CAMINOS Teen ZINES

CAMINOS is an immersive paid fellowship empowering Austin-area Teens to carve their own path in the creative arts. For a period of 12 months Students engage with various elements in a program which includes working with ESB-MACC professionals on-site, 1-on-1 artist mentorships, assignments with community organizations and participation at relevant workshops and cultural events.  This process concludes with the execution of Student-led collaborative projects under the guidance of accomplished creative professionals.

Our teens are passionate and curious about pursuing a career in the creative fields (fine arts, audiovisual arts, media, tech, etc) while also being ambassadors for Latinx social and cultural issues.  They are motivated to explore their growing potential as a vibrant members of our city’s arts landscape.

The CAMINOS 2017 generation worked on a collective publication featuring powerful women in their own lives, and fictionalized narratives inspired in true events. 

The CAMINOS teens of 2018 have been collaborating with J Muzacs on a large scale mosaic that will be installed on the Hike and Bike trail in front of the ESB - MACC. They have also been working on a research-oriented digital magazine, writing articles pertaining to their individual passions. 

Also, CAMINOS students have been working on a 16pg zine of their own design. Having visited the Zine library at the Austin Public Library for references, and having consulted Latin American comics recommended by NAVA, the teens work focuses  on issues surrounding inclusion, identity, family, tradition and belonging. Each zine is different, so in order to get to know these young artists, you will have to collect them all!

CAMINOS ROLL CALL! 

My name is Brandon Muñiz and I’m 16 years old. I am a Latino who loves art and more specifically make up.
In my community that is seen as a waste of time, yet I don’t listen to what people have to say. I am who I am.

Hello, my name is Ana Cristina Chavez Alvarado. I am 15 years old. I am the first child of two Mexican parents,
soon I will be the first to graduate from High School in my family and move on to my college career. I feel like I’m
an opened minded person and I am interested in just learning new things in general. I take advantage of every
opportunity that is given to me to learn new concepts and ideas. I decided to join the Caminos program because
my dream career is to become an Architect which I feel has a lot to do with creativity within the arts. Caminos has
helped me a lot to expand my idea/ definition I once had about art. I say the idea I once had because Caminos
helped me see that  art is a much more than just coloring or drawing, it is a complex and open content that can
open further opportunities for myself in the future as a Architect. From Caminos I’ve learned many lessons, and
most importantly, I’ve met professionals that I would not have been able to meet if I weren’t in the Caminos program.
Thanks to having met these professionals now I have their phone numbers in my contacts, I know that if I need a
favor I can just give them a call and see if they can help me. With this I’ve kept in mind the quote; “It’s not what
you know, but who you know.”

My name is Gabby Gonzalez, I’m 18 years old, and I’m a senior in high school. I’m very passionate about music, art, politics, and activism. With Caminos, I’ve enjoyed connecting more with my culture through what I’m most passionate about. I have also loved the experience of trying new creative things and learning something from everything we do in Caminos.

Hi my name is Natalie Hernandez. Im 17 and a senior in high school. I am passionate about social justice and education. I mentor at my school with at risk middle school girls. We work on leadership skills, anger management and character building.

Hello, my name is Natalia Dominguez, Im currently a senior and also going to be the first in my family to apply to college. Something that keeps me motivated is the people that need help. With Caminos, i have learned that in order to keep a community working together, then relationships need to be built. I enjoy being in the program because I like to try new things and also meet new people.

Hello, my name is Esmeralda Rodriguez ! In general I love volunteering at animal shelters and I enjoy spending time with my hamster. I also enjoy being an intern for the creative arts internship called Caminos at the Mexican American Cultural Center!

My name is Anna Martinez and I’m 17 years old. I’m a very sensitive person ever since I was little and I never really found a way to express myself until I learned how to play my guitar. Now I can play my feeling away but  with the help of Caminos, I learned how to express myself through different forms of art, especially making little mosaic pieces.

My name is Bianca Rojas, I’m 18 years old and I want to be a tattoo artist. I’ve always had a great interest in body art. I’ve been trying to find an apprenticeship to learn more about this art form since 1. There aren’t many females in this work industry and 2. Not many are latinas. I hope to one day have my own tattoo shop. I’ve also began to produce my own shirt designs. Screen printing has been a good way to show my work to others, shirts you wouldn’t find anywhere else. At Caminos I’ve learned about Comics, