From the Archives: Trina Robbins

A postcard from 1977

Ever since the sad news of Trina’s passing I find myself thinking of her. I wrote a bit in the previous post about the ‘olden’ days of the underground comix scene when we lived communally. I’ve pulled together fragments of scrap, sketches and photos from that era.

This was drawn jam session style by Trina, Leslie Cabarga and me. Circa 1975

 

Here is the artwork from another cartoon announcement—in this case the dual birthday party of Trina and Sharon Rudahl. (Drawn by Sharon, Trina, Leslie? and me).

Back then we shared a phone—a ‘land line’ in current vernacular. It was in the hallway near the stairs. If Trina answered a call that was for me she would jot down the message on a little note pad which would wind up adorned with her doodles and sketches.

 

All of the sketches circa 1975-1977

A very youthful Larry in Trina’s room/studio. Behind me a small portion of Trina’s original art collection. Note: Trina’s nose protruding in the far lower right hand corner.

(Photo circa 1975 by Denis Kitchen)

A group photo shot for the magazine, TRA (Towards Revolutionary Art). Left to right: Me, Harry Driggs (aka R. Diggs), Guy Colwell, Ingrid B., Trina in the center.

Group shot (literally a pile on in this case) at the San Diego Con 1978 or 1979 given to me by Jackie Estrada We were doing a cartoon jam session.  Back row left to right: Don Dougherty, Paul Mavrides, Roger May, me, Shel Dorf, Steve Leialoha, (Dan O’Neill’s elbow). Front row: Melissa Gebbie, Bob Foster, Trina, Carol Lay.

And Harvey Kurtzman...

(Photos copyright and courtesy of Jackie Estrada)

 

This curious photo was given to me by Michael T. Gilbert. It was taken in 1978 at the wedding of Al and Mary McAllister Gordon.

 

(Left to right: me, Al Gordon, Mary McAllister, Michael T. Gilbert, Steve Leialoha and Trina).

 

More drawings by Trina

 

 

Trina Robbins August 17, 1938 – April 10, 2024

I’ve struggled for some days thinking about what to write about Trina, how to write about Trina.

 

I find looking at other tributes and memorials (in print and on social media) that I’m not alone in that. 

 

Trina’s impact on people has been significant.  As a cartoonist, 

 

as a “herstorian” of culture, 

but also through her individual engagement and attention. She could be blunt, challenging and supportive all at the same time.

 

Trina was a part of my youthful days as a cartoonist in San Francisco during the “Underground’ comix scene. 

 

Hector Tellez, Trina and me

                                                (Photo copyright Clay Geerdes Archives. Courtesy of David Miller)

 

Cartoonists back in the late ‘60’s early ‘70’s, often shared living spaces (It wasn’t that easy to get by in those days, with the current realities of the City I can only image how difficult it is now).  I bounced around the Mission district in this manner and wound up sharing a flat with Trina along with cartoonists Leslie Cabarga and Sharon Rudahl.  

 

             Flyer drawn by Sharon Rudahl, me, Leslie Cabarga and Trina           announcing our move from Guerrero Street to 15th Street circa 1975

As a young cartoonist, living with that crew was a good education. We spent a lot of time hunched over drawing boards in our respective studio-bedrooms. We took turns making dinner and doing house chores. 

 

It was just a couple of years or so, but Trina’s influence has stayed with me for decades. She was powerful, intense, idealistic-- and passionate about her work. She was also always curious and supportive of the creative work of others (that’s not always a trait commonly found in artists). 

 

I attempted to keep up on the news of her illness and was readily accepting (perhaps otherwise known as denial) the reports that she was “improving”, largely because it aligned with my perception that she was a fighter and that she would rally.  Trina spent much of her life successfully fighting uphill battles, I’d hoped this would be another one. I think most people who knew her assumed she was destined to live to 100.

My condolences to Casey Robbins and Steve Leialoha.

Judy North: A Painter’s Book of Days

I organize art exhibits each month in the Maurice Del Mue Galleries of the San Geronimo Valley Community Center. Our most recent exhibit has been a knockout. A two-room exhibit of works by Judy North.

 

Photo by Donn DeAngelo

Valley artist, Judy North, studied painting at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles and at the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco.  She taught at Bennington College in Vermont, the University of California at Davis and the San Francisco Art Academy. She's exhibited widely.

The show titled “A Painter’s Book of Days” consists of one room of works spanning many years of her career and a second room of her most recent collage work. Here’s sampling:

“There Was a Young Man”

“Madame Mustache...She Summons the Wind”

It’s a large painting. This shot gives you a better sense of scale. 

“Madame Mustache..She Lives in Her Thoughts”

“Red Rider”

“Marty”

“Bud"

Here are a few of Judy’s dog portraits:

“Nelson”

“Nelson and Freddie”

“Benni”

These collages are some of Judy’s most recent work:

“Ganesh & Sponge Bob, Removers of Obstacles"

“Serene"

“Ray Johnson”

“Just Right"

“Listen"

“Pretty Babies”

“In Full"

“Great Mother"

“Big Top”

“Chomp"

“Wednesday Sidewalk"

“Winken, Bliken and Nod"

“Jade Emperor”

“Witness"

“Winnipeg”

And here’s Judy’s artist statement:

   A PAINTERS BOOK OF DAYS

These cautionary tales, perceptions, poems, meditations, and mysteries are my way of thinking in pictures. They are snapshots of my mind. I have long been involved with a common theme. A union of opposites. Even my painting techniques are involved with it. A quote that I have had pinned to the wall in my studio for years says: "The opposite of Love is not Hate, it is the persistent use of the rational mind."

There is a table in my studio piled high with hundreds of images that I have collected over time. The sum total becomes a giant tapestry. The pictures move, they collide, they exchange energy, they build and fall back. It is a table with multiple questions and answers. A collage will surface and start to take a shape of its own, maybe a face, perhaps a story, and it will become a painting. My rational mind has learned to relax. It will recognize the rightness of the vision.

I used to think that the power of transformation would turn the lights on in the human spirit, that our consciousness would heal the past and transform the world. When the Berlin Wall came down and the Cold war ended the world seemed to be headed in that direction. We seemed to be learning that communication and negotiation were powerful ways to solve our difficulties. The information highway was created to this end. Through it all, terrible events were brewing and they began to surface again, but our leaders weren't doing their homework, Instead of facing a situation which presents profound new challenges, they preferred to retreat into past feuds and delusions, giving us Ukraine and Israel Hamas, The Trump Administration, Fundamentalism, Murder, Mayhem and WAR.

I have had a wonderful life. I have a beautiful family. I have love and stability. I have dear friends and deep relationships. I live in a beautiful place. I am very aware of all that is positive in my life and am aware of the wider world where wisdom and ignorance whirl in their frenzied dance.

And on technique: I have developed a technique to give my paintings the dimension that is pertinent to al this. I want to enrich the various sides of my visual dialog. I come from a theatre and a glass background and have long been interested in the play between transparent light and opacity, between reflective surfaces and dull mat ones, the union of opposites at work. I love complex composition, intricate pattern and color because ti embraces the chaos of life and the order I try to bring to it.

I use liquid acrylics and the various mediums that allow for different drying times that I apply with squeeze bottles to build my images like a mosaic.

The reception