Merry Christmas to All!!




                     Merry Christmas to You All!!           

                        Wishing you much good cheer for the holidays,    
             Larry, Molly, Sam, Kaden, Ryland, Haley and Askia    

About the art:
My mother, Virginia Irvin, made many christmas ornaments in her lifetime.  Some of the best ones were made when she and my brother and sister were living in San Francisco in the early 1950's. In spite of any hard times she found herself in, she always had a light within and knew how to create good cheer for those around her. I feel very lucky to have some of these ornatments still, I hang them with great fondness every christmas.
Cheers,
Molly

"Larry's Dream" Recreated by Mot

Earlier this year I created this lino block print titled Larry’s Dream (see this blogs archives for June 5 for details).

I just received a very stunning and very pleasing gift—a wooden sculpture interpretation of Larry’s Dream from an artist friend who goes by the name of Mot.

Mot is a Marin based painter, muralist, designer, cartoonist and toy-maker.

Originally from southern California he began studying art at the age of six attending drawing classes at the Los Angeles County Museum. He’s designed posters for the Animal Liberation Orchestra, The Fairfax Festival, Music on the Bay and Wavy Gravy’s Summer of Love Revival.  

Mot has painted a number of murals in southern California and his work is beginning to appear on walls throughout Marin County.

And it’s a bobble head to boot!

Much thanks to Mot.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Molly's turn - Diamond Mind completed

Just a quick update to the September 12th post.  Here is the completed picture on how I feel about the diamond minds.  I am pleased with how the diamond turned out, it was hard to create something that was not too cartooney!

Dava Sheridan and Dave Sheridan

This month at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center I’m exhibiting photography by Dava Sheridan.



Dava Sheridan and her current exhibit Paris Reflections

I’ve known Dava for a few years now (she organized a great art show for us at the Center for our Summer of Love Festival featuring the work of Stanley Mouse, Mot, Gilbert Sheridan, Sam Andrew, her own work and that of her late husband Dave Sheridan). 

Artwork in the background by Dave Sheridan, Mot, Dava and Mouse

However, even though I’ve only got to know Dava in recent years, we have an association that goes back to the 1970’s by way of Dave Sheridan.

Back in my cartooning days I worked for a while in the art department of Rip Off Press in San Francisco. Dave Sheridan would come in about once a week and work on the Freak Brothers.

Dave was a hyper-talented cartoonist who aside from lending a hand on the Freak Bros. was responsible for underground titles such as Mother’s Oats Comix, Meef, Tales from the Leather Nun and he contributed to Slow Death, Hydrogen Bomb Funnies, Skull Comix and many other titles.




Dave Sheridan from Skull Comix #1

 

I recall that Sheridan drove in to Rip Off about once a week from someplace in Marin County called Fairfax. At the time I couldn’t place it and couldn’t fathom why he would bother to live so far away (During the days of underground comics San Francisco seemed the center of the universe—why would a cartoonist live elsewhere ?)



Sheridan from Mother's Oats #1



Despite my acquaintanceship with Dave I don’t recall ever meeting Dava back then.  

Now—a few decades down the line-- Fairfax is my home town and I ‘m exhibiting Dava.

 -Larry

Dava photo courtesy Michel Kotski

One More for the Vipper

In the comment section of our last blog Alexander D. Mitchell writes regarding Vip: “One of his other shticks was Volkswagens—he did at least two collections of VW cartoons that were sold/distributed by VW dealers, including the “Jokeswagen Book”.

When I put together last week’s Vip birthday tribute I scanned the Volkswagen cartoon below—and then for some reason decided not to post it.  I’m not sure why I left it out at the last minute but Mr. Mitchell’s comments have inspired me to reinstate it.

This is from a collection of Volkswagen cartoons titled Think Small (1967)

Larry’s Cartoon Vault: Virgil 'Vip' Partch

Earlier this week was the birthday of the great cartoonist Virgil Franklin Partch otherwise known as Vip.

Hanging Way Over (1955)

Virgil Partch was born October 17, 1916 in Saint Paul Island Alaska.

He began working professionally as an animator for Disney Studios in the late 1930’s.

