Showing posts with label zines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zines. Show all posts

2.06.2013

Cristy C. Road and News From Nowhere

Yesterday I got the urge to just jump on a train and land somewhere that wasn't Manchester so I spent an afternoon wandering the streets of Liverpool.

After a few hours wandering I discovered News from Nowhere, a radical, workers co-operative bookshop at the top of Bold Street. They stocked books on a huge range of interesting and important topics from political to personal and back again. I really wish there was somewhere like this in Manchester!


I was super excited to see that they also stocked a large amount of zines on a wide variety of different topics. Most of exciting of all though, was the selection of awesome graphic novels that you probably wouldn't find in most other comic book shops. Amongst the graphic novels I found Spit and Passion by Cristy C. Road. I'd come across Road's work before but had never read any of her books.

Spit and Passion covers Road's early teen years growing up as a working class, Cuban, queer girl raised by her Catholic family in Florida in the early nineties. Her art isn't something I would usually be drawn to but after a few pages I was totally sucked in by it. It suited her story perfectly and I now absolutely love it. It also seemed like more of an illustrated memoir than a graphic novel  but it worked incredibly well. 


It was a really awesome read and made me feel both angry (in a good way!) and inspired. In short this book gave me all the feels.

I also bought Twigs and Apples #6 which I'm really looking forward to reading, it has such a gorgeous cover! I might do a post about some of my favourite zines soon, who knows.

Twigs and Apples 6

2.02.2013

Manchester Art Gallery Zine Fair

As part of their Thursday Lates season, the Manchester Art Gallery recently hosted a Zine Fair presenting work by a variety of different Manchester based artists and groups.



There was a good amount of people selling their art in a fairly diverse range of styles and it was great to see such a huge turnout. It's also exciting to see zines continue to rise in popularity and visibility and starting to become embraced by such prominent authorities as major galleries.

I ended up spending over my budget but I regret nothing! My favourite stalls were Project:BABE, John Allison, Joe List, Sugar Paper Zine, Young Explorer Zine amongst very many more. Here is a rubbish photo of some of the marvellous zines and comics and things that I bought.


11.22.2012

Dance Yrself Fitter Artwork

Here's the poster and flyer that I designed for mine and my boyfriend's clubnight at The Star and Garter in Manchester, featuring Siouxsie Sioux and Lizzy Mercier Descloux! I used the same cut n' paste trad fanzine style that I used on my Typical Girls posters because it's super fun and fairly quick to do and I really love the aesthetic that you get with it. The first night went really well and I've already started organising the next one!





5.20.2012

Vapid Kitten Extravaganza

While we were exploring the Zine Fair yesterday we also contributed to Vapid Kitten's wonderful 'Zine in a Day' project, which aimed to produce a fanzine in the time the Zine Fair was open for, this time with the theme of 'Collaboration'. They set themselves a pretty tight deadline, to get all submission ready by the end of the Fair at 5pm, but they totally pulled it off.

"Feminist duo Vapid Kitten invite visitors to contribute creatively to a special edition of the fanzine Vapid Kitten... [will be] aiming to include a big mishmash of experiences, words, drawings, collage and poems ...and would like to get as many people involved as possible."

And here's the finished zine!


Manchester Fanzine Convention 2012

Yesterday afternooon myself and the lovely Hebe went to check out Manchester Fanzine Convention, I'd been wanting to go for the last couple of years so I was super excited! It was at Victoria Baths near Rusholme, a beautiful old disused swimming pool.


As well as the stalls selling all kinds of artists' books, fanzines, screeprints, crafts, etc, there was also an exhibition called 'Shape & Situate: Posters of Inspirational European Women' which was incredible.

I also managed to catch a bit of Salford Zine Library's film 'Self Publishers of the World Take Over' (chapter called 'Freedom of Self Publishing' below!) while Hebe did a linocutting workshop.


Wonderful!

2.17.2012

So Yeah This is Awesome

One Year of Girls Get Busy Zine

1.23.2012

Girls Get Busy!

Forgot to blog this when it first came out but my Miranda July illustration made the cover of Girls Get Busy Zine #10! 


GGB is one of my favourite zines ever, they're super awesome. Support!

12.01.2011

Musical Mini-Zine

Latest mini-zine endeavour!
Currently working on one called Musical Instruments I Wish I Could Play, pretty self explanatory really.




3.28.2011

A-Z

I'm keepin' on keepin' on with my A-Z of animals project / zine / whatever. Here is J and K.


3.10.2011

Typical Girls Zine

I occasionally organise gigs and DJ under the name Typical Girls with the aim of supporting female musicians and bands. I was inspired by the most excellent and amazing Atta Girl in Birmingham, as well as growing up listening to lots of female musicians and discovering riot grrrl in my early teens.
Since I haven't put as many gigs on recently as I would have liked to, I've decided to start another illustration zine which will include portraits of some of the amazing, subversive women who've inspired me most over the years. Rad.


2.22.2011

Crayons and Envelop

This is also in the mini-zine I made yesterday, lovely.


Opened an Envelop shop today, this tote bag will be in it shortly, would it be really sad if I bought one for myself? Buying one anyway!

2.21.2011

Mini-Zine

Can't actually stop drawing lately, I think I may have a problem. Been mega busy today finishing things off / sorting out my portfolio for an interview at Kingston Uni on Thursday, but knocked up a mini-zine tonight just for chillz.


It's basically a list of my favourite things, so therefore naturally includes cats and records.


Rad.

Serious Iguana

2.15.2011

Zines!


These are the first two pages of a new illustration zine I've just started working on, basically an A-Z of slightly strange / obscure animals.
I'm on J at the minute so almost halfway finished!