Kerri Durkee of Atkinson is taking her upcycled furniture business to the next level with a new storefront, opening Saturday, March 6, in the Plaistow Commons strip mall. Better Than Before Home Furnishings & Design will feature used furnishings and home decor, restored and repainted by Durkee.
“It’s just amazing what a coat of paint will do for an ugly or scratched up or water-stained piece of furniture,” Durkee said. “It just brings it right up to date.”
It all started at a yard sale, she said, where she fell in love with a bench that was “old and dirty and kind of a mess,” but too unique to pass up. She took it home and cleaned it up, repainted it and replaced the fabric on the seat cushion.
“I posted a picture of it on social media, and somebody said they wanted to buy it,” she said. “I think that’s when I caught the bug.”
She started picking up more pieces at yard sales, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, estate sales and from anyone she knew who was looking to get rid of a piece of furniture.
“I ended up filling my whole garage with them,” she said “I haven’t been able to get my car in my garage for years now.”
Now a certified decorator and home stager, Durkee did home design and furniture painting as a side gig for 10 years before quitting her job in marketing four years ago to pursue it full time.
“A switch went off in my head, and I was like, ‘What am I waiting for, to do something that I love? Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed,’” she said.
Durkee ran her business online but kept an eye open for a retail space where she could showcase her furniture to customers in person. When she came across the space in the Plaistow Commons strip mall, she had some concerns about opening a store during the pandemic but was reassured by the success her business had seen over the last year.
“With people being at home more, a lot of them are adding new home offices and workspaces or are just generally sick of their furnishings and want to make some changes,” she said.
Customers will find a mix of traditional, coastal, farmhouse, floral and shabby chic styles as well as unpainted furniture for which they can choose a color and style. The storefront will also serve as a hub for Durkee’s home design consultation and custom furniture restoration and painting services as well as furniture painting workshops for people who want to learn the craft themselves.
“I think a lot of people have pieces at home that they want to use that need a little update, and they’d like to be able to do it themselves but don’t necessarily know the process,” Durkee said.
Durkee said she hopes Better than Before and the furniture painting workshops will raise awareness about the benefits of upcycling and encourage more people to think twice before tossing their old furniture or home decor.
“If something is still functional, I think it’s great to be green and give it a new coat of paint rather than filling up the dump sites with it,” she said.
Better Than Before Home Furnishings & Design Address: Plaistow Commons strip mall, 160 Plaistow Road, Unit 3, Plaistow Hours: Grand opening Saturday, March 6. Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday noon to 5 p.m., and Monday and Tuesday by appointment More info: Call 479-3041 or visit betterthanbefore.co
Featured photo: Better Than Before Home Furnishings & Design in Plaistow. Courtesy photo.
Art
Call for Art
• NHAA SPRING JURYING The New Hampshire Art Association accepts new members. Jurying takes place on Mon., March 22. For a prospectus and application form, visit nhartassociation.org and click on “Become a Member.” Applications and application fee payment are due by Thurs., March 18, and can be submitted online or in person at the NHAA headquarters (136 State St., Portsmouth). Instructions for dropping off and picking up artwork will be emailed after an application and payment is received. Call 431-4230.
• MAGNIFY VOICES EXPRESSIVE ARTS CONTEST Kids in grades 5 through 12 may submit creative may submit a short film (2 minutes or less); an original essay or poem (1000 words or less); or a design in another artistic medium such as a painting, song or sculpture that expresses their experience or observations of mental health in New Hampshire. Art pieces will be showcased to help raise awareness, decrease stigma and discrimination, and affect change to ensure socially and emotionally healthy growth for all children in New Hampshire. Submission deadline is March 31. Prize money will be awarded for grades 5 through 8 and grades 9 through 12. A celebration will take place in May, date TBD. Email magnifyvoices@gmail.com.
• ART ON MAIN The City of Concord and the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce are seeking professional sculptors for year-round outdoor public art exhibit set up in Concord’s downtown. Must be age 18 or older. Submit up to two original sculptures for consideration. Submission deadline is March 31. Sculptors will be notified of their acceptance by April 30. Installation will begin on May 21. Exhibit opens in June. Selected sculptors will receive a $500 stipend. All sculptures will be for sale. Visit concordnhchamber.com/creativeconcord, call 224-2508 or email tsink@concordnhchamber.com.
Classes & lectures
• “NORMAN ROCKWELL AND FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT” Jane Oneail presents a lecture. Part of Concord’s Walker Lecture Series. Virtual, via Zoom. Wed., March 17, 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Call 333-0035 or visit walkerlecture.org.
• GENERAL ART CLASSES In-person art classes for all levels and two-dimensional media. held with small groups of two to five students. Private classes are also available. Diane Crespo Fine Art Gallery (32 Hanover St., Manchester). Students are asked to wear masks in the gallery. Tuition costs $20 per group class and $28 per private class, with payment due at the beginning of the class. Call 493-1677 or visit dianecrespofineart.com for availability.
