‘jealousy’ — drawn on the street at the fringe festival, 2008

the fringe festival is finally over (well, three weeks ago).  it was very productive in many ways.  i got a nice suntan and a knife stuck in my heart.  as usual, people said to me whatever they felt like saying.  it was wonderful and amusing.

i was surprised that many people remembered or recognized my drawings from my show at the mendel gallery over a year ago.  some people even remembered them from my show at royal red gallery at phonographique three years ago.  a few people told me there were looking for me at this fringe this year since i wasn’t there last year.  the best moment was when a guy told me that he’d had seen one of the drawings, ‘inseparable’ somewhere, but he couldn’t remember where.  he left then came back just to tell me the postcard was up on the fridge door at his friend’s house.  he was so excited he came back for the third time to show my work to one of his friends.  i was very touched by all this.  so thanks and arigato!

i kept track of comments that i enjoyed.  so here’s the diagnosis;

•  ’you should do medical illustration.  you’ll be great!’ — i don’t think so…
• ‘do you draw family portraits? i have a photo here.’ — no thanks…
• ’she’s a freak!  she’s a freak!  she is a FREAK!’ screamed a guy with his full body tattooed and wearing a scary outfit with spikes.
• ‘i LIKE it!’  said 8 year old boy who flipped through all the drawings.
• ‘i wish i could draw…’ — i feel the same way
• ‘ahaha!  look at those boobs!’
• ‘these are amazing!’
• ‘i had the EXACT same image ( an elephant coming out of my belly) recently.  i should draw that!’
• ‘do you like creepy stuff?’ ‘no’ ‘… then why do you draw creepy stuff??’ — good question!
• ‘do you take any drugs?’
• ‘you look normal, but i know you aren’t!  you are not normal!’
• ‘did you draw these?  they are so weird and grotesque.  and you are so adorable!’ — do you want a candy?

i feel so energized and encouraged.  thanks for all the encouragement and cheering as well as your nasty looks.  i did a couple of drawings sitting at my booth and i’ve been drawing away ever since.

more soon, including news about shows i’m doing in september…

well, there was a huge storm friday night and everyone ran for cover. i’d only been at my table for an hour. saturday was sunny but too windy, so i stayed home and slept all day. so the fringe festival only started for me on sunday. today was a holiday, and it was gorgeous — lots of people out having a great time.

i set up my table at noon and stayed until 9:30pm. i met all kinds of interesting people. some of them were from out of town: regina, winnipeg, and even ibaraki, japan. some of them remembered me from the fringe festival last year, or from one of my local shows. it was nice to see some familiar faces.

i probably talked to at least a hundred people today. i was happy that a lot of people liked my stuff. i like watching people laughing, and people laughed a lot when they read my spencer book. it was fun to find out what they thought about my drawings. i got a lot of positive comments, and quite a few people saying “ew” or “yuck!”. both are great feelings to express. :D

here are my favorite things people said to me at the fringe festival this weekend:

10: you’re so japanese. (am i?)
9: those are awesome! (everyone in saskatoon says “awesome”)
8: ouch!
7: there are many strange people, but you’re good at expressing yourself.
6: wow! these are super cool!! where is my wife? (his wife ditched him — she didn’t like my drawings)
5: do you know dali?
4: do you have nightmares?
3: that’s disgusting! (she whispered it under her breath as she walked by)
2: craziest stuff i’ve ever seen
1: do you take any medication?

i’m selling postcards and 8.5 x 11 prints of my color pencil drawings. they’re both printed on white cardstock, so they’re not too expensive to make. i’m selling postcards for $2 each, or a selection of any six for $10. single prints are also $10. the images are the same, only bigger on the prints, and the postcards have my name and the title printed on them. for this kind of street festival, i think it’s the right thing. sales were okay, but i’m just happy to think that my postcards will be put up on someone’s fridge or mailed all over the world.

here are some of my postcards (click to enlarge — slideshow):