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Festival 'pixelates' artistic creativity in the region
Oct. 15,
2012 |
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Springfield artist Mark Masztal will be at the Paint and Pixel Festival "zombifying" people (having done so to Reminder Publications' Managing Editor G. Michael Dobbs).
Reminder Publications submitted photos
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By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com
NORTHAMPTON — Peggy Twardowski knew two things before developing the Paint and Pixel Festival, an annual one-day event spotlighting cartoonists and illustrators in Western Massachusetts: that artists were having an increasingly difficult time affording to exhibit at large comic book conventions and that the Pioneer Valley and the neighboring region has many talented artists.
Last year, Twardowski, her artist husband Sean Wang, Michael Dow and Coin Panetta started the show, which will be Oct. 20 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Northampton Center for the Arts, 17 New South St. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children younger than age 12 and free for children 5 years old and younger.
Twardowski explained she had accompanied her husband to some of the larger comic book shows such as the San Diego Comic Con and the New York Comic Con, both of which attract national media attention. Both of these shows have evolved from being just about comic books to popular culture in general, and Twardowski said she preferred shows with a greater emphasis on independent artists and their work.
The cost for the artists to appear at the larger shows was squeezing out many people, she added. For an artist to set up a table at the New York Comic Con, the cost $500 and that doesn't include the other costs of transportation and hotels in order for an artist to appear, she said.
"When I go to a Con, the tables for the artist have been increasingly moved to the side," Twardowski said.
She set out to create a one-day event that would be affordable to area artists and have an interesting twist: the featured artists would include a mix of people working in comics and cartooning as well as those who are illustrators working with children's books and other mediums.
"One form crosses over to other forms," she said.
Among the 50 artists scheduled to appear will be co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Peter Laird, accomplished comic books artists Shawn McManus and Jack Purcell and writer an artist Greg Ruth.
Underground comics legend Gary Hallgren, a Granby resident, will also be attending, as will Springfield artists Mark Masztal and Christopher Peck.
Masztal, a graphic artist, designer and cartoonist, will be promoting "Panel to Panel," a 272-page book that is a blend of original comics and interviews with cartoonists and writers. He was the designer of the book and will be selling digital versions for the Kindle and the iPad.
Masztal told Reminder Publications he would also be doing sketches of people at the show turning them into zombies, an item perfect for Halloween.
Masztal also performed production work on Peck's comic "War Dog," a science fiction action tale set in a post apocalyptic America divided into armies based genre.
Trees & Hills Comics Group, a collaborative of cartoonist from western New England that includes local artists, will also be exhibiting.
Unlike the bigger shows, Paint and Pixel has an educational component. The show's organizers have distributed free student tickets and members of the Center for Cartoon Studies from White River Junction, Vt., will be conducting portfolio reviews for student artists. Paint and Pixels is also seeking to partner with area schools to bring professional artists into the classroom.
Twardowski admitted that a one-day show might not do the artists justice.
"There is a lot of illustrative talent in this area," she said. In the future the show may go two days, she added.
For more information, go to http://paintandpixelfestival.com
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