HUMBOLDT ARTIST TAKES COMIC ART SERIOUSLY

When Elaine Will decided she wanted to be a comic artist, it was no laughing matter.

Although her art form is labelled comic book illustration, there is a lot more depth to the stories behind the pictures on exhibit from now until the December 31 at the Humboldt Museum (HDMG).

Will is the artist featured in the current Artist’s Showcase exhibit, and it was a stroke of luck that it fell at the same time as the Comic Art and Minimates exhibits which opened November 9 at the city’s gallery.

“It doesn’t usually happen that we can tie in the main exhibit with our artist’s showcase feature,” said HDMG curator Jennifer Hoesgen. “This time, we had the opportunity with Chris Bernhard’s comic art and Elaine Will’s cover illustrations.”

Although both artists use the same form, Bernhard’s and Will’s artwork is significantly different in context and appearance, and will give the visitor two perspectives on comic art.

Will grew up in Humboldt and remembers the day her future was sealed. At the age of seven, she recalls buying a comic book and sitting down to read it while her mother was grocery shopping.

“When I finished reading that comic, I thought to myself, ‘this is awesome, I want to do this for the rest of my life!’” she said.

The young artist was able to realize that dream, and the route she followed took her to Bournemouth, England, to study. There she completed a three-year honours arts degree at the Arts University College, obtaining a BA in Illustration.

Five of the pictures in her exhibit date from when she was studying in England, and Will explained that she based these drawings on a song by British post-punk band The Fall.

These framed pictures with purple matting comprise one of the projects she did to complete her degree. Unlike her other pictures on display, they are a set unto themselves, without the sequential art frames normally found in comic book art.

The other framed illustrations are cover art for the comic book series she has been working on in the last two years, Look Straight Ahead.

“There’s a whole sub-genre of comics that are like what I do,” said Will. “They are sort of serious ‘slice of life’ stories.”

Will describes her current series as an “existential story about a teenager who goes crazy and suffers from mental illness.”

“It’s sort of his journey,” she explains. “He’s searching for answers to questions about life, death, love and art.”

Will writes, illustrates and self-publishes her work. Today she says there are no more issues of the first and second volume of Look Straight Ahead available.

The real feather in her cap, though, was when those two volumes were nominated for the Gene Day Award for self-publishing artists, in the 2011 Joe Schuster Awards (Canadian Comic Book Creator awards).

The Joe Shuster Awards are the Canadian equivalent to the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards in the United States, itself the comic book equivalent to the Oscars.

MUSICIANS PROVIDE ELIXIR FOR THE SOUL

Elixir Ensemble at Marysburg Assumption Church, Nov. 2011

Those who ventured out to Marysburg Assumption Church on November 13 were treated to a concert of exceptional quality from one of the finest music ensembles in the province.

The Elixir Ensemble performed a program of mixed works including two pieces by Romantic composers Schubert and Brahms, and two contemporary pieces by Spanish composer Xavier Montsalvatge and American composer Kenji Bunch.

 The ensemble brought along a guest artist, mezzo-soprano Cassandra Warner, who dazzled the audience with her interpretation of Montsalvatge’s songs, accompanied by Kathleen Solose on the piano.

The rest of the pieces were for piano quartet and piano trio, and although the four musicians blended impeccably, each one had an opportunity to shine in the program.

Mezzo-soprano Cassandra Warner

Their opening piece, the Adagio and Rondo D. 487, by Franz Schubert (1797-1828) with its scintillating piano line played more like a piano concerto, according Solose more of a solo role, while the strings (violin, viola and cello) together took on the orchestral accompaniment.

The first half of the program concluded with Warner and Solose interpreting three of Montsalvatge’s Cinco Canciones. Montsalvatge (1912-2002) wrote this set of Spanish songs that revolve around Cuban culture and require some degree of dramatic presence to carry them off. The audience may have hoped to hear Warner, a trained opera singer, perform some familiar arias, however, the  mezzo-soprano had no trouble convincing them of her versatility and talent as a dramatic singer in this work.

In the second half of the program, the ensemble began with a more melancoly and personal work, Johannes Brahm’s (1833-1897) Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 60.

Brahms’ composition illustrates the personal and romantic suffering the composer experienced in his life.

The minor key sets the tone for this piece, and the strings’ dramatic lines with long, strident chords evoke the composer’s languishing sentiment. Throughout the piece, the piano blended into the work like a piece of fine, delicate lace.

The Elixir Ensemble ended the concert with an unusual composition by contemporary Kenji Bunch. Bunch is known for his slightly jazzy compositions, and Intersections afforded the audience a chance to hear a contemporary piece that was tonal and delightfully rhythmic.

Elixir Ensemble’s four musicians reside in Saskatoon, where the three string players are members of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra: Violinist Oxana Ossiptchouk is prinicipal second violin; violist James Legge is principal violist; and cellist Scott McKnight is acting principal cellist.

Solose has performed solo, chamber music and concerti in Europe, the United States and Canada, and is now a professor at the University of Saskatchewan and artistic director of the ensemble.

FOR THE LOVE OF LITTLE CRITTERS

The Humboldt and District SPCA is going to “Raise the Woof.”

That’s the name the association chose for its campaign to raise money for a new animal shelter.

At the HDSPCA, they do what they can with the space that they have. Right now the small building located on Hwy. 5 east houses 10 dogs and 28 cats. Ask any one of the workers, and they will tell you the shelter is already full

to capacity, yet they anticipate an intake of more animals when the really cold weather hits.

“At least they’re safe here with us,” said Susan McInnes, a board member of the SPCA and a regular volunteer. McInnes was busy cleaning out the cats’ cages in one corner of

the shelter, while another volunteer was just coming back from walking one of the dogs.

McInnes took the tiniest black kitten out of a small cage and held it up in her hands.

“We may have someone for this little one,” she said. “I’m hoping that they will come back for her.”

The SPCA is offering a special deal for kittens right now, as a means to try and lower the number of animals in their facility.

“Some of the older ones have been with us far too long,” McInnes said about the cats at the shelter, “but people generally tend to want the little ones.”

Meows, purring, and various displays of character and personality came from the furry felines, who all seemed to crave a little affection, or a sniff of the hand, or just a little caress. One young cat up in the second floor cages looked quite comical as she tried to make herself noticed by clinging with all four paws to the wire of the cage.

“It would be a wonderful thing if some of these animals could even be fostered out before Christmas,” McInnes said. “We’re usually short on staff at that time of the year, and it’s really difficult to get enough volunteers.”

The problem the shelter faces now won’t be solved with a new building – because there will always be animals abandoned or turned in – but the new space will have amenities that aren’t available in the current space. The plans include an off-leash area for the dogs, and a park-like area where people can donate a memorial tree or a memorial bench.

HDSPCA vice-president Bonnie Hepp says everyone on the board, as well as the many volunteers, are excited about the proposed new space for the animal shelter. Sketches of the proposed project will be on display at the trade show, November 6 and 7 at the Uniplex in Humboldt.

“We will have a display that will show our current facilities, plus the drawings for the new one, plus pictures of many of the animals that have come through our shelter over the years,” said Hepp.

So far, the SPCA has raised $106,000 toward the new facility, and they are just about to launch their “Raise the Woof” campaign for the additional $500- to $600,000 that will be needed for the land, building and equipment required to run the shelter.

The new facility will be approximately 4,000 square feet and will be located in the industrial area on the west side of Humboldt.

And they do it all for the love of little critters.