Boise!

This afternoon I'm heading to Boise, Idaho to present at a National Cancer Survivor's Day celebration this Saturday evening at the historic Egyptian Theatre. I will be sharing the story of my journey with cancer and how that led to the start of The Daily Zoo (which is still going strong - or at least still going! - with today being Day 2619 of Year Eight). The story remains the same, but the way in which I tell it is constantly evolving and I'm always tweaking the slideshow and commentary. New insight and reflection often presents itself as a result of my current adventures and experiences (such as diaper changing!)

That being said, if you're in the Boise area on Saturday and would like to hear my story, either for the first time or the fiftieth, please considering joining us!

My thanks to Merina Healing Arts for the invitation. The local chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is also a sponsor.

When: Saturday, June 1st, 2013 @ 6:00 PM
Where: The Egyptian Theater
             http://www.egyptiantheatre.net/

Free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required. More info can be found at:
http://www.merinahealingarts.org/eventstraininggrants.html https://www.facebook.com/merinahealingarts

The First Ever CTN Road Trip

Thanks to Tina Price and the hard workin' CTN crew for making the first annual CTN Road Trip event a great success! In case you weren't able to make it, here's a glimpse of the fun that was had.

Bologna Bound

In a few short hours I'll be on my way to Bologna, Italy, thanks to the kind folks at Fondazione ANT (ANT Foundation Italy), a non-profit organization working to raise cancer awareness, improve prevention, and help those already dealing with cancer. As part of ANT's yearlong celebration of its 35th year of doing good deeds, they are hosting an exhibition of Daily Zoo artwork. This is the same exhibition that was at Lucca Comics & Games last fall and includes both originals and prints.

If you just happen to be in Emilia-Romagna this weekend, feel free to join us Saturday, May 4th for a night of art, music, and fun. (And knowing those Italians, probably a pretty decent selection of things to eat and drink as well.)

For more information please see the flyer below or visit www.ant.it/.

To help promote the event, ANT asked if I had a drawing of...well, an ant. I had sketched a couple of them previously in the Daily Zoo, one of which I thought could work well. The only thing was that he had a pretty angry/pissed off expression on his face - probably NOT the best choice to promote a cancer fundraiser. (Though maybe it would have been the perfect choice: "Let's get rid of this cancer thing once and for all! GRRRRRRRR!")

My intention was to just draw a new, more inviting face and stick it on the existing body. Enter my "sometimes unfortunate perfectionistic tendencies." Of course my work is quite the opposite of perfect, but often it is difficult for me to leave a drawing alone when I have an inkling that maybe it could be better if I just did this... Sometimes "this" is tweaking the shape of an eye or adjusting a bit of shading, however in the case of the ant, I ended up completely redrawing him. I retained a lot from the original design but just streamlined some of the shapes. Oh, and gave him a smile.

Day 942 - Angry Ant

I'm still quite satisfied with the original angry version, but feel that the new version works better in the context of helping to promote the Bologna exhibition.

Day 2565 - Alessandro the Ant