• DRAWING & PAINTING CLASSES Art House Studios, 66 Hanover St., Suite 202, Manchester. Classes include Drawing Fundamentals, Painting in Acrylic, Drawing: Observation to Abstraction, Exploring Mixed Media, and Figure Drawing. Class sizes are limited to six students. Visit arthousestudios.org.
Exhibits
• “THE VIEW THROUGH MY EYES” The New Hampshire Art Association presents works by pastel artist Chris Reid. Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Gallery, 49 S. Main St., Concord. On display now through March 18. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.
• “ON THE BRIGHT SIDE” New Hampshire Art Association features works by multiple artists in a variety of media. On view now through March 28, in person at NHAA’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery (136 State St., Portsmouth) and online. Gallery hours are Monday and Tuesday by appointment, Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Online opening reception to be held on Friday, March 5, at 6:30 p.m., via Zoom. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.
Tours
• NASHUA PUBLIC ART AUDIO TOUR Self-guided audio tours of the sculptures and murals in downtown Nashua, offered via the Distrx app, which uses Bluetooth iBeacon technology to automatically display photos and text and provides audio descriptions at each stop on the tour as tourists approach the works of art. Each tour has 10 to 15 stops. Free and accessible on Android and iOS on demand. Available in English and Spanish. Visit downtownnashua.org/nashua-art-tour.
TheaterShows
• GIDION’S KNOT Theatre Kapow presents. Virtual, live streamed. March 5 through March 7, with showtimes on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $10. Visit tkapow.com.
• A TEMPEST PRAYER New Hampshire Theatre Project’s SoloStage program presents. Fri., March 19, and Sat., March 20, 8 p.m., and Sun., March 21, 2 p.m. Performances held virtually and in-person at 959 Islington St., Portsmouth. In-person show tickets cost $30, and virtual show tickets cost $20. Call 431-6644 or visit nhtheatreproject.org.
• FIFTH ANNUAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL New Hampshire Theatre Project presents. Five storytellers tell traditional and personal tales inspired by NHTP’s 2020 – 2021 MainStage theme “What Are You Waiting For?” Featuring Diane Edgecomb, Pat Spalding, Simon Brooks, Sharon Jones and Maya Williams; with special guest host Genevieve Aichele and musical accompaniment by Randy Armstrong. Sat., April 10, 7 p.m. The Music Hall Historic Theater, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth. Tickets cost $36. Call 431-6644 or visit nhtheatreproject.org.
• ZOOM PLAY FESTIVAL Presented by Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative and Community Players of Concord. Features short original plays by New Hampshire playwrights. Fri., April 16. Virtual. See Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative on Facebook or email powerhouse@belknapmill.org.
• THAT GOLDEN GIRLS SHOW: A PUPPET PARODY at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) on Sat., April 24, at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $35.
• ROTARY PARK PLAY FESTIVAL Presented by Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative and Community Players of Concord. Features short original plays by New Hampshire playwrights. Sat., May 29, and Sun., May 30. Outdoors at Rotary Park, 30 Beacon St., E. Laconia. See Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative on Facebook or email powerhouse@belknapmill.org.
• TRUE TALES LIVE Monthly showcase of storytellers. Held virtually via Zoom. Last Tuesday of the month, 7 p.m., January through June, and September through December. Visit truetaleslivenh.org.
Classical
• CONCORD COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL FACULTY CONCERT Part of Concord’s Walker Lecture Series. Virtual, via Concord TV (Channel 22, or stream at yourconcordtv.org). Wed., April 21. 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Call 333-0035 or visit walkerlecture.org.
After canceling its events in 2020, the Walker Lecture Series will return for its 124th spring season with weekly virtual events every Wednesday from March 3 through April 21.
The Concord-based series, traditionally held at the Concord City Auditorium, features free performances and lectures on history, travel, art and science topics. This spring’s virtual events will be hosted by Concord TV, some pre-recorded and aired on the city’s public access TV channel, and some livestreamed over Zoom.
“[When Covid hit,] we were thrown for a loop just like everyone else [was], and we didn’t know what the future would hold,” Walker Lecture Series trustee Jon Kelly said, “but we’re dealing with that reality now. We’re embracing it with a spirit of experimentation.”
The series kicks off with “Banjos, Bones, and Ballads,” where local musician and historian Jeff Warner will perform and discuss traditional New England tavern music, hymns, sailor songs and more.
“He plays old-time music on the banjo, the spoons, the washboard and the bones, just like people did in the 19th century,” Kelly said. “He’s a lot of fun.”
The following week, mentalist and author of Psychic Blues Mark Edward will present a lecture, “Psychics, Mediums, and Mind Readers: How do they do it?”
“He talks about the fraudulence of people who pretend they can talk to the dead and encourages people to use critical thinking to examine the trick nature of it before they believe that someone has magical powers,” Kelly said. “I think our audience will be really interested in that.”
Other programs in this spring’s Walker Lecture Series will include an art lecture on Frank Lloyd Wright and Norman Rockwell; a history lecture on New Hampshire revolutionaries John Stark and Henry Dearborn; an author event with Michael Tougias, discussing his memoir The Waters Between Us; a nature program about bears; travelogues about Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska and the deserts, coastline and safari parks of Namibia; and a faculty concert by Concord Community Music School.
