Dear folks who kindly follow me on Twitter, my blog and elsewhere,

If you're following me, I'm guessing it has something to do with comics, graphic recording, and/or cool visually-inspiring creative writing stuff. If that's what you've been hoping to see in my online channels, you may have been surprised recently to see a lot less art and a lot more retweets about politics. These aren't mutually exclusive, by the way - art is an important voice for change and social commentary, in political circles and everywhere else, too.

In the wake of Donald Trump's electoral victory on Nov. 8th, 2016 - and alongside the Canadian campaigns for leader of the federal Conservative party and Alberta's Progressive Conservative party - I've been thinking about ways that comics creators, and artists in general, can add important perspectives to the conversation. While all this stuff is simmering in my brain, I haven't had as much time to post (or draw) new pictures. With my retweets, I'm hoping to flag issues that seem important, and which might be part of whatever creative project evolves out of this. Stay tuned! And don't despair - pictures are coming.

In the meantime, I'm going to re-post a Twitter "essay" (it's not really an essay, but I'm not sure what else you call these things) that I put out on November 9th, about the way artists can participate in - and lead - the creation of positive change in society. New stuff coming soon, starting with my latest Ramsay newsletter comic strip on this subject, which I'll be posting tomorrow!

love,
sam

1/6 I'm thinking about how comics can help in the face of fear, helplessness & danger. @Nsousanis wrote this strip about #Election2016

(I'm sharing Nick Sousanis's comic here - but take a look at his own site, for his own post about this comic, and more amazing work.)

2/6 Writing this 2012 comic helped me process the #SandyHook shootings. I'm a bit too messed up by #election2016 to draw anything yet today.

3/6 In 2004, I was mad, but I was still able to look at the humourous side. #Rush! Also, I still felt like I was safe in Canada.

4/6 Today feels like the scary feeling I wrote about in a 2003 @UCalgary textbook comics essay on post-911 Canada. http://ow.ly/vcBl3061dbh 

5/6 I want to fix the whole broken system, but I have to remember small changes can help & have an impact, too. (Hug your kids! Save bugs!)

6/6 Comics can give voice to the stories that we will need to hear. Comics will help get me through this, & I hope they'll help you, too.

Just realizing that I didn't post my November Ramsay newsletter comic strip, so here it is at the end of the month.
 
For once, this wasn't a comic strip, but a sketch which I did with my son, as part of a school project with his Grade 3/4 class at Ramsay School. It made me think about how I used to sit and sketch all the time, and the fact that I never do that kind of thing anymore. I should! And maybe you'd like to give it a try, too - it sure teaches you to see things in your own neighbourhood that you might never notice, otherwise.

The late great Stephen Cartwright, by the way - a children's book illustrator I loved as a kid. Those dog-eared books are now being read by my kids. (I couldn't find a reliable link that actually showed his artwork, so I just linked to his Wikipedia article, which doesn't feature any of his illustrations. Dig just a little deeper online and you will find lots!)

And as for our mystery location in the neighbourhood - I couldn't quite get the red marker on our spot, since we weren't located at a street address. Instead, we were in the park just to the west of Bellevue Avenue. Scroll in and find #1102 Bellevue Avenue - that's the house in my sketch.

Leonard Cohen's music has been there all my life, since I first heard his early folk songs sung by my dad as a kid. And so his presence has continued to make itself felt in my own work. Leonard Cohen died today and so I looked through my files to find a few places he's been with me.

Sitting at The Planet coffee shop on 4th Street SW in Calgary (now the Purple Perk) around 1998, I wrote these musings upon music in general, including a mention of a "gloomy" Leonard Cohen.

In 2001 I went through a break-up with a boyfriend that for some reason inspired way more art that I can credit. Anyway, during that time I painted this portrait based on a previous portrait of myself - but this time, the "turning to clay" version, from an image I just couldn't shake. It came from Leonard Cohen's poem "The Cuckold's Song" which I knew from my parents' old copy of his poetry collection "The Spice Box of Earth."

Then in 2005 I wrote about attending a poetry reading at Calgary's old Hop In Brew Pub (unlike the Planet, it's still there!), attended by a group of friends and punctuated by the music of Leonard Cohen.

Goodbye Leonard Cohen.
"Sincerely, A Friend."