Insomnia

This was created for 7Days, the Vermont alt-weekly newspaper. It was actually a bit of an epiphany for me. AND really fun to draw. Pen and ink. Watercolor. And digital. It was to be printed on newsprint, so I had no idea what do do about color. It turned out . . . fine.

Butterflies

This was inspired by my fear of public performance. I took piano lessons and we had to do a few recitals every a year. I hated it every time, but once it was just too much. I was begging not to have to go when a deer jumped in front of our car. We 100% hit that poor thing, but it hopped off into the trees. I desperately hope since we were going around 35mph that it was bruised but fine. I used it as a sign I shouldn’t go to the recital, but my mom was having none of it.

Afraid of the Dark

Don’t judge me for jumping into bed so the hands can’t grab me from underneath.

Kitchen Dangers

So you noticed these are pretty autobiographical? Yeah. If you see me clench my hand while walking down the street, 50% chance I am thinking about how I could accidentally cut off a finger while chopping veg for dinner.

Bathroom Shoes

I was a tech writer when I drew this. I worked in an office and had my very own cubicle, something I had wanted since I was a kid and someone gifted me How to Draw a Radish: And Other Fun Things to Do at Work . I did even do some of it at work!

Relaxation

It’s good to learn coping mechanisms for dealing with anxiety. Like tea and a book. Or making comics about your anxiety.

Calamari

In 8th grade, junior high for me, the only time I ever got/had to dissect a critter for class was a little pink/purple squid. I could have gotten a note to get out of it because my dad had died only a few years prior, but I was intrigued. My partner could not bring herself to touch it let alone cut it, so she was the note taker. I picked up the squidling and it started to move around and I tossed it against the wall. Instant reflex. I thought it was alive for a half second. Then I realized it was just sliding out of it’s mantle because squids are fancy sacs of goo.

Anyway, all that to say, the day of dissection I got to try calamari for the first time because a class mate (JP, I think?) brought in (cold) fried calamari his mom had made for the class. Not everyone tried it but I have loved fried calamari since. So thanks, JP’s mom.

Secrets

The best kind of secret.

Trial and Error

No, you’re afraid of babies! I babysat my cousins my first year in college. That’s my entire babysitting resume. And reading Babysitters Club (the original novels), but that doesn’t count. The only thing I remember is one of them wetting her sleeping bag at a sleepover because she had diabetes.

Krismas Blues

See in the middle there, ARB 10? That means I drew this in 2010. It is one of the first things I drew with this hilarious character. And yes, this is almost 100% true. I didn’t actually kick our tree over, but I wanted to. Living vicariously through my comic creations.

Original Sketch

The lovely Gertrude. A friend of mine made up alternative names for everyone we knew (it was not a lot of people) so we could talk about them behind their back in front of them. I could never remember who was who, but I was Gertrude.

I once made plans for a whole book’s worth of Gertrude but it petered out and never went anywhere. Oh well.