Sarah Morean

For a brief time in May, you'll be able to see my artwork in three different locations.

This Friday is the Lutefisk Sushi Volume C opening at Altered Esthetics. You're welcome to come and have fun, buy a Lutefisk Sushi minicomic box set, and read my pun "sculpture" in the bathroom.

Next week, I'm hanging my show at the Seward Cafe in Minneapolis. Their breakfast is delicious. Try it out and read one of my zines if you've got the time. There will be a closing celebration on Saturday, May 24th from 3-5 pm that you can attend. My mom will be there.

Last Friday, the Sioux Falls Cartoonists had a closing for their show at Michelle's Coffeehouse in Sioux Falls. I couldn't make it, so my mom went in my stead since they put up some of my pages from City/City and A Bad Time for a Polar Bear. She met Chris Browne (Hagar the Horrible) and he told her he was Walt Disney. My mom saw through his fib and told him he was horrible. She was nice enough to call me up on her cell while she was there and pass me around. It sounded like quite the soiree. Now, the show will move on to Black Sheep Coffee in Sioux Falls until May 11th, so you've still got a second chance to see it.

Jackie Beilke (fellow cartoonist and my former middle school art teacher) has become a dear pal of mine, and she put together this photo montage of the event. The photos are broken up into sections that showcase individuals from the show, and in my section (the first one), she put in pictures of my mom. It really cracks me up.

I'm taking design classes while working at a library. This is a fantastic combo because my interest in one area heightens my awareness in the other. The design concepts and examples feed into each other, and I think this is the only reason I've noticed these remarkable similarities in the collection.

1. The Namesake vs. I am Legend



2. Vanessa Mae (violinist) vs. Donna Summer (R&B)



3. Joanna Newsome "Ys" album vs. Eliza Gilkyson's "Paradise Hotel" album

I neglected to scan these and couldn't find images on the internet, but in both of these sleeved albums you'll find a maroonish-colored book-like CD cover lettered and trimmed in gold ink.

Have you noticed any "copycat" designs?

1. This terrible economy is shutting the doors of many businesses in my area. First, Acadia moved away. Then Williams & Sonoma and Crate & Barrel closed in downtown. I just found out that the downtown Dunn Bros. on Nicollet is closing its doors on Friday. The delicious independent coffee and treat place by Trader Joe's on Excelsior is closing in 2 months. I think I'll give up if Gangchen closes.

2. I'm organizing the Twin Cities Zinefest this year. As far as I know, it's the Midwest's only zinefest. We're looking for bands, tablers and supporters. Check out the website if you're interested.

3. I've been doing regular illustrations for the Wake since October of last year. The issue that comes out tomorrow will feature my art on the cover. This is the first time they've given me the cover. I'm calling the piece "Today I am a Manscout," like this kid I drew was a boyscout but then he got a mustache (a milk mustache!), so now he's a man. Get it? Ha ha so funny. It hits newsstands tomorrow. I guess you'd have to see it.

4. I can't let you see it because, like, every other file I create using Photoshop CS3 gets corrupted somehow. What is up with that? Anyway, I've saved it a bunch of different ways with no luck. It refuses to show up on the internet.

5. I just finished reading a fabulous book, Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart. It's a memoir about her best summer, in 1945 at the close of World War II, when she and a friend opted out of summer school at Iowa State University in Ames and went instead to New York City where they landed jobs at Tiffany. I loved it so much. It's put me in a very cheery mood. The author reminds me so much of my lovely grandmother in Sioux Falls: a full-blooded Norwegian, proud Midwesterner, blond, conscious of name brands, and as modest, sweet and demure as can be. Sarah Cady, I think you'd love it. It was a real quick read too.

Ed Moorman is editing a benefit anthology called GHOSTS for RS Eden and I'm going to be in it. Jeffrey Brown is supposed to be in it as well, so I'm really excited to see the book published. I'm not sure what everyone else is writing about, the topic was pretty broad, but here's my brief contribution:

Hello my dearest darlings. Christmas is upon us! Ho ho ho etc.

Well, this is something, isn't it?



Go here to see the television interview with my gorgeous mother and grandmother: SIOUX FALLS' OWN ROCKEFELLER TREE.

X O Merriness & Nog,
Morean

I watched the SSCA gallery today so that things like this didn't get stolen:



I guess the girl from mplsart.com was at the Member's Show opening last weekend and she took this photo of Will and his comic art poster. He's wearing my bicycle helmet. Will was a Mormon for Halloween. I've never heard of Mormons wearing bicycle helmets, but Will seemed to think it an integral part of the whole ensemble.