“We try to choose programs that will be edifying for the audience, but we also want it to be fun,” Kelly said. “We want [the topics] to be things that people will enjoy and like.”
The Walker Lecture Series has also planned and released the schedule for its fall season, which will run Sept. 22 through mid-December. Though it remains to be seen whether the series will be held virtually or in person, Kelly said he is hopeful that in-person events will be possible.
“People have done well with socialization over Zoom, but I am nostalgic for the days when people would all pile in the City Auditorium and get there early and talk with their neighbors in the lobby,” he said. “I’m choosing to be optimistic that we’ll be able to have that in the fall.”
Walker Lecture Series spring season When: Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m., March 3 through April 21 Where: Virtual, on Concord TV (Channel 22, or stream at yourconcordtv.org), YouTube and Zoom, depending on the program Cost: Free and open to all; no tickets or reservations required More info: Call 333-0035 or visit walkerlecture.org
“Banjos, Bones, and Ballads” with Jeff Warner March 3 on Concord TV
“Psychics, Mediums, and Mind Readers: How do they do it?” with Mark Edward March 10 on Zoom
“Norman Rockwell and Frank Lloyd Wright” with Jane Oneail March 17 on Zoom
“Autumn in Denali” and “The World of the Bear” with Tom Sterling March 24 on Concord TV
“Two New Hampshire Men from the American Revolution: John Stark and Henry Dearborn” with George Morrison March 31 on Zoom
“Growing Up Wild in the ’60s and ’70s” with Mike Tougias April 7 on Zoom
“The Road to Namibia” with Rick Ray April 14 on Zoom
Concord Community Music School Faculty Concert April 21 on Concord TV
Featured photo: The Walker Lecture Series opens with “Banjos, Bones, and Ballads” by Jeff Warner on Wednesday, March 3. Courtesy photo.
Mother and son create interactive kids book about Covid-19
Deer orienteer Stephen Stagg is on a new kind of hunt in The COVID Paper Chase, a special edition title of Windham children’s author E.A. Giese’s Stephen Stagg Series that Giese wrote and illustrated with her adult son B.G. Sullivan during the pandemic.
The books in the series feature interactive puzzles for young readers to do as they follow Stephen Stagg on his orienteering adventures. In The COVID Paper Chase, Stephen is looking around his neighborhood for an item of great importance that is in short supply due to the pandemic. It includes hidden images and pandemic-related vocabulary words to find, mysteries to solve and a special activity.
“It’s meant to be more like a workbook,” Giese said. “Educational for children as well as entertaining.”
Giese and Sullivan said they have talked casually about collaborating on a book together for years but could never seem to find the time, so when Sullivan was laid off from his full-time job last March due to the pandemic, they decided to finally give it a go.
“Being laid off had significantly freed up my time at that point,” Sullivan said, “and I really wanted to do something productive with that time … and do something that would be able to help other people.”
Sullivan said he has “always been an artistic person,” having an interest in illustration since he was a child, and going on to attend and receive his certificate from a graphic design school.
“I homeschooled my two sons through middle school and high school, and we were very creative during that time,” Giese said. “We’ve been lifelong creatives, all of us.”
In Giese and Sullivan’s collaborative process, Giese came up with the story and developed the storyboards while Sullivan worked more on the script itself, which is written in rhyming verse. Giese did the hand drawn illustrations, outlined in pen and colored with colored pencils, and used a rubbing technique to give the illustrations texture. Then, Sullivan used his graphic design skills, he said, to add “the finer details, more realism, and really bring her illustrations to life.”
The idea for a children’s book about Covid-19, Giese and Sullivan said, came from seeing parents they knew struggle with explaining the pandemic to their young children. They wanted to create a book that could help parents “broach the subject” in an honest, but comforting way, Sullivan said.
“It’s psychologically soothing for children without being too heavy and grim,” he said.
“There was kind of a fine balance between giving [the book] some lightheartedness to make it palatable to children while still paying respect to the weight and seriousness of the issue,” Giese added.
Giese and Sullivan said they plan to team up for more children’s books for both the Stephen Stagg Series and other series.
“We’re really starting to see a future in our collaborations together,” Sullivan said.
“We have a lot of fun doing this together,” Giese added, “and I think that really comes across in the book.”
The COVID Paper Chase The book is available at the authors’ website, regalbeepub.com, and will be available on Amazon by the end of February.
Featured photo: E.A. Giese and B.G. Sullivan. Courtesy photo.
Local musician creates new version of “America the Beautiful”
What started as a song for a children’s choir to sing at Hancock’s Martin Luther King Day celebration last year has become an ongoing collaboration of musicians and music groups across the country.
As a member of the planning committee for the event, Hancock singer-songwriter Steve Schuch had taken on the task of organizing a musical performance. At the time, he had been reading about the history of the patriotic anthem “America the Beautiful,” originally written as a poem by American author and poet Katherine Lee Bates in 1892, and studying the life and writings of American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.
