Emje McCarty's Blog, page 11

daily doodle

daily doodles & an update on art for sale

i kinda like this one.
i did unframe several framed pieces & put them in my store as regular ink on water color paper.
i’m thinking of repurposing my frames to do an art show of my confusion perfume comics...(yes i am broke & cannot even afford second-hand frames)
i am also probably going to empty out my store at the end of the month & just put my inventory of art at the public market in viroqua as it is just sitting around my house getting dusty. so! if you do want to buy any of my art & you are not in the driftless, the time is now. prices are not firm. and i am always open to barter.

ps. i am proud to announce that i baked meringue in a wood burning stove with a moderate amount of success! (fancy urban homesteading) this cake totally reminded me of a cake from one of my favorite children’s books, monster mama.

copies! copies! copies!

so i made a comic on watercolor paper & glued it all together before thinking–i should make copies!
luckily, i had scanned in the pages before gluing them, so i had a thumb drive with images when i set out to find a kinkos…(just kidding…i do know–& mourn–that kinkos is no more as it was swallowed by fedex)
instead, i went to a print shop where they quoted me about $9 a copy…but seeing as i am hoping to sell them for like $5, i kept looking.
i stumbled across a ups store. the modern answer to copies i suppose. i wanted to just plug my thumb drive into the machine & do it myself, but that was not an option.
instead a manager took my thumb drive away to a back room while i waited by the copier.
this is going to sound crazy, but it was such a positive experience! she worked really hard to get the copies to come out perfectly. i was so happy & grateful.
if i had done it myself, i probably would have ended up having a meltdown.
but in the future, i am going to wait before i glue things together. if i had waited to glue, i could have just made copies at my library. (libraries rock!)

so long story later, i will have a comic on display at the art show, & i will have physical copies of my comic available at my table for the ridges and rivers book festival: confusion perfume…a world of books.

daily doodles

my tarot cards assure me i am on top of the world & ready to fly…but why do i feel so sad?
letting go of who i could never be….

seeking publication

(daily doodle)
so apparently in the here & now of publishing, posting something on your blog or instagram, etc. counts as publication. therefore, i will not be putting any pages of my new confusion perfume or any fiction i am working on here as i am seeking places to publish them in journals etc. where i can maybe make some money or at least find new readers (nothing against y’all i’m just terrible at networking.) i will let you know if i am going to be published somewhere.
speaking of, i am happy to report that some will be showing up over on razorcake zine. i’m not sure when, but i will totally keep you updated.
also!
i am still working on finding a publisher for what will be my first published novel (look how optimistic i am!) a better life through sock puppets.
i also have a short story “therapy rabbits” looking for a home.
meanwhile, i continue working on my next novel: apocalyptic mama: how to survive the end of the world
and a short story so far titled “the long ago far away”
AND a creative nonfiction piece “what’s love got to do with it.”
so!
if you or anyone you know is a publisher or you think you know a good fit for me…any help is appreciated.

ps. if you are looking for some amazing fiction, check out novels by the late midwestern author david rhodes. he is my newest favorite writer. i wish i had discovered him sooner so i could have met him…or at least lightly stalked him before his recent death.

doodles to calm my noodle

above is a doodle i did at my monthly coon creek conservation watershed committee meeting. oh by the way…if you are in the area may 4th, come on over to coon valley for the CONSERVATION DAY EVENT!!! (polka music! arts & crafts! information on how to save the world through agricultural practices! kid’s events! roasted pig & free food!)
it’s literally next door to my house. so there’s that as well

i’m starting to feel better. i am digging in the dirt & being active in my yard, so that helps. still a little sad…but since realizing that my “obsession” with my long lost fiance was more about my learning to accept that i capable of love than being about my accepting that i am lovable…my brain stopped gnashing as much. so…yay for that.
plus–daily doodles!

confusion perfume…gaslighting

teaser

i finished my comic & submitted it to the ridges and rivers book festival art show. i will also have my books with me to sell on the 27th. i have packed a bag & am just waiting….
i might make up some zines of the comic to have for sale. i am figuring that out still. i miss being able to just walk into a kinkos & mess around with copying machines. i have a bad record with print shops these days.

probably after the fest i will post some or all of the pages here….

comic in progress

i’m working on a comic using my confusion perfume 2024 character (is she the same person as my 1998 version? i am not sure…though both are versions of me)
the comic will be an art display for the ridges and rivers book festival on the last weekend in april.
i’m calling it “confusion perfume…a world of books.”
maybe i will print up some versions to sell at the fest?

after much deliberation…

between my suffocating bout of depression and a falling out with my publisher which resulted in the un-publishing of my novel…i wasn’t sure i would actually show up at my table for the ridges and rivers book festival.
however!
i decided to do it.
of course, i will have to raid my book supplies at the viroqua public market because i have no copies of the invisible exhibitionist or bunny vs. technology to sell & no money to buy copies from my estranged publisher to sell and i’m not even sure i can still get copies of bunny vs. technology due to said issues with my publisher…. sigh.
i can do it…i can do it…i can do it….
oh!
and for the art exhibit…i am creating a five page comic book: confusion perfume…a world of books. so stay tuned for updates about that. so far, it is what i’m most excited about.

if you are in the driftless on april 27th, swing by the ridges and rivers book fest!