New Year

I have been hiding out in my "creative cave," as a friend put it, powering through the illustrations for In the Sounds and Seas Volume II. The social sacrifices are paying off: after I finish the spread I am currently on, I will be at the half-way mark. Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles, I might well be ahead of schedule!

In my hours hermiting away in the cave, the year changed around me. Rather than look back at the year concluded (and what a great year it was!), it is more exciting to look forward to 2012. Here are a few events I am eagerly anticipating:

• Saturday, February 18: I will be teaching a one-day 2-Color Linocut workshop at Evanston Print & Paper Shop in Evanston, Illinois. Registration is open now!
• March 9 & 10, Chicago Zine Fest in the South Loop of Chicago: Reading events and panel discussions on the 9th, and zine & small press folks tabling their work on the 10th, I will be selling the first volume of In the Sounds and Seas, and a few other smaller projects that I've got up my sleeves. (My wildest and most ambitious dreams allow me to debut ISS VII at Chicago Zine Fest, but let's be honest: I also have to sleep, y'all.)
• April 21 & 22, Small Press and Comics Expo (SPACE) in Columbus, Ohio: I will be tabling this event, selling the first volume of In the Sounds and Seas and debuting Volume II.
• June 16 & 17, Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE): This is Chicago's first official alternate/small press comics expo, and I couldn't be more exicited. Word will get out in February if my application to table the event has been accepted, but I will be there, either selling my wares or chatting with and admiring the small press comic work of my Chicago bretheren.
• September 15 & 16, Small Press Expo: This is my first year attending SPX. What a dream! If you are attending as well, drop me a line.

I am also excited to be working on three (count 'em!) hand-printed wedding invitations this spring, all featuring multicolor linocut illustrations. There are also schemes and applications and plans a-plenty, which I will write about in more detail as news and details become less abstract.

Happy 2012, friends!