lin

“Spamalittle and Drawalot” – Our Latest MSCA Art Show and Sat-Art-Day Events

It been a very busy (and wet) couple of weeks here for our merry band of cartoonists, but overall it was a lot of fun.

First up was our “Spamalittle: Knights Of The Drawing Table” art show reception at Germantown Community Theatre on Friday night.

This is the second art show that the MSCA has exhibited in the lobby of GCT, and apparently we’ll be back for another next season.

GCT will be announcing their next season on March 9th, and we’ll be announcing that show shortly after.

This art show featured “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” inspired artwork on display (and for sale) by our members.

Lots of great takes on that epic Monty Python movie! You can see more pics by heading on over to the MSCA Facebook page.

We also got to enjoy a live performance of “Find Your Grail” by Sir Muley and Annie Freres who performs as ‘The Lady Of The Lake“). This video can also be seen on our Facebook page.

I really enjoyed catching up with A.G. Howard. We talked about many of our misdaventures togeher back in our airbrush days, and some of our recent health scares and brushes with death..! Yeah, it’s been a scary few years for many of us, but always great to still be able to get together for events like this.

The cold rain and scary weather around the midsouth kept the attendance down a bit, but definitely not the sales! Several of the show’s pieces were sold that night, and two were sold before we even got set up for the reception. Heck, the show hasn’t even officially opened yet and it’s been one of our most successful ones yet.

Thanks to Kevin Williams and DaMarco Randle for hanging the art show and setting up the refreshments table for the reception. And thanks to everyone who participated in the show, braved the bad weather, and bought art. Big thanks to the staff and volunteers at GCT for having us back out again, and again.

You can check out the show for yourself at the theater during their normal box office business hours and during Spamalot performances.

The Spamalittle art show runs in conjunction with their production of Spamalot The Musical” March 3-19 at GCT – 3037 Forest Hill Irene Rd.👑

9014537447:Box Office    9014537444:Main  Box Office:office@gctcomeplay.org

The next morning many of us were drawn together for our latest Sat-Art-Day at 901 Comics East out on Macon Road.

It was another full house for our latest sketchy Saturday in the back gallery room at 901 Comics’ Cordova location. We were surrounded by a lot of comic art on the walls – including some original comic book pages from”The Walking Dead“.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had some of our regular attendees, as well as some new faces there. Was great to have Izzy and Timothy join us this time, and I hope they can make it back for future Sat-Art-Days and other MSCA  events.

Many folks brought their own stuff to draw with/on, but we also provided extra art supplies such as markers, pencils, pens, paper, and sketchcards for anyone who needed them.

And they were put to good use.

Like the night before at the art show reception, it was cold and wet outside, but warm, dry, and a lot of fun inside. We only heard the occasional bit of rain hitting the roof while we sketched.

The only rules we have other than have fun and be respectful of your felllow artists is that if you’re not old enough to drive yourself to the comic shop, you need to have a parent or guardian come with you.

They’re welcome to sit and draw as well, play a game in the gaming area, or hang out and watch some TV at the bar.

The shop serves beer on tap and in cans, but you don’t have to just drink beer. 901’s “Bar With No Name” also serves sodas, bottled water, snacks, and personal sized pizzas.

We’ll be back out at 901 for another Sat-Art-Day on March 25th, as well as another Drink-N-Draw event on March 15th, the Wednesday before St. Patrick’s Day.

901 Comics (both locations) also sells many locally created comics including several comics series made by MSCA members.

One of those Memphis made comics is “Stoned Ninja“.

It (and others) are published by 901’s Shannon Merritt and his own Bad Dog Comics Publishing.

And speaking of  Stoned Ninja, the creative team behind it will teach you what they know about making comics all while enjoying a beer at Crosstown Brewery (1264 Concourse Avenue, Crosstown Concourse) on March 23rd from 6-8pm.

Join writer Gabe DeRanzo and the MSCA’s own Greg Cravens (The Buckets, Hubris, Shoney Bear) as they teach the next class in Crosstown’s Creative Juices sereies- which are instuctional classes for the creative 901.

They’ll be throwing out lots of comic knowlege, and knowing Greg- probably a lot of ninja star stickers as well.

\

Everyone in the class will get:

  • A written breakdown of The Process, spelling out the steps and the order in which they have to be taken
  • A full size comic book practice page that you classroom creators will pencil your own dialogue, characters, and action into.
  • One beer will be included in ticket price for those of legal drinking age. Must present ID at the bar to get your beer. Minimum age for this class is 13 years old.

TIckets are $30.00ea and can be purchased through eventbrite by cliking here.

Our next upcoming MSCA event is the monthly dinner meet-up at Garibaldi’s Pizza on Walker Ave. near the U of M on Tuesday, March 7th from 6-8pm.✏️🍕

The meeting is casual, free, and open to the public. Do feel free to bring your sketchbook, tablet, or other drawing supplies if you like, as well as any promo items you might want to share with the group. Plus bring a few bucks to order off the menu if you’d like anything to eat or drink. Like the Sat-Art-Days, any age or skill level is welcome to join us, just bring a parent with you if you can’t drive yourself there. We meet on the 1st Tuesday of the month (except for the 4th of July this summer).

And be sure to “Stay Tooned” for the next episode of the Drawing Funny Podcast which will be dropping later this week….which reminds me- I need to record it!

Later,

Lin

“Drawing Funny” Podcast Reaches 50 Episodes!

Well, Drawing Funny has made it to 50! Yep, that’s 49 episodes more than I thought I was going to make it to with the pandemic inspired podcast.

You can listen to Episode 50 at www.drawingfunny.com, on Apple, Spotify, or any podcasting platform you like to use.

You can also click on the player above.

Show notes: For this 50th episode of Drawing Funny I was joined by MSCA president Kevin L. Williams as we interview his longtime friend Steve Troop

Steve has worked as an animator, cartoonist and graphic designer for around 30 years now. He’s the creator of Mayberry Melonpool, an online comic strip series since 1996.

In the late-2000s, Steve’s puppet versions of Melonpool were featured in the online web series Quickcast by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy). He has worked as an illustrator and storyboard artist for Attack of the Killer Tomatoes – The Animated Series, and the CGI animated feature Ping Pong Rabbit.

Steve co-owns Puppet Design Studio in Valencia, CA where he’s designed and built puppets for Nike, American Greetings, GleeJimmy Kimmel Live!Teen Titans, and The Big Bang Theory. Steve’s credits include working with Mike Johnson (director – Corpse Bride), Phil Nibbelink (animator – Roger Rabbit), Kid Cudi, Pharell, live puppetry performance in Trace Adkins’ music video “Brown Chicken, Brown Cow” as well as Ed Sheeran’s 2014 MTV Video Music Awards Best Male Video, “Sing.”

Steve and Melonpool made a cameo in Comic Book: The Movie, and is also the co-creator of the off-off-Broadway FRINGE production, Alien VS Musical.

Steve will be the instructor at a puppetry design/build workshop at The Land Schools in Las Vegas this March 24-26, 2023. He’ll teach you everything he learned in the first ten years of building puppets – in three days! If you are serious about puppetry, you should attend this class. Use code Prcy30 at checkout for 30% off ANY workshop. More info at www.thelandschools.com.

We’ll have video segments from this interview on the MSCA’s YouTube channel soon.

“Stay TOONED!”

Oh. don’t forget that our next MSCA monthly dinner meet-up will be this coming Tuesday, February 7th from 6-8pm at Garibaldi’s Pizza in the U of M area. We’ll be talking about the recent Drink-N-Draw and Sketchy Saturday events at 901 Comics East, the dates for future events at the comic shop, and discudssing our next art show- “Spamalittle: Knights Of The Drawing Table” at Germantown Community Theatre in March.

Deadline for submitting art for the show will be at this dinner meeting, and we’ll have art show invites and flyers for anyone who’d like some to help spread the word about the show.