Indications are that he was a casualty of the fallout from the Disney strike that created such a schism at Disney Studios in the early ‘40’s.

 Afterwards, Virgil started freelancing as 'Vip' to the major magazines of the time—primarily Collier’s Weekly and True.

While it wasn’t unusual for comic strip cartoonists of the day to acquire a considerable amount of notoriety usually associated to their easily identifiable strip characters (Charles Schulz and Peanuts or Al Capp ‘s Lil’ Abner ) freelance magazine cartoonists remained virtually unknown. People have always clipped cartoons from magazines and placed them on the office bulletin board or the kitchen refrigerator without concerning themselves with the creators identity.

Vip was one of the very few exceptions. 

With his first cartoons appearing in Collier’s he became a national celebrity. In 1944 Time magazine described his work as “ferocious slapstick”. He appeared on TV with Groucho Marx and made appearances on The Steve Allen Show and Art’s House  Party .

 Here’s a sampling from the Cartoon Vault of some of Vip’s early cartoon collections:




It's Hot in Here (1944)

 

Here We Go Again (1951)



Bottle Fatigue (1950)



Featuring drinking; Always a favorite Vip topic.

And multiple printings of Man and Beast  (1953)

My first encounter with Vip occurred as a kid when I stumbled upon the paperback copy of  Crazy Cartoons at my Aunt’s house.



Crazy Cartoons (1959)



I flipped for Vip (Ultimately my aunt had to give me the book ).

It’s hard to explain the effect those cartoons had on me at the time.

Vip had a rare quality I had not seen as a kid in the homogenized daily comic strips and other comic art of the time.

Here’s a sketch Vip did for me in 1978:

Many may remember Vip for his syndicated work on the panel Big George.

It was never his best work. His zaniness seemed confined by the standard wholesome ‘family humor’ format.

 Vip lived the last years of his life  in Laguna Beach and hung out (often partying at the Ivy House) with a group of fellow cartoonists including his life long friend Dick Shaw, the Interlandi Brothers, John Dempsey, Dick Oldden and many others.

(1961)

(1959)



Vip and his wife died in an auto accident on August 10, 1984.

One of the great ones.



Happy Birthday Virginia Irvin RIP

Mom would have been 94 years today

born:10-9-1917

died:3-24-2009

This morning I logged onto my computer to find an email from a woman named Eliza Perkins who had interviewed my mother around 2002 when she would have been 84. Eliza created theatre with elders and produced a play "Walk of Life" which my mother participated in. Eliza found the interview and sent it to me but had no idea that today was Mom's birthday!!  I think Mom or the universe was reaching out some how!

-Molly

Larry and Sam go to the Alternative Press Expo

Sam and I attended the Alternative Press Expo (aka Ape) last weekend.



My son Sam

Ape is a gathering of independent, Do-It-Yourself, artist entrepreneurs and publishers  with an emphasis on alternative comics, small press, book making, printmaking and even letterpress.

It’s energizing (and occasionally overwhelming) to see so much creativity in one place. Some highpoints included (in no particular order) the work of Tom Neely, Kate Beaton, Joey Sayers, Adrian Tomine, Jennifer Tong, Eric Drooker, Louie del Carmen, Octavio Rodriguez, Matt Bors, C.S.Pego, Rick Geary and Mike Dubisch.

Here’s a quick visual tour:



Josh Ellingson

One of Ellingson's prints was "exhibited" on the International Space Station

which makes him one of a very rare class of extraterrestrial artists.

Jen Tong card



I purchased this knockout silkscreen print by Tong





Remarkable Beardsleyesque artwork by C.S.Pego



More work by Pego

 C.S.Pego is from Mexico City. I picked up a copy of her Madame Mactans.
She also premiered her new book, Exila, at Ape.

Below are a couple of images from the mucho talented Tom Neely's Doppelganger.



Papercutter #16 features brillant storytelling by Joey Allison Sayers



Sam and I checked in on some of the panel talks.

Business cards from some of the artists

Hours and hours of visual stimulation gets wearing.



Too much Ape



Above artwork copyright by respective artists