Last night I went to see a great talk by Lynda Barry and Matt Groening, about their long friendship, their comics, and Matt's work on The Simpsons & etc. I love them so much
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I only just heard about her classes in creativity, but now that I have I really want to take one. I did take a walk to my local bookstore today and have a look at the book she's written on the subject, which you've probably seen (What It Is). I got sucked right into it, just like I did by her talk last night. I completely agree with you about her matter-of-factness--that's a great observation and so true! There's something about her honesty that makes you feel very confident that you can trust what she says. Because she's encouraging you at the same time she's letting you see how painful the struggle for self-expression has been for her.
I still have my very old books by her--Girls and Boys and Everything in the World and Big Ideas, with the pages loose. I love them all so much; as an artist I think she broke new ground in my mind about what was possible/acceptable to do in creative work. She still seems to me one of the bravest storytellers I've read, and some of her comics still make me cry--because I remember being 16 or 20 and reading them and feeling like, thank you for putting into words this true thing that I can't talk about.
I would love to try the "one hundred demons" exercise sometime--I imagine it's a great tool for unearthing your personal stuff. Maybe as a project for the new year?
I still have my very old books by her--Girls and Boys and Everything in the World and Big Ideas, with the pages loose. I love them all so much; as an artist I think she broke new ground in my mind about what was possible/acceptable to do in creative work. She still seems to me one of the bravest storytellers I've read, and some of her comics still make me cry--because I remember being 16 or 20 and reading them and feeling like, thank you for putting into words this true thing that I can't talk about.
I would love to try the "one hundred demons" exercise sometime--I imagine it's a great tool for unearthing your personal stuff. Maybe as a project for the new year?
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