“Then, I thought, what would happen if we took the opening lines of ‘America the Beautiful’ that everyone knows and added a chorus and new verses that reflected Martin Luther King’s wider dream for all of America?” Schuch said.
The reimagined version of “America the Beautiful,” titled “America the Dream,” received such a “strong response” at the celebration, Schuch said, that he decided to keep expanding on the project.
He teamed up with another local musician, Mike Bradley, to write more lyrics and reached out to Shelbie Rassler, a senior at Berklee College of Music at the time, who had produced a viral YouTube video of a virtual choir of students singing “What the World Needs Now,” to assist with the musical arrangement and assembling a virtual choir to perform the piece.
Rassler was “all in,” Schuch said, and has produced three virtual performance videos of the song so far, with more on the way, including a contemporary country version out of Nashville.
“I hope that with each passing year, different singing groups around the country will want to do it,” he said. “It would be neat if someday Keith Lockhart wants to do this with the Boston Pops for the Fourth of July, or, hey, in my wildest dreams, maybe Beyonce would sing it at the Super Bowl.”
Late last year, Schuch and his collaborators launched the “American Dream Project” website where people can find the performance videos as well as sheet music for six different arrangements of the song, sound samples of the different choral parts and a piano accompaniment track for singing groups to use for rehearsals or performances if they don’t have access to live musical accompaniment.
“[The arrangements] run from really simple ones that are appropriate for elementary schools or children’s choirs up through ones for accomplished high school and college choirs and adult community choirs,” Schuch said. “There is enough variety that any music director or conductor could find a version that’s right for their group and their setting.”
What makes “America the Dream” especially unique, Schuch said, is that it’s an open source piece; not only can people access the sheet music and sound samples for free, but they also have permission to create and perform their own versions of the song with different musical arrangements and different or additional lyrics for non-commercial use.
“We encourage people to keep adding to it and would love for them to submit their recordings to add to the website,” he said.
The website also includes a list of suggested reading material and resources for groups or individuals who want to use the “American Dream Project” as “a springboard for discussion,” Schuch said.
“It’s more than a song,” he said. “It’s a chance for all Americans to think about what we hold in common for the dream of our country and what our country can become.”
Featured photo: “America The Dream” virtual performance by Berklee College of Music students, Shelbie Rassler Orchestral Arrangement. Courtesy photo.
Nashua Choral Society sings together from a distance
The Nashua Choral Society is inviting new singers to join its 2021 spring season, which is just getting underway. The non-auditioned community choir has found some creative ways to rehearse while maintaining social distance, including weekly virtual rehearsals over Zoom and monthly “driveway rehearsals” where members can gather in person and sing together from their cars.
When Covid hit last spring, the choir was just polishing up an upcoming performance with Symphony NH, featuring a full program of Haydn music, and a performance with the Nashua Chamber Orchestra, which was to include the premiere of a new song written for the choir.
Those performances were postponed, but instead of losing momentum the choir has gotten stronger — active members have stayed, less-active members have become more involved and new singers have joined, artistic director Dan Roihl said.
“Obviously, performance is a big part of [being in a choir], but I think there is some intrinsic reward in the communal aspect of just singing together, hearing your voice with other voices and creating works of beauty,” Roihl said. “That’s been enough for people right now.”
Still, moving from in-person rehearsals to virtual rehearsals was a bit more complicated than expected, Roihl said.
“As most choirs quickly figured out, singing together live over Zoom just isn’t practical because of the lag time,” he said. “It’s just not possible to synchronize.”
To get around this, Roihl has been encouraging members to record themselves singing the pieces on their own and send him the recordings, which he mixes together and plays at the rehearsals so that members can hear how their voices sound in unison. He also plays the instrumental musical tracks and has members sing along with their microphones muted.
“That way, they can at least have the simulated experience of singing together in real time,” he said.
In addition to the weekly Zoom rehearsals, the choir meets once a month in person for a “driveway rehearsal” in the parking lot of the church where they used to have their regular rehearsals. While remaining in their cars, members sing together using wireless microphones. The sound is run through a mixing board and played back through an FM radio station that members can tune into and hear each other. The choir had its first driveway rehearsal on World Choral Day on Dec. 13 with around 30 members in attendance.
“It was almost magical, because at that point we hadn’t been able to actually hear what we sound like together in real time for about nine months,” Roihl said. “It’s just really amazing to experience singing together again, even if it is just through our car windows.”
The driveway rehearsals are not only more personal than the Zoom rehearsals, Roihl said, but also more productive.
“It’s a lot more like a real rehearsal because [singers] can respond to my gesture, and I can get feedback on how they are responding to my gesture in real time, which is something that had been sorely lacking in the Zoom context,” he said. “It allows us to really assess how we are doing so I can still do some music teaching and we can work on our techniques.”
While the Nashua Choral Society has performed primarily classical music, Roihl is working on developing a more versatile repertoire to include pop song arrangements, familiar hymns and “everyday-use songs” that he believes will appeal to a wider audience and expand the choir’s performance opportunities.