Next weekend is our one-year anniversary. I think anniversaries are one of those lame holidays without cake, but I'll try and see what I can scam out of him anyway.

This comic was printed in black and white in the "bastard" section of the latest issue of the Wake Magazine, which is available on the University of Minnesota campus through next week. A large number of the bundles were not delivered to areas outside the U (i.e. Dinkytown) so if you're interested in reading one, you'll actually need to find it in one of the campus buildings.

Please send in your own version! I'm excited. I think this will be fun.

Here's an illustration I made for Abby's copy writing promo pamphlet:

I met a girl in my painting class by constantly complimenting her wardrobe. Then I found out she has a fantastic website and the best non-paying job ever (which is updating it).



If you're a craftster, send her an email and she might list your items. I think this is a great way to window shop and the site looks great. (I love when people can actually get designers to make their websites!)

Anyway, I'm dreadful at buying presents for people. Maybe this will help me out.

I've got a new comic, City/City that will debut at Fallcon in Minneapolis this weekend, but it's also available right now through the online STORE. Half of the book contains true personal stories about living in Sioux Falls, SD, and the other half are about living in Minneapolis, MN. The book is 16 pages long. I'm going to keep writing autobio comics in this square format and hopefully come up with a much longer book that I will print up sometime in the future, maybe in a year or something. I haven't really gotten into the childhood stories yet.

This is pretty new territory for me. I'm not used to thinking about and writing stories in a strict format. This comic feels cleaner than my other ones, but it's still kind of sloppy, so I'm excited for more practice. As a thanks to whoever plans to buy it, I'm making little notebooks to be given away as freebies with every purchase. I used the bits of scrap paper from cutting the books to fill the notebooks and I used an old design I found on a playing card for the cover. They're kind of cute.

Comic:


Freebie:

Golly gee! Thanks to my crack reporting skills, Brian Heater has made me the Mini-Comics Editor at the Cross Hatch! YAH! I am now qualified to edit anything. If you've got editables, I've got credentials.

I see the Star Tribune catching wind of this and offering me Par Ridder's vacant publishing position.

Also, I moved recently and I got a PO Box and if anybody wants to trade anything or submit stuff for me to review on the Cross Hatch, that'd be cool!

Sarah Morean
PO Box 3629
Minneapolis, MN 55403

Here's a comic I rejected from my next mini City/City, which will debut at Fallcon in Minneapolis on October 6-7. Everything in the book has been done in this style and grid and has been colored with gray tones. It's a real departure for me, since I can usually only do freak chunks of a book in a single style. This book is mostly a project for me to work out how to draw consistently so that maybe I can move into longer stories using a style I like, rather than creating single-page stories that jump to a punch or don't mean much. Anyway, it's all WIP. I will probably continue to create City/City-based stories (a split-comic about living in both Sioux Falls and Minneapolis) and create a much longer comic someday. Can a comic still be fun if it's introduced by so much language? Oh well.

I started a Minnesota Artists page today. The content won't be new to any of you who keep up with my livejournal. Though it may surprise some of you to see your comments used as reviews. SURPRISE! THIS IS MY MN ARTISTS SITE THIS IS MY FRIEND ANDERS' MN ARTISTS SITE

Have a good day!

I got a MacBook!

Update: due to lack of submissions, the school tuition zine has been cancelled. Apparently everyone is too busy working to keep up with their debt to submit anything. In the meantime, I have gone back to school at a community college and have become eligible again for student discounts. Yahoo!

In Other News: I'm working on a comic about the two great cities I have lived in, Sioux Falls and Minneapolis. I'd like to finish it this month and have it ready for Fallcon in October.

I got a part-time temporary job! I go in for my drug test on Monday. Wish me luck!

I'll be helping to record high school sports scores for the Star Tribune. It's a night job, so don't plan on seeing me Friday nights from 7-11 PM from now until March. I'm also taking night classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. I might also have to work Thursday and Saturday nights.

In short, if you ever wanted to see me again, I'm sorry.

I'd like to know what you're reading periodically.

I'm looking for magazine subscription suggestions. I want to read some non-fiction periodicals about science, design, social issues, free speech & info sharing, DIY, our aging population, technology and the world at large. Not a lot of advertising or fluff, but something well-written and thought-provoking. Especially if it's something I can't get at Barnes & Noble.

Any ideas?