Welcome to the semi annual posting of the Dancing Moose Journal.
I've been absent here, taking a seven-month break from posting - as well as from most social media. So, Happy Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Holidays and New Year - and likely, happy birthday.
This unplanned hiatus started with being too busy with clients, family, etc., and then extended itself...with me wanting to spend more time with family, friends and some personal projects. And suffice it to say, I just wanted to get a break from my iPhone. As a NYT article stated this week,
Steve Jobs Never Wanted Us to Use Our iPhones Like This
I quit Facebook three years ago because it took too much time, and that feeling spread to other platforms. (And to be honest, posting on social media has always seemed to feel so self involved.)
Last year I overheard my daughter talking with two neighbor friends about social media. One girl announced that she had nearly a thousand friends on Instagram and that by comparison, the other two girls were not nearly as popular. The second neighbor wondered how many of this girl's followers were
real friends, and suggested that they could feed her graduation party attendees with a couple of sub sandwiches. Ouch.
I realized that described my feelings. No offense to social media fans, but I question spending many hours per week with social media "friends", many of whom I will never even talk with over the phone. Why not focus more on people closer to the heart...you know, folks who might actually show up for my funeral.
During this "social media vacation", I was contacted by some out-of-state clients and Twitter friends whom I had not talked with recently, to see if I was okay. So, in a clumsy way, even that worked out - I got to talk with them and catch up, instead of simply seeing a "like" on a photo or post.
The social media blackout continues, but I'm temporarily breaking the streak here just in case anyone else is wondering where I went.
I thought I'd also quickly rummage through the recent art bin to share a small sampling of enjoyable client projects that have graced my drawing board:
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First, a poster created for the latest theatrical production of
Hexagon, "Washington DC's only original political, satirical, musical, comedy revue."
From their website:
Since 1955, Hexagon has produced an annual show that parodies local, national and international political issues.
The new production is set in the future and is titled "
Romp in the Swamp"...
(click to enlarge)
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Below is an editorial illustration created for the
White Marlin Open, the world's largest ocean game fish tournament, located every year in Ocean City, Maryland.
It was filled with
controversy in its 45th year, for the use of polygraph tests for fishermen. This year the winner took home a prize of $2.5 million...but had t undergo a polygraph test to ensure he did not cheat.
Also included is a small drawing of Ernest Hemingway, one of the best-known bill fisherman.
(Click to enlarge)
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Over the past several months I have written and drawn several pieces for Maryland wealth management firm,
WMS Partners. The financial themed cartoons are being featured in their news publication, blog and their advertising.
I have been working with their new publication editor Malcolm Fitch, the former Editor-in-chief of "Standard And Poor".
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I was recently commissioned by an AP History society to create political cartoons to accompany articles for high school AP History students. This involved concept writing and art, and the first cartoon accompanied an
article on the Truman Doctrine . Others covered The Dawes Severalty Act, (affecting native Americans), Roosevelt's Square Deal, and the 1930's migration from the South.
In October I was commissioned to write and draw a series of humorous promotional postcards and posters over the next nine months for WESTAF. They are the
Western States Arts Federation, a nonprofit
arts organization dedicated to strengthening the infrastructure of the arts in the West.
WESTAF
is located in Denver and governed by a 22-member board of trustees
comprised of arts leaders in the West. They serve the largest
constituent territory of the U.S. regional arts organizations and
includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana,
Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Here are the first several postcards...The concepts I wrote are intended to point out the benefits of working with WESTAF vs other grants organizations.
Reverse side:
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