Hope you can join us for it.

Lin

New “Drawing Funny” Podcast Episode With Info On Upcoming 2023 MSCA Events

The first Drawing Funny episode of the new year is available for downloading.

You can listen on most podcasting platforms such as Spotify and Apple, check out the Drawing Funny website at www.drawingfunny.com, or click the player above.
(Run time 52min, 5sec)

Show notes: For the first 2023 episode of Drawing Funny I’m joined by MSCA president Kevin L. Williams (aka Soloman Blues). We took the show on the road did some recording over the weekend while in the MSCA’s secret mobile recording unit. We were on our way home from seeing the Alabama Blues Brothers perform at the Princess Theatre in Decatur, AL.

We discuss some of the Mid-South Cartoonists Association’s 35th Anniversary events that happened in 2022, some of the club’s history (founded in March, 1987). Plus we share info on upcoming events for this year including our next monthly dinner meet-up at Garibaldi’s Pizza this Tuesday (January 3rd 6-8pm), our Drink-N-Draw (Wednesday, January 18th 6-8pm) and Sketchy Saturday (January 28th 10am-2pm) at 901 Comics East, and “Spamalittle” art show at Germantown Community Theatre (March 3-19).

Garibaldi’s Pizza
3530 Walker Ave
Memphis, TN 38111
(901) 327-6111
www.garibaldispizza.com

2023 MSCA Monthly Dinner Schedule- next dinner January 3rd 6-8pm.

MSCA Drink-N-Draw (Wed. 1/18/23 – 6-8pm)

We’re going to be starting off the new year with our very first MSCA Drink-N-Draw event at 901 Comics East on Wednesday, January 18th from 6-8pm. We’ve been known to drink and draw at our dinner meetings, and at con-related drink-n-draws, but this is officially our first. 901 Comics East now has a bar, gallery space, and gaming area. We are looking to make this a quarterly event at the shop. The bar serves beer both on tap and in cans (including local brews), as well as sodas, water, and some individual pizzas and snack items. So bring your art supplies and a few bucks to order something to drink/eat while you draw. There is no theme or no real rules (other than 21 or older if you plan to drink beer), so feel free to draw or work on whatever art you’d like.

Sketchy Saturday (1/28/23 – 10am-2pm)

Saturday, January 28th the MSCA will be hosting our first “Sketchy Saturday” at 901 Comics East from 10am until 2pm. It’s going to be a free hands-on workshop for anyone interested in creating some sketchcards and sketchcovers. We’ll have plenty of sketchcard blanks and a few sketchcover comics to share (901 sells some, too), plus some markers, and extra Bristol paper to play on if anyone needs them. Please feel free to bring any supplies you’d like to use, or if you’re not interested in drawing sketchcards or sketchcovers, do come on by and bring a sketchbook to work in.

Some of you may remember many of our members getting together at Bookstar, Adam Shaw’s studio, Michaels, and other locations when we’d get together to just hang out and draw.

Like the MSCA Drink-N-Draw event (Wed.1/18, 6-8pm), if this goes well we’ll look at doing more “Sketchy Saturday” type of events in 2023. We’d like to keep these casual and more of a sharing of ideas and techniques than an actual class, but if anyone would like to host/teach a class just give me or MSCA president Kevin Williams a yell: midsouthcartoonists(at)gmail(dot)com.

These gatherings are to encourage setting aside time to draw, being social, and sharing ideas, news, and techniques with others, and give us some additional meet-ups for anyone who can’t make our monthly dinner ones at Garibaldi’s.

901 Comics East
8551 Macon Rd.
Cordova, TN 38018
www.901-comics.business.site

Just take Germantown Pkwy. to Macon Rd. (Malco and Whataburger), go about a half mile up and after the post office take the left at the 3-way stop, and then a right at the next 4-way between the school and apartments. Continue on Macon about another block or two, continuing straight after the 3-way stop at Dexter. The comic shop will be on the right in the shopping center next to the Pit Stop food truck court (Greenline runs behind the shopping center).

