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| Visit my portfolio for illustration, painting & comics |
 | One of the last articles I wrote for the Valencia County News Bulletin on the budding video game art major at the University of New Mexico's Valencia Campus. Written in September Re-published at multiple newspapers and by the University. |
 | Studio Credits |
A review published over the summer at Sequential Tart.
( Daaamn, this is one fine anime. Watching it will leave you breathless, crying, screaming, slowly sipping scenes of diabolical seduction like a heady wine laced with absinthe. )
( Good stories carry a heavy responsibility for the writer. Good stories are not true; good stories make the truth, by giving others a voice and listening ear to tell them the things they know but cannot express or have not realized yet they know are true. )
 | A small selection of pen and inks are currently on display between the reference desk and nonfiction stacks, including "Choices" (left). All images are for sale at very reasonable rates, since there is no gallery markup or commission involved. E-mail: shirl [dot] sazynski [at] gmail [dot] com for details. |
 | Photo from the News-Bulletin, taken by me. A front-page arts feature on leather apparel artist and South American textile importer Sally Moon: Belen Artist's Work fits her like a second skin Bells clink gently as you enter. You duck instinctively coming through the adobe entrance of Wild Moon Boutique, adjust to the filtered sunlight drifting in from the deep window facing the Old Town courtyard. Wool carpets muffle your steps. Dark, ponderous old rafters support the flat roof... |
 | Front-page feature on School of Dreams Academy. Photo from the News-Bulletin, taken by me. Locating the School of Dreams Academy office during a New Mexico rain shower is a bit surreal. The cool rain patters steadily on both umbrella and pavement, distracting you from visual cues. Navigate past college students, doggedly walking through shallow puddles, protectively clutching newly purchased books and scowling at the unwelcome surprise of rain... |
Front page article on local stay-at-home mothers support group. They're not traditional, and their reasons for this choice were quite surprising to a reporter raised in the Bible belt-- where this is common for altogether different reasons! An adorable photo of a toddler with a pink sippy cup went into the print edition!
It's time to hunt for shoes again. Eyes dart around the room, scanning beneath tables, netting and playground equipment. No, the floor is clear. A brief check of the shoe cubby and a quick survey of other children's feet produces a sigh.
Rene Soiles of Los Chavez, mother of four, is used to this. She climbs up into the network of blue and yellow playland tubes to retrieve her 3 year-old son's cast-off sneakers. Below, a small and diverse knot of women discuss the advantages of buying diapers in bulk at Sam's Club versus the usual smaller packs at supermarkets, which leads into stray comments on potty training and a burst of chuckles.
"I told him, you like toilets-- just sit on it!" one of the mothers says....
 | Los Lunas First Community Expo (Fair). Photo from the News-Bulletin, by me. Also got some fab photos of the Lady of Belen Fiesta Parade and Car Show... which are on the front page of the print edition. Lorenzo the Llama doesn't want a mug shot taken, and Shelby the Sheep is decidedly camera shy, but you'd never know it from the way they eat grain out of your hand. Across the dirt path is a petite Shetland pony and a mustang whinnying goodbye as the white horse gently trots around the fair grounds with a little girl in a pink sun dress on its back. |
Also did a business piece on a local jewelry-maker/gift shop that in the print edition only.
Secondly, I talk about 7000bc, my involvement with them and making comics. We reference this issue of String. Patti Martinson is an excellent reviewer and I really can't say enough good things about 7000BC! Please check out the other interviews with fellow members!
Lastly, we wrap up the Tolkien debate in parts III and IV.
Full-cover frontispiece for Mistral. Follow the link for a larger image.
 | In which I skewer Tolkien's post-colonial British attitudes towards (and lack of significant positive inclusion of) non-whites in Lord of the Rings and several Tarts join the Fray on what Tolkien did right-- his stance on environmentalism, his combating of classism, his anti-Totalitarian themes. Mariah Huehner ably takes the lead in expounding on Tolkien's merits and modern relevance. It's illuminating, respectful-- and best of all, perspectives on J.R.R. were altered on both sides. http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.ph http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.ph |
2. I am committing comic book blasphemy-- and it's profoundly liberating. Not everything they teach you in school is useful. The standard American page size, for one, routinely drawn on ruled 14x17 bristol board. Having to draw art double-sized makes perfect sense if you have a man's larger hands and lack the dexterity of a brain surgeon. You need the room to correct your mistakes, and it will look better shrunk. It is not, however, a requirement for a woman who has the dexterity of a brain surgeon*. Colleen Doran was right: shave off half your time at the drawing table by doing 1.5x or actual size, not double.
*Seriously, I had the highest score in three counties on a high school fine motor skills test. It shows in my brushwork, too.
2.5. So, shove half the academic "rules" you get in school. Another bogus rule: modern adult western figures (male especially) are not, in fact 7.5 heads high. Unless you happen to be 5"7', like me, and happen to look like a piece of ancient Greek statuary because you come from the northern European ethnic groups they used as models.What, you thought they sculpted upper-class women and any ranking guys but athletes and artists' lovers naked?) Hogarth was dead on about this. Go out and measure yourself-- and go measure a man about 6' or taller you know. Head-to-body ratio varies quite a bit, and most people do not, in fact, look like freaks when you change the ratio according to their actual bodies, keeping hands and feet and such in their real proportion. It's normal. NORMAL!
