"Ursa X" A Decade of Drinking & Doodles (2016 - 2025)

Join us this first Friday (January 3rd, 3-9pm) down at the distillery for the first - and last - show of the new year, as in 2024 I did a record-breaking run on a total of seven different gigs (these six + Pakalolo), and all that time + energy is now gonna get funneled into some fun and challenging new directions. 

There’ll be a few more irons in the proverbial fire, so probably no net loss on overall stress esp. what with the full-time teaching load. But there's long been a big backlog with more than a few back-burner projects I’ve been ignoring for years now, mainly books (graphic novels, collections, children’s books), and it’s long past time to start getting it together - in more ways than one - and putting stuff out again.

Not just the last show of the new year but also a great spot to totally tie it off at ten years. In retrospect, a decade (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024) of retrospectives covers a lot of ground, with some notable changes (ratio flip between color panels versus grayscale, color theory), and some notable works (The Lodge, the BLM artist-in-residency at Eagle, Road Safety Nuggets, 24 Hour Comics, the Baked Alaska feature, literacy fundraisers and so many freelance gigs). By New Year’s, after a couple b-days + xmas, I’m pretty burnt out but working the hardest of the year over “break” to get ahead before classes start in a couple weeks. So I never pay much attention to the holiday, or put much stock rituals like making resolutions – basically too busy, and for creative people there’s no such thing as a vacation, days off, or retirement. So these shows have always been a chance to pause recap in person what went on during the previous approximately 365 days of art-WORK. 

Even after all this time of going with instinct when installing on-site, I still maintain the illusion of control

In some of the pieces on display I reference Rapunzel, the river Styx, the titan Prometheus, the All-Father Odin, Cinderella, and the semi-annual Yiddish pun for good measure. There’s a few holiday panels, plus Qi, queers, a couple marriage jokes, and even an AI addition to the mix of hyper-regional humor. So just enough of a veneer of breadth and depth to sell the story that I'm smart, as opposed to the reality of being clever, like a rven rearranging bright, shiny stuff found at the dumpster site of human culture. There’s a couple so-bad-they’re-good gags, and even one that’s not particularly funny, just simply adorable & personally wonderful to me personally. Speaking of, I seem to make more than the normal guest appearances (seven in fact, as opposed to the usual one or two instances I need a really funny-looking face for comedic effect), along with the usual menagerie of marine mammals, moose, mosquitoes, bears - all three species - porcupines, ravens, salmon, random rodents, the requisite Castor Canadensis, and some sled dogs too.

There’s a whole missing section in the show that another 9-12 panels would normally appear, but it was bumped on account of two major tentpole pieces: Rush Hour + Spruce Moose (Spruce Moose will be making a debut with some free copies of the comics on hand for early birds). So it’s a lot stronger of a show after all the pruning, as I’m always telling students to edit, edit, edit. Similarly only one editorial, and not really any “edits” per say – just a coupla borderline tasteless ones. A whole new area will be dedicated to a half-dozen of the "Nuggets Sketchbook" series.

Thanks one more time to the fine folks down at Dateline Digital Printing, Sticky Brand and Great Alaska Shirt Company for doing their usual great jobs with the merch + gig. Went all out on some special limited edition tshirts, sporting a tag logo that’s a throwback to the very first Ursa Major showcard/poster design, and also adorns complimentary stickers commemorating the gig free for the fist few hundred folks. 

"What's in the box?" An entire show's worth of drymounted panels

There’ll be extended opening hours from 3pm – 9pm, lots of original art on sale, some books, and of course the traditional Ester Caucasian will be on tap as the special. So stop on by – it’ll be good to see you, and share a laugh & a libation. CHEERS!