On the evening of September 12, 2019 I was privileged to attend the opening of “The Comic Art of Lynn Johnston,” an art exhibition exploring the career of Canadian comic artist Lynn Johnston and the themes of her popular comic strip For Better or Worse at The Embassy of Canada in Washington, DC. The exhibit shows selections from the comic’s 30-year history, highlighting the characters that readers know and love, and includes content from The Washington Post, as well as original artwork and current projects.
It was get to be able to share a small moment and take a photo with Lynn, whom I’d seen briefly at past National Cartoonists Society events. My mom is a fan of For Better or Worse and she told me it was always the first thing she read in the newspaper and she lead me to my first exposure of Lynn Johnston’s work.
I will be updating my Instagram stories today to showcase my photos that contain more glimpses of the exhibit. The stories will be on my IG account (@Carolyn Belefski) at https://www.instagram.com/carolynbelefski for the next 24 hours. Thanks to The Embassy of Canada for a great opening event. Thanks to Bruce for taking our photo. We were glad to be a part of it!
“The Comic Art of Lynn Johnston” runs through January 31, 2020. The Embassy’s art gallery is located next to the Newseum at 501 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW and is open to the public Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM, free of charge.
Join Curls Studio this weekend at Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland. We’ll be at Table B11 with the “convention exclusive” Curls book — you can only purchase this in-person at shows. We’ll also be running deals on prints and our “Mystery Fun Pack” if you like surprises. The Small Press Expo is North America’s premiere independent cartooning and comic arts festival. SPX brings together more than 4,000 cartoonists and comic arts enthusiasts every fall.
Small Press Expo Visit Curls Studio at Table B11
Saturday, September 14 — 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Sunday, September 15 — Noon – 6:00 PM
Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Road
North Bethesda, Maryland 20852
Admission: Saturday $15, Sunday $10, or $20 for both days
My illustration that was in Popeye’s 90th Birthday exhibit at the Huntington Beach Art Center earlier this year is now up for auction on the Heritage Auctions website. Bidding ends September 8.
Carolyn Belefski – Popeye “Spin-Itch” Speciality Illustration Original Art (2019). Popeye is going to need a few cans of Calamine lotion to ease his “Spin-Itch.” Here we have the original line work by illustrator and comic artist, Carolyn Belefski, best known for her own comic strip “Curls.” Also included is a color print that has been signed in the bottom right. Created in ink over blue pencil on Bristol board with an image area of 8″ x 10″. Belefski has signed in the lower right area. In Excellent condition.
Proceeds from the winning bids in this special NCS “Popeye the Sailor’s 90th Birthday” auction will go to the NCS Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) charity that works in tandem with the National Cartoonists Society to advance the ideals and standards of the cartooning profession, to stimulate and encourage aspiring cartoonists through scholarships and educational programs, and to provide financial assistance to cartoonists and their families in times of hardship.
Please join us for the second Fairfax Comic Con at Dulles Expo Center on August 24-25, 2019. Curls Studio will be at Table W16 selling original art and comics. Two exclusive prints featuring the show mascot (Fairfax Fox) will be available.
Here is more about the show from their website:
Fairfax Comic Con is a new annual comic convention brought to you by Tidewater Comicon and the diehard comic fans of Fairfax County, Virginia. We want to be a family friendly event that brings fans from far and wide for two fun filled days in Fairfax. Ok, admittedly we tried to put as many F’s in that last sentence as we could. Fantastic!
Children age 10 and under are free! Get your passes and find out more information in advance here: www.fairfaxcomiccon.com
Earlier this month I attended the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards weekend (May 17-19). This was my forth Reubens appearance — and my first that included attending the board member meeting. I had previously been to Pittsburgh in 2013, Washington, DC in 2015, and last year’s in Philadelphia (2018 recap here). The event is known as “the Oscars of Cartooning” and took place in Huntington Beach, CA this year.
Part of my duties serving on the Board of Directors for National Cartoonists Society includes gathering items for our goody bags at the Reuben Weekend and NCSFest. I worked with Evellyn and Chelsea at Passion Planner and they were able to donate planners for our bag. Thanks also to Sakura for the art supplies!
I arrived early on Wednesday, May 15 to attend to board duties and the first thing I did was visit the 90 Years of Popeye exhibit at the Huntington Beach Art Center. If you live nearby, hopefully you get a chance to see it within the next few days because it closes on June 2. Look for my “Spin-Itch” art up on the wall! I believe the art will be auctioned off after the exhibit, so stay ‘tooned for that information if you’d like to own some cool original art.
After visiting the art center, I ate lunch at Wahoo’s Fish Taco. I went back two days later to give them some Curls stickers, so now the Curls “Cartoonist Never Die” sticker is immortalized at Wahoo’s Downtown Huntington Beach — please take some pictures if you find it in the wild. The restaurant also gave me some cool Wahoo’s stickers as an exchange.