SPAMALOT/spamalittle (March 3-19, 2023)

Germantown Community Theatre
3037 Forest Hill Irene RD.
Germantown, TN 38138
www.gctcomeplay.org
901.453.7447

Happy New Year! Stay warm, stay dry, stay safe, stay tooned, and keep drawing funny!

Linwood

New “Drawing Funny” Podcast Episode From A Couple Couch Potato Podpeople

Calling all podpeople– a new “Drawing Funny” podcast episode is available !

You can listen in the player above, online directly at www.drawingfunny.com, or most podcast platforms such as Spotify, Apple, and others.

Show notes: For this episode of Drawing Funny I take a trip to our couch to have a comics conversation with my wife and live-in I.T. person- Nicki Workman (with special guest appearance by our cat Jarael). This is a follow up to my Episode 47 – “Back To Basics”.

While on our way home from the MSCA December dinner meet-up this month I told Nicki about a couple conversations with some fellow local creators recently. They had asked for my advice on their art and projects. Well, even though I do a podcast that offers advice on just about every episode (and even multiple times on each of those episodes), after my many failures and less than stellar art career I’ve been questioning my art expertise when it comes to giving advice. I asked her is she thought I was qualified, and that conversation led to this episode which includes some very good advice by her.

Not just on creating art, but some of the business basics of being creative for a living, as well as her life in corporate America, and reasons for continuing her education at this point in her life. Was happy to catch her on break between semesters to get her to share her thoughts. I’m super proud of her being able to juggle a full time day job and work trips while attending grad school online and keeping a 4.0 GPA at the same time. She’s in the home stretch for her MBA!

I also have some local MSCA news about upcoming dinner meetings (next one is Tuesday, January 3rd), current and upcoming art shows and plays around town, as well as some news about the first ever MSCA Drink-N-Draw (Wed. 1/18/23) and Sketchy Saturday (1/18/23) at 901 Comics East (8551 Macon Rd, Cordova, TN 38018).

I actually edited some of this episode sitting at 901’s bar while watching some of the World Cup highlights after work, and also back on my couch with Lena supervising me.

I plan on being back with another DF episode before the end of the year, and recording my 50th episode around the first of the year.

Also, as stated in the episode, we recently had our last MSCA dinner meet-up for 2022. We’ll be back at Garibaldi’s Pizza on Tuesday, January 3rd from 6-8pm.

It has been great to be able to meet back in person again, and we had another great turnout with a good mix of old familiar faces and new!

Some sketchy things happened during dinner, including our “semi-annual” holiday art swap.

Members brought art pieces to swap with each other by drawing numbers out of a hat.

There were also more freebies available for attendees and restaurant staff to take home for the holidays.

Thanks to the staff at Garibaldi’s for letting us gather there each month. Look forward to being there in 2023!

Garibaldi’s Pizza
3530 Walker Ave
Memphis, TN 38111

(901) 327-6111
www.garibaldispizza.com

Lin

No Spam- Just A Little News About Our MSCA “Spamalittle” Art Show

From MSCA Prez Kevin L. Williams:

Greetings to all digital doodlers, ink slingers, pencil pushers, and wordsmiths, 

After the spectacularly well-received art  show Murica: A Cartoonist’s Take on American History during the presentation of the comedy musical “The Complete History of America: Abridged” at the Germantown Community Theater, the GCT has invited the Mid-South Cartoonists Association to return in Spring 2023 with an art show we call “Spamalittle: Knights of the Drawing Table” which, themed to “Spamalot,” is dedicated to the middle ages! 

The genius comedy “Spamalot” (or as we know it the musical version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail) will be performed March 3 – 19, 2023.  The theater address is: 3037 Forest Hill Irene Rd, Germantown, TN 38138  (We will keep you informed of the Friends & Family night to watch the play and see your art installed {usually the artist + 1}.) 

