Visual Fringe

I'll be in the Visual Fringe show again this year, which is the visual arts component of the London Fringe Festival which runs June 16th - 26th this year. I'll have some new artwork on display, my comics and a new theatre-related original t-shirt design below! They'll be for sale at my table at the Arts Project during the run of the Fringe. T-shirts are all $20.00 each.

Can you get better than a Shakespeare reference? I don't know - I think not. The above is a line from A Winter's Tale and is apparently the most famous stage direction of all time.

They are all hand-silkscreened by the fabulous guys at Fresh Ink, and are white design on a black tee, AL Style brand. I got them in all different sizes (Women's cut, Men's style and some Youth 14/15 size). I hope the Fringe crowd will like them! I also got another run done up of my Kazoo shirt because that was a really hot seller at last year's Fringe.

Fringe Plays I'm Looking Forward to

This will be only our 3rd summer in London, and I haven't been to any Fringe plays before! This is a problem that will be rectified this year. I've studied the whole program, and have pegged these to as my must-sees:

The Sparrow and the Mouse
Edith Piaf is an icon, France’s greatest popular singer. However, few people know Marguerite Monnot, who devoted her life to composing songs for Piaf. The enduring friendship of these two women is an incredible story, spanning over 25 years. Featuring Monnot’s most popular songs, including: Milord and Hymne à l’Amour.

I'm a HUGE Edith Piaf fan, so I have to see this. I thought this note in the program was also hilarious: Warning: Music in both French and English (Hope you paid attention in French class!).


Only in London, Ontario would you have to put a warning that an Edith Piaf play will have French music. Well I should hope so or I would feel very ripped off!

Link: http://festival.londonfringe.ca/home/showdetails/119 
 
The Donnelly SideshowJohnny O’Connor was the boy who hid under the bed during the Donnelly murders of 1880. Now he’s back, all grown up, packing a guitar and ready to set the record straight on the Donnellys. A new solo show, with songs, directed by Jayson McDonald. Details at http://www.jeffculbert.ca/.

The story of the Donnelly family is one I can't get enough of, and I'm looking forward to seeing this musical rendition from the part of the young survivor.

Link: http://festival.londonfringe.ca/home/showdetails/99

The Real London

Is London, Ontario a creative city? A recent London Free Press poll of readers said overwhelming No - we're not. Certainly that is the stereotype about us - we're all white, conservative and middle class here right? Wrong. And many others would refute this view (myself included).

David Redding is a local photographer who's been taking photos of local London artists with the purpose of showing the community just how rich the creative talent is here in the Forest City. His photo of me is above. Check out the website here: http://thereallondon.tumblr.com

Cartoonists in London
Remember in the sixties, when London was a hotbed of talent? We had Curnoe, Chambers, the Nihilst Spasm Band, Ewen, Reaney and more. Well I think something is happening here again - you can feel it in the air. A groundswell if you will, and you don't have to look very hard to find it.

For cartoonists alone, London is becoming a bit of a hotbed. Here are the ones I can name off of the top of my head who live here

• Marc Bell
• Kathryn & Stuart Immonen
• Jesse Jacobs
• James Kirkpatrick (Thesis Sahib)
• Amy Lockhart
• Jason Mclean
• Jaime Q
• Peter Thompson 

So - still think London's not creative?

Recent Interviews
On a completely different note, here's some recent interviews/reviews with me.
Be sure to check out Squidface and the Medler in particular if only because it's one of the best looking sites around!

• London Free Press: Meet Diana Tamblyn, April 2011
• Squidface and the Meddler, March 2011 
• Interrobang - Fanshawe Student Paper, January 2011

Epigenetics Eh!

(click on the image for larger version)
RELEASE TO AIR & LAND: IDENTIFIED SUBSTANCES (DIPTYCH)
DIANA TAMBLYN, 196 X 17
GICLEE (PRODUCED FROM PEN & INK ON BRISTOL)

Some background Info
London Ontario will host the Canadian Conference on Epigenetics (called Epigenetics, Eh!) next week May 4-7.  In collaboration, the organizers of the Conference and the London Arts Council offered 10 artists the opportunity to attend a presentation about Epigenetics from some local scientists who are specialists in this area. The artists were then commissioned to create a piece based on the presentation and understanding of the practice.