Other early activities included going to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County for the NCS “Cartooning For Kids” program on Thursday, May 16. I helped by arranging goody bags as well as sketching for the patients. The goody bags were stuffed with a sketchbook, crayons, and shirt. It is very gratifying to draw at the hospital and the children loved it. Thanks to Molly Stromoski for taking photos and to Rick Stromoski for organizing. Then later that evening we had a free two-hour live signing at the hotel with boatloads of amazing creators.
On Friday, May 17 I walked to the pier and had breakfast at Ruby’s Diner, which is located at the end of the pier. I walked upstairs to check out Jan & Dean’s Tiki Lounge after the meal. I attended some of the panels back at the hotel. There were four rooms with overlapping panels, so I dropped in and out of some to get the most out of it. I meet Floyd Norman, an animator who worked directly with Walt Disney. Check out “Floyd Norman: An Animated Life” documentary on Netflix if you want to learn more about him and his life. He was the first African-American animator at Disney and worked on classics like Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, and The Sword in the Stone. That evening our dinner was provided at the hotel and they had excellent Popeye themed food complete with a spinach bar, hamburgers, and delicious waffle fries.
Saturday and Sunday was the launch of NCSFest comic arts festival. After the business meeting and chapter chair meetings, I got to set-up at a tent outside on Main Street, which was very close to the pier. It was nice to be outside and exhibit at my first west coast comics event. I often joke that I’ve sold comics at venues like a bowling alley, fire department, churches, outdoor marketplaces, nightclubs, etc. I’ve even sold them by the Atlantic Ocean (Asbury Park Convention Hall) and now I hove sold them by the Pacific Ocean (Huntington Beach)… so Curls Studio comics are COAST TO COAST! I think that’s phenomenal for sure.
As part of the festivities, NCS created the opportunity to be a part of a group beach towel, which was for sale to the general public. I created Curls art for it and also used the art to create prints.
On Saturday I got to meet a creator who has inspired me since I discovered her Charm School comics in college. Elizabeth Watasin visited my booth and we chatted for quite a bit. I honestly don’t know the next time I’ll be back on the west coast, but we did talk about SDCC, as it is probably the best reason to be back — although I think I’ll only go if asked to be a guest in the future. It was a personal highlight of even making the journey out to California to see her as an extra bonus. I appreciate her taking the time to hang out with me at the booth — everyone go check out her stuff!
Then Saturday was the Reuben Awards Banquet. I had a great time, despite people questioning me if I was a wife at the event. Sometimes this industry can be difficult to navigate as a woman, when people don’t take you seriously as a cartoonist. I’ve had episodes of this even tabling at conventions where people think I’m the girlfriend or a booth babe, so it’s nothing new. It just shows me that I have to work even harder and make better comics to let people know who I am and what I do.
Even after attending the black tie ceremony for the past three years, I somehow never had a red carpet photo, so I made effort to take one this year. This year’s ceremony was very fun and the speeches were great. It was nice to see most of the winners in attendance instead of not being present. Those that were unable to make it had thank you videos and that was great to see instead of blank space when the winner is a no-show. Congratulations to Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), winner of the 2018 Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year.
On Sunday morning I gave a Pechakucha presentation. It was my first time speaking in the format of 20 slides timed at 20 seconds each and I was a little sporadic and excited. My topic was “First Aid for Cartoonists” and I think it went over well because I had a many folks come up to me later and discussions arose from the topic. Overall, we need to take better basic care of ourselves, mostly from sitting all day. After my presentation, I went back to Main Street for the second day of NCSFest. It had rained in the morning and the crowd was lighter than Saturday. The after party was BBQ at Old Crow Smokehouse.
On Monday I had some time in Huntington Beach because my flight was later in the day, so I did a beach walk to feel the sand in my toes and ate lunch at Bear Flag Fish Co.
Although it was my biggest journey and investment to attend to in the name of comics and my career at this moment, I had a great time and hung out with talented people at both NCSFest and Reubens Weekend. I made effort to meet as many new faces as I could and that was a success to me. Having the opportunity to sell comics to the public was helpful to cut the cost of flight and hotel and it was a refreshing environment to be in outside of the typical convention space. Thank you Bill Morrison, Steve McGarry, the board, and everyone who is a participant in National Cartoonists Society for hosting wonderful programming during this year’s events.
You can see more photos on my Instagram (@CarolynBelefski). I also plan on doing a day where I show my adventures via the Instagram story feature, so follow along and hopefully you will catch it because the stories only stay up for 24 hours. Hope to see you on the ‘gram!