“We always hope to keep one foot firmly planted in our classical wheelhouse, but I think having some easier songs that we can do a cappella or on short notice or if we don’t have the full [choir] there … will give us more flexibility,” he said.
While the choir has no public performances scheduled at the moment, Roihl said they’ve been “kicking around the idea” of doing some community-based drive-in performances in the parking lots of hospitals, nursing homes and such, using the same mechanics as their driveway rehearsals.
“We know it’s not quite the same as a [normal] live performance, but at least [audiences] could see me out there waving my arms and hear us singing in real time,” he said. “It’s more about letting people know that we’re thinking of them and that we’re looking to share the joy of the art we bring.”
Nashua Choral Society Singers of all abilities are welcome to join. No auditions necessary. Spring season runs now through mid-May, with virtual rehearsals via Zoom every Monday from 7 to 9 p.m., and monthly “driveway rehearsals” in Nashua. Visit nashuachoralsociety.org or facebook.com/nashuachoralsociety or email info@nashuachoralsociety.org.
Featured photo: Artistic director Dan Roihl leads a Nashua Choral Society “driveway rehearsal.” Courtesy photo.
Artists and authors talk about their latest comic books and more
New Hampshire comics creators have faced plenty of challenges in the past year, like publishers and distributors shutting down, comic conventions being canceled and collaborative processes taking longer than usual. But more time at home has meant more time for creating, new inspiration for story concepts and themes, and virtual events that reach a wider audience. Nine local comics creators reflect on the past year — the good and the bad — and talk about their latest and upcoming projects.
Shiv
Leary by Shiv. Courtesy image.
The Manchester comic artist who creates under the pseudonym Shiv has a portfolio full of standalone comic art prints and commissioned fan art, original characters and portraits, but has never released a full comic series. That’s about to change. The pandemic provided Shiv (who uses they/them pronouns) the push they needed to move forward with a sci-fi webcomic series. Shiv is co-creating the series with their partner and it’s been a long time in the making.
“That’s kind of been my big, looming comic project,” said Shiv, who preferred not to reveal their full name so as to keep their work as an artist separate from their day job. “Normally, I’ll find any reason to procrastinate, but … Covid life has changed … my motivation. I’ve found myself really on the ball artistically while being stuck inside.”
The series, which is “basically about a big treasure hunt in space with pirates and all that,” Shiv said, will most likely launch next month, and they will continue to add to the series over time.
“Who knows when the entire project will be done since it’s meant to be a series, but … my main focus right now is getting the webcomic up and running,” they said.
Shiv said the events of 2020 have been “very inspirational” for the absurdist humor that they often incorporate in their art, and that they’re interested in exploring that more in their future work.
“Who knows?” Shiv said. “Maybe I’ll make a comic that harnesses the strange and unfortunate emotions that were produced this past year.”
Check out Shiv’s work at shiv-art.square.site, on Twitter @shivyshivon and on Instagram @ohnoshiv.
Ryan Lessard
Ryan Lessard of Manchester, creator and writer of the sci-fi comic series Sentinel, released the second issue of the series in the fall — but not without some setbacks.
Sentinel, second issue, by Ryan Lessard. Courtesy image.
In January 2020 the Kickstarter-funded comic was in the process of being colored and Lessard announced that it was on track to be sent out to backers in April. Then the pandemic hit, and his colorist had to work double time at his day job at his state health department, “squeezing in time to do colors when he could,” Lessard said.
“So it took a few months longer than expected,” he said. “You do your best estimating when people will get their books, but sometimes stuff happens, and a global pandemic happened to everyone.”
Set in a spacefaring future, Sentinel follows an alien reporter through the investigation of a terrorist attack that nearly killed her and set off a chain of events.
Lessard said he’s hoping to launch the Kickstarter campaign for the third issue in March. So far, his goal has been to have one campaign a year, but now, having completed the scripts for at least another eight issues, he’s looking at the possibility of doing more.
“As my audience grows, I may be able to increase the frequency of production,” he said, “like maybe making two books at once, for example.”
Lessard has also been brainstorming and writing scripts for some graphic novels and one-off comics. He has already recruited an artist for a one-off about a hitchhiking robot, which he anticipates starting production on later this year, and is more than halfway done with the script for a space horror graphic novel, which he said was inspired by Covid life. The story, Lessard said, follows a crew of eight people who, having been stuck on the same spaceship together for a couple of years, are “bouncing off the walls with boredom before things take a dark turn.”
“The original idea and its main twist came to me in a dream,” he said, “but the tone and feel and the idea of being cooped up — I’m sure that came from living in lockdown and quarantine for the better part of the past year.”
The first two issues of Sentinel can be purchased locally at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester. For updates on Ryan Lessard’s upcoming projects, visit orionnewsservice.com and follow him on Kickstarter at kickstarter.com/profile/ryanlessard/created.