For the theme, think anything medieval: King Arthur, Knights of the Round Table, Robin Hood, Faerie Tales, and most definitely Monty Python and the Holy Grail!  Lots of great imagery to play with from this period and especially the movie.  If you haven’t seen the play OR the film, check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmtSj4wH5Rg 

Deadline for art will be the dinner gathering on February 7, 2023, so we can get the art show hung before March.  Please commit early with the number of your pieces.  The more who participate, the less work each individual artist has to do to help fill the space. 

MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT – March 3-19, 2023 

Spamalot tells the legendary tale of King Arthur’s quest to find the Holy Grail. Inspired by the classic comedy film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the musical features shenanigans including a line of beautiful dancing girls, flatulent Frenchmen, and killer rabbits. Outside, there is plague with a 50% chance of pestilence and famine. Arthur, traveling with his servant Patsy, recruits several knights to accompany him on his quest, including Sir Bedevere, Sir Robin, Sir Lancelot, and Sir Galahad. Besides the rabbits and farting Frenchman, they meet such characters as the Lady of the Lake, Prince Herbert, Tim the Enchanter, Not Dead Fred, the Black Knight, and the legendary Knights who say Ni. 

RULES 

RULE ONE: HAVE FUN!  You can be as funny or literal with the submissions as you like.  It’s a mixed audience, so we want to stay away from far-leaning politics (stay centered) and while innuendo is acceptable keep in mind that kids will be there, too. 

The gallery will take care of sales: artist 60%, theater 40%.   

Let me know if you are interested in participating and how many pieces you wish to submit.  The spaces we need to fill are 4×4’, We can have 4 smaller pieces, 2 or 3 medium pieces, or 1 large piece, to fill the area You can submit one piece of art or 10 pieces.   

Your art can be pencil and/or ink on paper, it can be a fine-art piece; it can be textiles, sculpture, photography, mixed media, trash-to-art – there are a gazillion ways to use art, and we’re always excited to see what people create! 

Art MUST BE turned in by the February 7, 2023, dinner gathering – we’ve all got time to get some art created!  Out of town?  No problem, you can have the art shipped to us to display (you’ll also have to ship it back, btw.) 

Art MUST be ready to hang (wired on back or some other way). 

The art does NOT have to be professionally framed, but DOES have to “look like it.”  For unframed canvas, please use gallery-wrapped canvas and don’t forget to paint the sides of the canvas as well. 

Artists MUST submit their own 3×3” note card listing:-Title-Media used-Price or NFS (Not for Sale)-Artist Name-Ways to contact the artist(Please write clearly or type on white cardstock paper.) 

If you haven’t already, artists MUST send a caricature and bio, including your social media, to be displayed.   

Artists agreeing to participate in art shows will not hold the MSCA nor the location liable or responsible for the artwork submitted.   

If you have not participated in an art show before, we’re all here to help.  Ask questions! 

 

Our good friends at Germantown Community Theater, Annie Freres in particular, has shared a discount code for quite the “holiday party” show there.  Please see the details below.  Special thanks to Annie for the GCT’s generosity!

There is a wonderful Holiday double feature coming next week at GCT and we believe all of your citizens will enjoy this production! If anyone wants to reserve tickets online please tell them to use the promo code “CATIX” for that $12 group price, but otherwise I’m always more than happy to handle reservations over the phone! 

We begin the evening at 6:15 with cocktails and Live music of holiday classic hits with Michael Strickland then at 7pm Marques Brown treats us to One Man’s Christmas Carol- a one man adaptation of the Dickens classic. 

After a brief intermission All Is Calm will take the stage with 4 adult performers and the Houston High Men’s Choir telling the story of the Christmas Truce with beautiful song and story. The evening should end about 9pm. 

As the flyer mentions shows are M-F Dec. 19th – 23rd. We surely hope to see you at the show! 

Happy Holidays!

Annie Freres

Box Office Mgr.

Memberships Save You Money!

