Underwater Microscopic Organization
Time to share some surprise new work!
Reminder: Santa Rosa Zine Fest on May 2
The Santa Rosa Zine Fest is next weekend! And I have another event in June, too:
May 2: Santa Rosa Zine Fest @ Northwest Santa Rosa Library, 12-5pm.
June 6: Two Marys’ Makers Market @ Alameda Marina, 11am-4pm.
I hope to see you at one of these 😊
Impromptu zine: Underwater Microscopic Organization
At the RPS Collective SHOOT! Vol 1 Picnic Launch, I made a zine. I planned on eating snacks, lazing around, and chatting with new people, but I also wound up making a zine!
Along with the implements of creation (paper, colored pencils, etc) the folks at RPS had a deck of cards that served as sparks of inspiration. We decided to use it like a tarot deck. Here’s what I pulled:
I got to work right away. I was excited by the prospect of attempting to draw plankton and such. Here’s how it turned out (sorry it’s kinda hard to read the pencil):
In case you can’t read it, the text on the pages is as follows:
Front cover: “Underwater Microscopic Organization”
First two pages: “Life has its own order, despite appearing like chaos to those unfamiliar with it.” (Microscopic organisms shown on the left page)
Middle two pages: “In the expanse of the ocean, the smallest beings are who enable us to breathe. Maybe we should refamiliarize ourselves with them…” (There is an illustration of the ocean spanning both pages)
Last two pages: “…Instead of mindlessly consuming them, and, well, everything else.” (The text is crammed into the bottom left corner, and overtaking the pages is an amoeba-like being that has eaten the tiny organisms shown earlier)
Back cover: cute lil portrait of me out of microscopic organisms 🦠
Leave it to me to take a fun time in the sun and reflect on climate change. If you liked this, please let me know! I’m happy to make one for you.
Latest inspo
My spouse and I just finished watching the 2024 adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, and it was phenomenal. If you need a satisfying story of revenge wrought on people who absolutely deserve it, this is for you. Also, there’s lots of fascinating mind games at play. I need to read the novel now!
I recently read the coolest zine I have ever seen: Clipart Crypt (link is to the item in the US store), published by Sheer Spite Press in Canada. It is a maximalist masterpiece of early computer indulgence. It is an electronic acid trip. It is perfect.
I’m playing Pokemon LeafGreen on the Switch, and it’s a soothing moment of nostalgia. I’ve had a really rocky year so far, and Pokemon is absolutely my comfort franchise. It literally is the same game as the Red/Blue games from the 1990s but rebooted for a contemporary gaming system. Maybe someday I’ll get the hang of the new Pokemon games, but today is not that day.
