FACE FORWARD TRUE BELIEVERS! YES, We face forward a new year full of delights and wonders, and it is we of the CLAW Artist Guild who face destiny with open ears, eyes and brains. NO, I’m not deleting that! Ha! Ho!

page 2, news

MEANWHILE, Spin-off activities: Freelance Fandango and Epic Sketch Time are resuming activities to normal schedule of 11am at Red Elm and 4:30 pm online.

NEW MEMBER JAMES STOWE IS BACK! He’s back on the streets, he’s back on the airwaves, baby, he’s back in CLAW action! After completing a 1-2 year hiatus mission off the grid in the monastery, founding member James Stowe is back in the fold of CLAW and yet wiser

ANOTHER DESTINY CITY COMICS ZINE SYMPOSIUM ART FESTIVAL — scheduled
https://www.facebook.com/events/380993912709619/ February 16, 2019 at 2 PM – 7 PM at Destiny City Comics inside Kings Books! All your favorite local cartoonists will be there, even PETER BAGGE

MEMBER STAN BROWN: Continuing to do monthly “Dungeons & Doodles” shows on Wizards of the Coast’s Twitch channel (past episodes are view-able in the archives).

MEMBER JENNEVIEVE SCHLEMMER: My goal for 2019 is to paint a painting everyday while getting a media and publishing co off the ground

MEMBER ANIQUE ZIMMER AND COLIN ANDERSEN: have invested in a vintage RISO printer, follow their progress here at Tacoma RISO https://www.instagram.com/tacomariso/

MEMBER RR ANDERSON on behalf of TINKERTOPIA in Tacoma Washington, Tacoma’s funnest alt. art supply store is seeking any of these materials you’d like to donate for art.

ONLY AT TINKERTOPIA: NEW SIGNATURE EDITION TACOMA SKETCHBOOKS on sale now! COVER–salvaged 1990’s economic development brochure cover pages (sexy metallic copper, union station Chihuly print); PAPER GUTS–soft butter cream hot press Bristol; BACK COVER–thick law library canvas book board; BINDING–two wire ACME staples (organic nickel iron) #tinkerbuilt only at #tinkertopia

Welcome ghosts and ghouls, to the October CLAW artist guild news update! OOOOH! 

NEW BUSINESS:
CLAW 2018 ILLUSTRATOR OF THE FUTURE SCHOLARSHIP WINNER – congrats, Rachael Kowalski!  See some of her winning art over at the SCHOLARSHIP page!

24 HR Comic Day at Destiny City Comics Highlights: Thank you Destiny City Comics for hosting the 2018 CLAW artist guild for 24 Hour Comics drawing day, it was a blast!

GEEK GIRL COMIC CON: October 27th – 28th, come visit your favorite CLAW artists at this event! Check link for details..

October open swim: FREE CLAW pumpkin carving festival at Tinkertopia

CLAW’s 50th annual People’s Community Pumpkin Carving Festival is coming again to Tinkertopia on the 4th Wednesday of October starting at 7:30 pm. To participate you MUST bring your own pumpkin, gutted and cleaned of guts, yes a hollow pumpkin ready to be carved. Hope to see you there! [link to fb event page tba]

SPECIAL BONUS ROUND! CLAWLLOWEEN DRAWING PROMPTS!

You see the #inktober and #drawlloween drawing prompts, but have you seen the #CLAWLLOWEEN drawing prompts?  Special thanks to CLAW member Anique Zimmer  for  making this happen!

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be sure to post your photos with the #clawlloween hashtag on Instagram or the social media platform of your choice!

that’s it for now, back to the grave digging for me! (ha ha ha!)

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about personal projects. A personal project defined as a creative project you have started on your own. Not a project for a client or a gift for a friend. Some projects you make for yourself and even if you eventually give it away or show it to the public—it is these projects that give us identity as artists. Personal work is where we develop as individuals. Mostly, I’ve been thinking about the personal projects we aren’t even close to completing. We all have them: the kiln in the corner of the basement, sketchbooks full of artistic plans and goals, barely started novels, abandoned paintings or comics, container full of beads or soldering supplies untouched for years, the half-knitted sweater in the basket by the sofa. You’ve probably heard of the Art of Tidying Up movement, where you go through the items in your house, hold them in your hand, decide if they give you joy and then let them go. While that is more of a minimalist movement, I believe it is time for a decluttering movement for artists. I don’t mean to just pick up old, unfinished projects or half used tubes of paint and throw them out (although that can always be useful too). What I mean: What are the personal projects we are clinging to? What are the projects that we think are the core of our artistic identity but instead are weighing us down in the clutter of self-doubt because we are afraid to let go? Projects we think we should be doing to show how great we are versus projects we actually want to do. I see many artists, including myself, clinging to old projects or stereotypes, formed in childhood or college or early in one’s career, that are holding us back from new work and new choices. It’s time to no longer be typecast as a stunted version of the artist you want to be. Every year I look forward to the fall as a time to get back in the studio and start new, big projects. I am going to use this time to go through the clutter of my old assumptions and throw out that which no longer gives me joy. I recommend you do the same.