Germantown Community Theatre
3037 Forest Hill Irene RD.
Germantown, TN 38138
www.gctcomeplay.org
901.453.7447

 

 

 

 

“There once was a man named John Lotshaw.” – NCS Member And Friend Of The MSCA Has Passed Away

Hey, gang-

Unfortunately this time I have some very sad news to pass along….MSCA prez Kevin Williams has informed me that longtime National Cartoonists Society member and friend of the MSCA , John Lotshaw, has passed away while visiting family in South Carolina for Thanksgiving.

John was a familiar face at the NCS events I got to attend, including the NCS’s Annual Rueben’s Awards meeting her at St. Jude, the Southeast Chapter of The National Cartoonists Society‘s meeting here at the U of M, and their meetings in Gainesville and Nashville. He could be seen working the A/V equipment and/or recording the events, and was a champion of cartooning and other cartoonists. His cartooning  collogues and friends in Atlanta had just given him a Bon Voyage sendoff party only days before his passing.

While looking at his Facebook page today, I realized John was 6 days younger than me. These days I may feel old and my grey hair makes me look old, but 56 is way too young to die.


The MSCA and SEC/NCS having dinner at The Rendezvous in Memphis, 2005.

 

From MSCA President, Kevin L. Williams

I will always have a fond memory of John Lotshaw. He was fun and funny, and I enjoyed talking Peanuts with him. Not news I expected to see today, but I’m thankful to have made his acquaintance. 

 

From NCS Membership Chairman and former MSCA President, Greg Cravens

John Lotshaw.
There once was a man who was diligent, educated, fun, silly, scattered, and knew about how to do the kinds of things that tied up the loose ends that cartoonists usually leave hanging.  His name was John.  His initials were JPL and that was good, since he wore a jacket that sported more NASA patches than you knew existed, and he could tell you all about all the missions they represented.  He gleefully created cartoons, and video, and printed books, and internet content- mostly for other cartoonists, and he rarely charged us enough for the value he created.  He also chased several projects ‘round and ‘round that cost him time and energy… just like most of us do, I guess.  But on top of that, he coded computers- lots of them.  He had a collection of computers that stretched back to Texas Instrument equipment his father insisted that John learn to code for before he’d be allowed to “play with it”.  John made other cartoonists’ projects sing and dance, and left himself very little time to make his own projects sing and dance.  A lot of us owe him a lot.

John built a career, which included plenty of television production early on- and he owned his own production company at one point.  He freelanced all kinds of projects to do with video and audio. He created a webcomic called ‘Accidental Centaurs’.  He published books under the business name ‘Moonbase Press’, and would happily help you to do the same if he thought you didn’t need him doing it all for you.  He was generous to a fault like that.

He lived in Atlanta (or at least in the insane sprawl that’s centered on Atlanta) and he knew more trivia about Star Trek, Science Fiction in general, and Television at large than people could keep up with.  He had just started (finally) dabbling in a stand-up comedy career, and that’s good.  His weight was the subject of some of his humor, and that’s to be expected.  His weight was also the subject of a lot of his friends’ concern about him.  But lately, we were worried because one of his beloved Shelty dogs had passed away, then his mother passed away, and then of course he had to deal with selling her house and getting all that in order.  On the other hand, he’d landed a regular job that played to his strengths, and even though he said it’d still leave him time to pursue all the projects his friends and clients needed him to pursue, we knew it’d give him a chance to let some of the more irritating small jobs slip past him now.  So things were looking up.  He was moving to a new town to do the kind of work he was trained to do best for a good yearly pay that was probably half of what he would be worth to the company- which is AT&T, in case you’re wondering.  

Yep.  There once was that man.  And now, just before he moved, and just before he began his new job, and just before he did a little more stand-up, and just before he volunteered to run AV for the National Cartoonists Society or it’s Southeastern Chapter again… he’s gone.  My friend has gone to where deadlines, and the vagaries of the business climate, and the Sisyphean uphill struggle of the cartooning industry are not an issue.  