Stephen Bobbett
At the start of this year, Dover comics creator Stephen Bobbett launched Earth is the Worst, a new webcomic with a full-color four-panel strip added every Tuesday. The series largely follows two aliens living on Earth as they provide commentary on the absurdities of human culture.
“It’s inspired by a lot of the newspaper comics I grew up with in the ’90s, like Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side,” Bobbett said. “It even has a grainy print style as an homage to that era.”
Earth is the Worst, a webcomic series by Stephen Bobbett. Courtesy image.
While some of his other comics “delve a little too deeply into world-building,” Bobbett said, he created Earth is the Worst to be more accessible and appeal to a wider audience in the same way that many of the classic “old-school” newspaper comics did.
“Since Covid has put us all in a state of forced isolation, I think it’s become more important to make art that people can instantaneously connect with,” he said. “With Earth is the Worst, I wanted to make a comic where the archetypes were instantly recognizable, where you didn’t have to read multiple pages to get the story, and — most importantly — where you might get a good laugh in the middle of a rough news day.”
Bobbett said he plans to continue adding to Earth is the Worst weekly for now. He’s also currently working on a dark comedy/sci-fi graphic novella series called The Big Crunch, which centers on an interplanetary city revolving around a black hole.
Two to three times a week Bobbett streams his art process on Twitch and answers viewers’ questions about comics and illustration. He’s been doing the streams for around five years now, he said, as a way of “turning visual art into an educational and social event.”
“But this year it took on special significance as a way to stave off people’s loneliness during quarantine,” he added. “It’s been a godsend.”
For more on Stephen Bobbett, visit stephenbobbett.com or catch him on his Twitch channel at twitch.tv/FancySchmancy. See the Earth is the Worst webcomic at earthistheworst.com, with a new strip added every Tuesday.
Ed Smith
Ed Smith of Bedford is currently working on a few comics projects; as of last week he was finishing up a four-issue graphic novel called 2nd Place, co-written with Ben Goldsmith. He’s also working on a monthly sci-fi serial strip and writing a book based on a story idea he had in high school.
“When drawing comics it’s usually a good idea to have as many irons in the fire as possible,” said Smith, who works professionally as a graphic designer but aspires to be a full-time comic book artist.
From 2nd Place by Ed Smith. Courtesy image.
2nd Place is about an intergalactic bodybuilding competition that takes place between aliens. The two main characters are best friends who wish they were living each other’s lives. Smith said it’s an introspective look at them examining their own lives.
“The whole thing is done in a mockumentary style, like The Office or Best in Show,” Smith said. “So even though the theme seems pretty emotional and dramatic, it’s got a lot of humor to it. … I [also] like to draw stuff in the background as little jokes and Easter eggs, so the readers can have more than just a quick page glance when they read it and get their money’s worth.”
Smith describes his work as very clean, emotive artwork that allows the reader to feel motion and emotion. It also transfers well from print to screen, he said, something he’s focused on since he read The Tick as a kid and then watched the TV show that was created based on the comic.
“It looked horrible to me,” he said. “I made it a mission of mine to create artwork that will go from the page to the screen and still look good.”
The serial strip that Smith is working on is for a sci-fi magazine; it’s written by Alex Collazo, as part of his Manalex novel series.
“It’s sci-fi meets martial arts swords-and-sorcery type of books,” Smith said. “I usually handle funny and cartoony styles and stories, so I’m doing my best to make sure that the … author is content with my perspective of his character. … “It’s given me an opportunity to stretch my artistic muscles and do something outside of funny pages.”
Smith is also drawing for The Life and Times of the Supertopian, a book about stories that take place across the lifetime of a superhero that really existed in this comic book universe, written by Rich Woodall. And he has a personal project in the works that he plans to self-publish, a book about a boy who grew up next to a town full of superheroes but was always too insecure to try to be one himself.
“It shows kids that if you have a dream or a goal for yourself, you should never give up. You should always follow it, because you’re worth it,” he said.
While everyone has had to navigate a Covid-19 world, 2020 was especially life-changing for Smith, who had a heart valve replaced at the beginning of the year. At first, he fell into a post-operative depression and reached out to a friend for support. Smith speaks fluent sarcasm and appreciated his friend’s response — something to the effect of, “Gee, it’s really tough for us artists who can use what we do as a way to emote.”
“I started putting out a lot more work and it started to get better,” Smith said.
The pandemic did affect his work, though. He’s explored artistically as well as emotionally through a lot of different story lines. He’s also become much more adept at connecting with his readers, and other artists, online.
“I was really inexperienced when it came to social media, so a lot of contact with my fans was at conventions or through Facebook or Instagram,” he said. “Now I understand social media more; I can interact with fans and post videos.”
Smith said he misses that face-to-face interaction at conventions, but staying in touch with fellow artists hasn’t been a problem.
“Artists are very emotionally raw, so we tend to support each other as much as possible,” he said.
You can find some of Smith’s work on his Facebook or Instagram pages, or on his website, cartoonistatlarge.com.
— Meghan Siegler
Emily Drouin
As a full-time professional illustrator, children’s book and comic book artist, video editor and animator, Emily Drouin of Raymond is always creating.
