Knoxville Anime and Comic Convention 2010

This past weekend I took the advice of several folks I've encountered this year and set up stakes at my first comic con! I'm a total comic nerd and truly enjoyed the experience. I mean, what a freak show. Makes me think of the Michael Franti lyric - "All the freaky people make the beauty of the world." I was certainly entertaining to see so many people comfortable enough to dress up and get into character to run around this small gathering of dealers trying to earn their votes for a costume contest. Though a modestly sized event, the weekend afforded me the opportunity to get my feet wet and gab with dealers and artists about such events.

Saturday night, my wife and I got to lay low and enjoy the DelMonaco wine we picked up on the way into Knoxvegas. DelMonaco is this swank little vineyard off the cut in Baxter, TN just off of I-40. We got to sample the recommendations of their British distiller who apparently got stuck at the bar and wasn't even really sure how to ring us up. We almost got a steal until the owner finally made her way by.

Sunday was a gas despite a very passive crowd. One costume wearing gal gave me a very humbling compliment by comparing my work to that of west coast legend Robt. Williams (the first time I got that one... I'm usually just called a sicko or sadist.) The highlight of the weekend in all honesty was meeting an artist to recommend to you now constant reader. He is Billy Tackett, zombie artist extraordinaire. Billy had some great advice for me from his travels on the circuits pimping his zombie work to the masses. Billy has some really cool Uncle Sam zombies and a forthcoming comic, Dead, White, and Blue. Look out for it.

The Dogwood Arts Festival

This past weekend was a special occasion for me, being the first arts festival I have attended outside of Middle Tennessee, the 50th annual Dogwood Arts Festival. I arrived with Aurora, van packed down with a year's worth of artwork and prints just behind the rain Thursday evening to load in and find optimistic vendors setting up in the gloomy muck. The weekend did not disappoint with the weather being the topic on the tips of most peoples tongues.

I found myself some more this weekend or better put- reinforced my belief in my work to mySELF by opening my heart and mind to the general public. It's weird watching a sea of people float by your work. A double-take here and there. Occasionally, you catch an eye bulge or facial expression similar to something I'd draw. If the purpose of art is to evoke emotion, I'm a successful man. I saw parents pull their children back from my work and saw others hold them and laugh and laugh and point and giggle. I saw people stare and saw people take one look and shake their head in disgust. I talked to kids barely in school and men who told me psychedelic stories from fifty years ago. All of them told me the ways my work opened their mind. In turn, these perfect strangers (and some new friends) gave me new perspectives on the effect of what I do.

Congratulations to Alex Bowers who won my drawing for an original framed illustration on Sunday. He took home a couple of my buttons the day before and I spotted him later on with the Timothy Leary button pinned on his little brother!