My Piece
I was one of the lucky artists asked to participate. Epigenetics is a rapidly growing field of science defined as:  "Any function change in the genome that does not involve an alteration of the DNA sequence."

In layman's terms one can view this as nature vs. nurture, where nature is a person's DNA, and nurture represents all sorts of external factors that can alter a person's physiology without changing their DNA.

What captured my imagination from the presentation on Epigenetics to the artists was the subject of Epigenetics and the environment. Specifically that chemicals in our environment can change the “readout” of our genes, and that multiple levels of these compounds (even if found at low “safe” levels) have an additive quality that combined can have a detrimental impact on a person’s health and well-being (not surprising at all, but nice to know it's confirmed at this epigenetics level).

For my piece, I wanted to focus at man-made chemicals found in the environment. I also didn’t think one piece would have the impact I was looking for, so I created a diptych (two pieces that work together as one) that depicts chemicals released into air, and chemicals released to the soil.

I wanted to show the beauty of our natural landscape, and through the use of text make the “invisible” chemical elements (not seen to the naked eye) visible. The listing of chemicals was taken from a report on environmental toxicology.

EpigenArt the Exhibition

The EpigenART Exhibition will display the work of all the artists involved for the duration of the conference at the London Convention Centre. We've all been invited to the banquet dinner (which I unfortunately can't attend as I'll be at TCAF), and also have been invited to some cocktail mixers where we'll get to talk about our works with the attending scientists.

Post-conference,the works will be exhibited by the London Arts Council Office and City of London Mayor's Office.

I want to thank the committee of the Epigenetics Conference as well as the London Arts Council for putting this all together. Rarely have I been treated so respectfully as an artist - we were really treated as peers in this conference and as participants who could help shed led on this emerging science. It's always been a great learning experience and collaboration!

For more info, see:
http://www.epigeneticscanada.com

London Studio Tour - April 15 - 17

The London Studio Tour is coming up and I've been hard at work preparing for it. The tour is a unique London event - during the weekend of April 15- 17, twenty-four local artists will open up their studios to the public. I've attended the event a number of times and it's a lot of fun. In 2009 I exhibited for the first time and had over 500 people through the studio!

The best part - it's free and everyone is welcome!  For my part, I will have original artwork for sale and on display including some comic pages. I'll also have all my comics and original t-shirts for sale as well.

For the kids, I will have some free comics to give away! Here's the information:

London Studio Tour
Friday, April 15th : 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Saturday, April 16th: 10:000 AM - 5:00 PM 
Sunday, April 17th: 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM 
Website: http://www.londonstudiotour.com

Tree Series
Below is a couple of new pieces I've done for the show. They are the first in a new series I'm working on focusing on trees in London. Since we are the Forest City and London averages 12 trees/per person, I wanted to do a full exploration of what many take for granted in the city. The story is not all good. Many of our trees are not in good health and are dead or dying. Many trees that are healthy are non-native to the area and not particularly great for the environment.

ReForest London kindly supplied me with a lot of information and stats, and these will be making their way into the artwork. I'll be working on this series from now until October, and will post them as they are finished.

Bur Oak at 200 Collip Circle

As a place to begin with the series, I thought what better place to start than the "People's Choice" winner in last year's Amazing Tree Quest contest held by Reforest London, where Londoners identify their favourite trees. So I went out to 200 Collip Circle, near Windemere Manor to take some photos of the Giant Bur Oak there.

As I was wandering around, I wondered if I would recognize the tree from the photos. No danger there. Once you find the right spot to view it - it's stunning. Unfortunately it seems to have gotten damaged slightly with these recent heavy snows, but I know it will survive. The tree has a real mythical quality to it. It seems like it could spring to life and start moving like the trees in the Lord of the Rings.

Another View of Bur Oak Tree

Comic Book Literacy Day at the London Public Library

Comic Book Literacy Day is a really neat event coming up at the London Public Library that I'll be speaking at along with some other talented cartoonists (and friends): Scott Chantler, J.Bone, Kathryn and Stuart Immonen, and the Kill Shakespeare crew.

Kudos to Brahm - owner of Heroes, the United Way, the London Public Library, and The Child and Youth Network for putting this together. See below for full information. Come on out and bring your kids as it's happening over March Break week!