Drouin is best known for her kids sci-fi action-adventure comic EPLIS, but with many comic conventions canceled due to Covid, she has turned her attention to commission work, some of which was new territory for her.
From EPLIS, a comic book series by Emily Drouin. Courtesy image.
“I’ve had more time to work with more clients, which has really opened up some doors for me and [provided opportunities to] improve my art and work on new skill sets,” she said. “That’s one of the things I love most about my job — the variety of projects. I love the challenge of doing so many different things.”
One of her biggest jobs was doing the illustrations for two books in The Pumpkin Wizard series, a children’s anti-bullying fantasy adventure series written by Dover authors Derek Dextraze and Caitlin Crowley. Some of her other recent projects are illustrating a cover for a young adult book by a local author (she’s not at liberty to reveal the title yet, she said) as well as some coloring activity books, including one with notable figures from Black history.
Drouin also spent a lot of time reinventing last year’s Kids Con New England, of which she is the founder and organizer. Typically held in Nashua in June, the just-for-kids comic convention was converted to a free two-day virtual event in May, featuring creative workshops, special guest comic creators, book readings, sing-alongs and musical performances, a puppet show, tabletop gaming, costume contests, a coloring contest and more.
“We wanted to capture as many of the in-person events as possible,” Drouin said. “It was actually a more unique experience, because we were able to connect with comic creators and families from across the country, so we had even more people than we would have had at the in-person event.”
At present, Drouin is back to working on comics, including the fifth issue of EPLIS and a new horror comic.
“Children’s comics and children’s book [illustrations] have always been my thing, and this [horror comic] is about vampires and stuff, so it’s a totally new thing for me,” she said. “I’m excited to expand and do something different.”
Check out Emily Drouin’s comics and other work at emilyatplay.com. Recordings from the virtual Kids Con New England event held last May are free to watch at kidsconne.com.
Marek Bennett
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Henniker comic artist Marek Bennett is finishing up the final draft of his contribution to The Most Costly Journey, a nonfiction comics anthology scheduled to be released in February that tells the true stories of Latin American migrant workers working on dairy farms in Vermont.
Marek Bennett works on his Freeman Colby series. Courtesy photo.
It’s one of several projects that Bennett is currently involved in, though he admits that the future is a little fuzzy right now.
“I have some plans that I was supposed to visit in 2020, and they’re on the calendar now for spring 2021, but honestly, there’s no guarantee,” he said.
The biggest upheaval in Bennett’s work has been his involvement with local schools; most years from January through May or June, he’s working in schools several days a week. He was in the middle of a residency in Epping when schools shut down last spring.
“[Those residencies] are 50 or 60 percent of my annual income, and that was just gone,” he said. “[But] If I focus on the money, it’s really stressful and depressing and it’s not why I got into cartooning.”
Bennett spent the rest of the spring trying to figure out how to reach an audience that he could no longer work with in person.
“I’m doing some regular live draws,” he said. “That’s really the bedrock of what I’ve been doing since the summer … and Zoom sessions.”
The live draws are every Monday and Friday, for anyone who’s interested but also for those school groups that he can’t otherwise connect with right now.
“If a classroom dials in, that’s one view or one share, but it’s 20 kids who get to draw — that’s so much more valuable than selling a mini comic for a dollar,” Bennett said. “I’ve been doing as much as I can through Facebook live and YouTube live, just so it’s a little less prerecorded, [although there are] archived videos [too].”
Along with trying to maintain that connection, Bennett has used some of his newfound time at home to go back to his sketchbooks and do more creative, aimless doodling that leads to new ideas.
“Amidst all the upheaval and the uncertainty, having an excuse to be still … has helped a lot,” he said. “Quarantine and isolation is tough, but to a cartoonist, in some ways it’s kind of an ideal scenario to get things done.”
Other projects that Bennett is working on include a series of drawing activities created with a USDA grant that address toxic lead contamination in lakes and toxic materials in cosmetic and self-care products, and a series around federal sedition laws that explores the implications of current events.
“I’m taking those laws and drawing them out in very simple cartoons [and] making videos,” he said. “I get so stressed about the news, but creating art about it, there’s a sense of relief.”
Bennett is also working on Vol. 3 of The Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, and he’s going to do more work with the Vermont Folklife Center, which is producing The Most Costly Journey. The next planned project is a book of comics drawn by New Hampshire and Vermont cartoonists based on the life of Vermont storyteller Daisy Turner, who was born in 1883 and lived until 1988 and whose family’s oral history reaches all the way back to early 19th-century Africa.
“There’s just an incredible body of lore there,” Bennett said.
Marek Bennett’s work can be found at marekbennett.com or through patreon.com, a website that allows fans to support their favorite artists in exchange for exclusive insider access to previews, future projects, workshops and more.
— Meghan Siegler
Brian Furtado
As a creative writing and graphic novel storytelling instructor at New England College, Brian Furtado of Manchester found himself with a lot of unexpected free time when many of his classes for 2020 were cut due to Covid.