He was John Lotshaw, and he made the world a better place for those of us who knew him. It would have been better still for us if he could have stayed longer.
Greg

 

From his sister, Ana

Many of you have heard but others not of the unexpectedly passing of my brother John yesterday as he was spending the Thanksgiving holiday with me in Greenville SC. Thanks to everyone for your kind messages and calls during this very painful time, your thoughts, prayers and wonderful memories are comforting. Time can be cruel to end friendships deepening as we grew older and all the new chapters and experiences waiting for him just around the corner but, I know he is at peace in heaven and once gain reunited with our parents and family who have gone on before.

There are no specific arrangements as of yet but I will update this page when we work out a way to honor the life of my brother until then…

When NASA does something spectacular.. think of John
When you hear Star Trek trivia… think of John
When you pass the Varsity or your favorite BBQ.. think of John
When you see your favorite cartoon strip.. think of John
When you hear a wacky joke… think of John

John. I love and miss you more than you will ever know. Give Mom and Dad a big hug for me and don’t worry I will love and take good care of your Jessie.
Love ya- Ana

Accidental Centaurs

On the worst Thursday ever, an experimental teleporter under development by Alex and Sam explodes, opening a wormhole that propels them into an alternate dimension and transforming them into creatures of legend. Then, things really start to get weird…

www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/accidental-centaurs/

www.amazon.com/John-Lotshaw/

 

John videoing cartoonist Mike Peters at the NSC dinner at St. Jude in Memphis, 2016.

John Lotshaw (back center) at the SEC/NCS fall meeting in Nashville, 2012.

Roy Doty (L) and John Lotshaw (R) in Memphis, 2005.

Godspeed, John.

 

 

www.nationalcartoonists.com

“Beyond The Emerald City” At Playhouse On The Square – A New Art Show By Dale Martin

On Friday, November 12th Nicki and I eased on down the road to check out MSCA member Dale Martin‘s opening reception for his latest art show “Beyond The Emerald City” at Playhouse on the Square. We were running a bit behind getting to the show after grabbing some dinner at The Bayou around the corner, but were able to follow the black top road (Cooper Street) to it with a few minutes to spare!

It’s being shown upstairs in conjunction with Playhouse’s performances of “The Wizard Of OZ“. Talk about some fortuitous timing..!

Dale is a huge fan of the Land Of OZ, and it has been featured prominently in his “Watusi The Talking Dog” comics, zines, and art.

The art show is on display at Playhouse through December 28th, 2022 and can be visited during normal business hours and play performances.

To see the art show, as well as other art on display upstairs, just take the stairs (or elevator) to the second floor.

Dale’s show is just to the right and down that hallway. Many wonderful Wizard of OZ inspired pieces are hanging on both sides of the hallway space.

Dale and Wendy had refreshments and a pop-up shop set up at the top of the stairs near where his art pieces are on display.

There were prints, comics, and zines available for purchase, and Dale will have another pop-up-shop there on December 10th, from 10am-1:30pm.

Nicki and I really enjoyed getting to see Dale’s show, plus seeing some familiar faces including the MSCA’s Courtney and Kevin (and his friend Lisa) who were there as well when we finally arrived.

We loved checking out much of the other art by various artists that was on display at Playhouse on the Square by Priscilla Cunningham, Gerecho Delaney, Suzanne Evans, and Martha Kelly. They even had a large monitor  showing what was happening on stage at the time.

The space inside was amazing, as was the art. Really want to come back to explore more of the gallery areas and spend more time with the art.

Hope you can make it down to Overton Square to check out Dale’s “Beyond The Emerald City” art hos. Just be careful crossing the street –  Overton Square is pretty hoppin’ these days and you know how Memphis drivers can be when it comes to yielding to pedestrians, even at rainbow colored crosswalks!

Playhouse on the Square
66 South Cooper Street, Memphis, TN 38104
HOURS: Monday – Friday: 9AM – 5PM
Phone: (901) 725-0776 / Fax: (901) 272-2309
Email: info@playhouseonthesquare.org

Dale Martin, Cartoonist / P.O. Box 11291 / Memphis, TN 38111
Handcrafting comics since 1985! www.smearysoapboxpress.com

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