Also, her rich boy comes to town on an unneeded rescue... and joins her happy hetero harem. Haven't seen the male harem to female leader since Artemisia.
Clearly, this is the writer and artist's comedic fantasy of the ideal girlfriend with lots of straw chauvenists to be chopped down. Some of whom have to re-negotiate and meet Margot on equal male terms, established to up-and-coming leader.
I may tackle it for Tales from the Comics Crypt-- I have some ambivalent feelings about the constant and obvious male gaze, but it also violates the mold of "bad girl" pulp I've run across in that Margot is a nice person who cares about impoverished old ladies and handicapped beggars and doesn't get punished for totally bypassing social expectations. She prevails. Thus why it's transgressive. Plus the art is remarkably good watercolor realist. Sadly, I have to vote on liking this better than Arlene's Heart-- which is supposed to be feminist.
Margot in Badtown doesn't leave me feeling hopeless-- as Margot is never a victim, and not only quite ably keeps herself from getting that way, she becomes a totally empowered person defying male authority!
 | "Freedom Through Gesture Drawing" Thurs., 7/2, 1-2-- Juan Tabo Library, ABQ Past workshops: 3/28-- Cherry Hills Library 6/3-- Cherry Hills Library Movement, rhythm, expressive line and evocative detail. No erasing! |
Also raided the rather excellent comics collection at JTL for some P. Craig Russell books, A Judy Chicago biography and a tiny Trina Robbins paperback.
I've been plugged on Sequential Tart in a review by Patti Martinson for String #14.
 | Publisher: NBM |
 | Series review in the June 22nd Sequential Tart. She's the nun with the guns... now continued as a webcomic drawn by Judith Hunt and written by Chuck Dixon's son, Ben. For the record, Chuck Dixon has done alright by way of feminism in his recent series El Cazador-- about a tough female pirate captain. |
 | My short parody comic appears in 7000BC Comics' String #14 along with the first color story in .pdf! |
 | Original article appeared in the May 18th issue of Sequential Tart. Title: Four Shoujo Stories Publisher: Viz Translator: Matt Thorn Page Count: 262 pages Price: $16.95 US ISBN: 1569310556 If you can find this book, I highly recommend it! |
I know I'm not alone, and my companions can't all be guys.
I'm just not a "fluffy, pink" kinda girl. I don't read romance novels (frankly I'm more interested in my husband). I'm long past high school (two degrees past) — and facing a wall of solid dayglo pink on the manga rack has the same effect on me as garlic on vampires. Or sharing yaoi with straight guys.
It wasn't always this way. I used to be a shojo fiend.
 | Go here for my total trouncing of Yun Kouga's Gestalt. That's a GUY on the cover. I kid you not. Yes, the boobs are real. The real offense is that's one -happy- slave to a priest. And that's just the start. |
 | On June 6th, I taught a hands-on comics workshop with Peter Ziomek & Jeff Benham of 7000BC Comics at the University of New Mexico. This one was a collaborative effort and focused more on visual effect, sequence and thumbnailing than the more formal scripting workshops I usually teach, and we'll be doing an expanded workshop at the Harwood Arts Center two Saturday afternoons in July. The turnout this year was mostly teenage girlsinto manga and Vertigo books-- which cheered me. We also had a Pokemon boy who made a comic about Kirby. He was absolutely adorable. |
 | About 30 very enthusiastic students showed up again, with the age groups skewed toward both extremes-- elementary school kids and the elderly. We did a little better getting everyone to avoid erasing and nervous, repetitive lines this time. The kids were a blast. |
 | Review on Sequential Tart Credits Grade: 4 (out of 10) |
( By episode two, that’s all thrown out the window. )
| |
An in-depth look at out-of-print Japanese women's media with Japanese characters being very Japanese. | ...Add whopping got-with-the-times bonus points for inclusiveness by making your tough adventurer female, black, Islamic and most likely North African. Make nothing about shot choice or dialogue different by her gender — and don’t pull any punches. Moonlight Mile promises job and gender equality with screentime for female characters in key roles.... By episode two, that’s all thrown out the window. |
The library is in a spectacular high desert setting on a hill with a red mesa a few hundred feet back and has a very involved adult programs coordinator and awesome open spaces.
If you were there, thanks! Hope to see you again.
I look forward to coming back for an art workshop this summer.
If you were there, thanks very much for coming!
A small but enthusiastic turnout with some Love and Rockets fans in attendance. Since the crowd was well-informed adults, seriously interested in pitching scripts, this turned more into an informal Q&A than the outlined lecture.
 | Publisher Credits Grade: 6 out of 10 |
 | Publisher Credits Grade: 4 out of 10 |
 | Publisher Credits Grade: 8 out of 10 |
Delightfully rare things happen in this little noir book. Old women narrators are rare — in American comics. Old women as key characters — not just the hero's granny or doting aunt — are even rarer. Spunky old ladies with a fascinating career in secret service, no hint of grandmotherly natures, retired to the wilds of New Mexico and still lookin' sharp? Never seen one. Until now.