While the “weeks upon weeks of struggling with unemployment” were difficult, he said, the silver lining was that he had a rare opportunity to focus on his own comic series, Re-Verse, which has been years in the making.
From the upcoming comic book series Re-Verse by Brian Furtado. Courtesy image.
“It wasn’t exactly a stress-free writing retreat, but I did get a lot of work done,” he said. “I got a lot more work done on this comic in 2020 than I think I could have any other year.”
Furtado described the series as “an absurdist, satirical sci-fi comedy about a disgraced pop star turned private investigator who also happens to be an anthropomorphic duck.” It’s the first comic that he is creating entirely by himself, doing the writing, penciling, inking and coloring.
“It’s been a long and arduous task,” he said. “My experience and education are in writing. … Until this project, I never really considered myself an artist. I’ve had to teach myself a lot more new things in order to get the artwork of this book up to the same level of quality I’d expect from an artist I [would] commission to draw it.”
Furtado said he expects to have the artwork for the first issue of the seven-issue series fully completed within the next few weeks, “fingers crossed.”
“Now that I’ve developed my own art style and drawing habits, I should be able to crank out [the artwork for the] issues much more quickly,” he said.
Furtado has started the outlining and writing on a few other comics, which he plans to develop more once he releases the first issue of Re-Verse. For those, however, he’ll be commissioning artists to do the artwork; he’s got his hands full doing the art for the next six issues of Re-Verse.
“I think doing all the writing and artwork on multiple projects at once would actually kill me,” he said. “[Commissioning artists] will free me up to write scripts for other artists to work on while I do all the artwork on Re-Verse.”
Check out Brian Furtado’s art on Instagram @SuperBri64.
Joel Christian Gill
Joel Christian Gill of New Boston is best-known for his graphic novels that tell the lesser-known stories of Black history in the U.S., but his latest book, Fights: One Boy’s Triumph Over Violence, released in January 2020, tells a different kind of story.
“It’s a graphic memoir that chronicles my life growing up and is kind of about how kids deal with emotional abuse, sexual abuse and violence,” he said. “It’s definitely a departure from the books I’ve done previously.”
Fights, a graphic novel by Joel Christian Gill. Courtesy image.
Also in 2020, Gill created a series of humorous comic strips called S— my Students Say, which was published in The New Yorker.
His next book, the third volume in his Tales of the Talented Tenth graphic novel series, will be released later this year, he said. It tells the story of Robert Smalls, an enslaved African American man who stole the U.S. Confederate warship The Planter and sailed it to the Union army.
Currently, Gill is collaborating with Ibram Xolani Kendi, author and the director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, to create a graphic novel adaptation of Kendi’s 2016 nonfiction book Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Gill said the graphic novel is projected for release in 2023.
An associate professor of illustration at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Mass., Gill has also been busy teaching remotely and presenting numerous virtual lectures, panels and workshops on comics.
“Not having to travel has given me the opportunity to say yes to things that I normally wouldn’t have been able to say yes to,” he said.
But having to do virtual events in lieu of the in-person book signings for Fights that he had planned has been disappointing, Gill said.
“Not being able to connect with people in the way that I’m used to has been the biggest hit for me,” he said. “Seeing people in real life and being in a room with them is just different, and I want to get back to that.”
Learn more about Joel Christian Gill’s work and upcoming events at joelchristiangill.com.
Rich Woodall
All things pandemic considered, work has been going well for Somersworth comics creator Rich Woodall. He lucked out last March when his comic book Kyrra#1 hit shelves on the last day of new comic book releases before the Covid shutdown brought comic book presses to a halt; and he got to create the first three issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin and is starting work on the fourth and fifth issues now. But his biggest achievement over the last year has been launching his own horror/sci-fi imprint.
The Recount, by Rich Woodall. Courtesy image.
Woodall and comic artist Joseph Schmalke, with whom he co-created, co-writes and co-illustrates the popular horror comic series The Electric Black, are the co-publishers of the imprint Black Caravan, which is housed under their series’ publisher Scout.
Starting out as a publisher during the pandemic had its challenges, though, Woodall said, the biggest one being that Black Caravan’s distributor had completely shut down.
“We had to change our distribution system entirely,” he said.
Woodall and Schmalke concluded that their only option was to take the distribution process into their own hands. It’s an unorthodox practice and normally frowned upon by retailers, Woodall said, but under the pandemic circumstances, retailers were more receptive.
“Covid really kind of forced their hand,” he said. “Not many comic [publishers] were putting out comics, and some had shut down for good. [The retailers’] shelves were empty, so they didn’t really have a reason not to work with us.”
Black Caravan has published eight titles so far — six of which Woodall has contributed to creatively through writing, coloring, illustrating, design work, character design or lettering — and there are more on the way.
“I think we have about 12 different titles under our belts now … and roughly 30 individual issues coming up,” Woodall said. “[Schmalke] and I have a lot of plans. We’re going to continue creating new stuff and building up Black Caravan even bigger and better.”
Find Rich Woodall’s comics and Black Caravan publications at theblackcaravan.com.