Heroes presents: What’s your story? Comic Book Literacy Day

Wednesday, March 16, 2011
1:00pm –8:00pm
Central London Public Library

Join us at the London Public Central Library from 1 8 pm for a day-long celebration of comic books and graphic novels. There will be something for comic-lovers of every age.

 
AGENDA

1:00pm-1:45pm Comic Art Workshop featuring Freeze DNA

(Ages 6-14 -Stevenson Hunt)

• Learn how to draw basic illustrations, animals, and facial expressions and participate in a questions and answer period at the end of the workshop

1:00pm-8:00pm Comic Artists Gallery

(All ages - The Passageway)

• An open invitation to local comic artists to display their work, draw, network and meet fans

1:30pm-8:00pm Comic Jam featuring J. Bone and friends

(All ages - Teen Annex)

• J. Bone is a Canadian comic book artist and writer who has worked on such titles as DC Comics' Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Super Friends - Ask him to draw your favourite comic book character!

• It’s a comic jam! Draw a panel and pass it on. Join in and create a comic together with artists of all levels. Let's try and create as many collaborative comics as possible and put them on display!

2:00pm-4:00pm Creating Web Comics featuring Jeffrey Preston

All ages - The Passageway/Teen Annex

• Jeffrey Preston, creator of Cripz: A Webcomic. An introduction to web comics and creating your own wecomic.

2:00pm-2:30pm Comics for Kids: Three Thieves featuring Scott Chantler

(Ages 9-12 - Stevenson Hunt B)

• A reading and discussion of his acclaimed kids’ comic series, Three Thieves published by Kids Can Press

2:30pm-3:30pm Be a Comic Book Artist by Alison Williams

(Ages 9-12 - Stevenson Hunt A)

• 2 half hour comic art workshop sessions with 20 participants each

5:00pm-6:00pm The Creative Process of Popular Comics

(Teens and adults - Stevenson Hunt)
Featuring Stuart and Kathryn Immonen

• Stuart Immonen - Marvel Comics artist for Fear Itself, and in the past, Avengers, Captain America, Incredible Hulk, New Avengers, Thor, Fantastic Four, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Spider-Man, DC Comics’ Superman, Never as Bad as You Think*, and Moving Pictures*

• Kathryn Immonen – Marvel Comics author for Wolverine and Jubilee, and in the past Heralds, X-Men, Runaways, and Hellcat

*Immonen collaboration

6:00pm-7:00pm Canadian Non-fiction Graphic Novels

(Teens and adults - Stevenson Hunt)
Featuring Scott Chantler and Diana Tamblyn

• Scott Chantler is an acclaimed graphic novelist whose books have been nominated for many awards and recommended by the American Library Association and the Junior Library Guild, he has created the non-fiction graphic novels Northwest Passage and Two Generals

• Diana Tamblyn is an Ignatz-nominated cartoonist who has been actively writing and drawing comics for over 12 years. Her latest comic project is "From Earth to Babylon: The Story of Gerald Bull and the Supergun". This is a historical based work on the life of Canadian Gerald Bull - considered to be one of the most brilliant artillery scientists of the 20th century. Her past work includes a comic biography of another Canadian scientist - Frederick Banting

7:00pm-8:00pm Comic Book Literacy with Kill Shakespeare, Scott Robins, Mathew Hoy

(Teens and adults - Stevenson Hunt)

• A presentation and panel discussion featuring Kill Shakespeare’s creators Conor McCreery, Anthony Del Col and artist, Andy B; Scott Robins, librarian and blogger from Comic Book Resources and local parent-comic book fan, Mathew Hoy

Other events and activities happening throughout the day:

• Dress up day - wear a comic book costume to celebrate the day
• Fun-time photo booth - costumes and props will complete your digital picture
• Free comic book for kids all day courtesy of Heroes

Comic creator signings, and meet and greets all day at Heroes:

• 3:00-4:30 p.m. Meet and greet local comic artists
• 4:00-5:30 p.m. J. Bone, Diana Tamblyn and Scott Chantler
• 5:00-6:30 p.m. Kill Shakespeare
• 6:30-8:00 p.m. Stuart and Kathryn Immonen