( A female secret agent who doesn't use sex on the job? Add her to the pop culture endangered species character list. )
 | On Sequential Tart 4/20/09 Main body written and contributions edited by me with an excellent American comics write-up by Tart Editor Rebecca Buchanan. |
 | My two-page, silent adaptation of Oscar Wilde's classic fairy tale of love, desire and loss appears in this month's issue of String from 7000bc Comics. |
 | What could a 16 year-old, out-of-print politically unpopular anime possibly have to do with the political and economic mess we're in today? Besides the fact that it's set in the Middle East, and human nature doesn't change much? My first "Tales from the Anime Crypt" column, in which worthy, forgotten media gets a new shelflife. The art below and in the linked article is by Sachiko Kamimura, character designer for the series produced by Haruki Kadokawa. |
Honorable mention for Horror, “The King of Hell’s Daughter”, poem, Jabborwocky III. I am included in a list with promising authors such as Sonya Taaffe in the header quote. Click the illustration for a link to a larger version.
( A cheerier love poem a little more indicative of my usual writing, from Jabborwocky Volume II )
 | Thanks to everyone who attended the drawing workshop this morning for an amazing turnout. In future, I'll divide this into two skill-level sessions: basic/intermediate and intermediate/advanced. I saw some wonderful progress from first to last drawings. Out of 40 people who signed up, roughly 30 attended and 10 signed up for the mailing list. I will keep you posted as new dates are scheduled with library branche |
Amaryllis DeJesus, Graffitti Mentorship Program volunteer, "writing"
at one of the Santa Fe College campus' donated free walls.
( More fabulous art from Santa Fe teens and their mentors )
( Read full article )
from Mas! New Mexico
I interviewed Godfrey Reggio in his Santa Fe studio late in February, anticipating a film lecture at the Santa Fe Arts Institute on March 6th. A much-expanded version of this article, detailing Reggio's radical humanist philosophy and life is forthcoming.
( Read full article, see more photos )Sophocles’ Antigone
Adapted and directed by Peter Shea Kierst
Charles Fisher as Creon listens to Barbara Geary as Teresias—Alan Mitchell
Salsa Dancing: in Albuquerque, the Fire Still Burns
“1…2…3…Hold four.”
John Henry, a lean, agile man sporting as much ink on his arms as a tear sheet, cranes his head, surveying the dance floor.
He crosses the room and smoothly adjusts one student’s stance, withdraws and nods to his class of twenty-three students to continue.
“Good… five… six…. Now ca-siii-no…”
Sequential Tart Review
From Titan Books, 2009. Cover art by Steve Kyte.
It’s the most hilariously wrong title ever, and, no, it doesn’t exist. Schoolgirl Milky Crisis is not an anime you will ever find—it’s every anime. Every one you’ve seen, every one of them you’ve loved or shoved, rolled into one grand fictitious production. Please, pay attention to the chap behind the curtain— British author Jonathan Clements, industry veteran, journalist, translator, critic, magazine editor and Asian studies scholar. He’s about to reveal the magic behind Oz. And deliver a goldmine of straight-from-the-trenches unglamorized industry knowledge you will never find in any “how to” book pimped to eager hopefuls. He won’t tell you “how to” do anything. Mainly because he makes enough money doing it.
( Could reading about anime be half as fun as watching it? In a juicy tell-all, you bet! )
For another article dealing with artists and disabilities, please see my "Peoplings" feature on a comic about autism.
( Read the interview! )
This was my first commissioned article for Animerica, for a special "Shoujo" issue alongside work by Shaenon Garrity and Erica Friedman
Though found in a variety of genres, bishonen ("beautiful boy") characters abound within romance comics. Ethereal and romantic, they appeal to a largely female audience, so it's no surprise that they appear frequently in shojo manga, dating games and anime like Mars, Angelique and Utena.
Bishonen form a sort of best-of-both-worlds scenario; defined by the male gender, yet possessing ideal traits of both sexes— an almost feminine delicacy and refinement often mixed with a typically masculine dynamism and quiet strength, and an overall subtlety of character.
After four seasons on Cartoon Network, you know the drill: deal with the sulking Sesshoumaru and send Kikyo back to pushing up daisies, gather the scattered shikon jewel shards, kill Naraku, and all is well again within the world of Inu-Yasha... right?
Wrong.
( Rumiko Takahashi takes a delightful romp through Japanese culture, putting her own spin on legend. A few points )
[Japanese copyright] ©2002 Hiroyuki Asada/Shueisha - Aniplex
Animeworks. • 60 mins. • US$19.99 • Rated: 13+ • For equal opportunity fan service
Pass the wienersnitzel… and plenty of sausage, please.
VOLUME 1: GOD(?) SAVE OUR KING
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