"la, la, la... je suis belle, mais je n'ai pas de bras... la, la, la"
Produced by Suzie Kelly (dewbaker)
in Ferrum, Virginia.
$2.75 each postpaid
Suzie Kelly
"twigmama"
955 Whetstone Rd.
Ferrum, Virginia
24088
"twigmama" has been one of my favorite 'zines ever since I received #3 and #4 in the mail from Suzie back in 2002. In "twigmama", Suzie displays playful sketches of her particular surroundings which hold a warm familiarity for all of us. She draws like no one I have known previously (Suzie holds a BA in Fine Arts from Alfred University in Alfred, New York). Somewhere, somehow, we all know her encounters personally, from the waitress at the Waffle House who yells questions like "What kinda toast?" to her drawings of people in fine black lines of ink who move surreptitiously from the covers and throughout the pages.
"twigmama" #5 (spring 2003) comes complete with it's own postcard and lots of rich, funky illustrations of an old junker car to an urban scene titled, "Not North Dakota". Best of all is a hilarious sequential cartoon titled "l'historie de margaret" almost completely written in French, concerning a female mannequin torso (whom I assume is Margaret)who revels in her own fabulousness. Magnifique!
"twigmama" #6 (winter 2004) is printed in glorious color, financed by Suzie's t-shirt sales online. The cover is printed on this lovely, ruddy textured paper stock in olive green. It contains a gritty color photograph of a rusted out gas pump, a drawing of a xerox machine, captioned, "hello friend.", and a ton of other delightful illustrations and cartoons... and did I mention that it was printed in color? Yes... in COLOR!!! The best piece is her review of the local diner/coffeeshop (I guess the nearest coffeehouses are in Roanoke) scene in Ferrum, Virginia, complete with an illustrated breakdown of the places mentioned. See: Quentin Tarrantino whacked out of his gourd on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno! See: Conversations with people who are not quite awake! See: a beautiful, starry self-portrait in yellow! See: "twigmama" #6 in living color!
© David Alan Goldberg, 2004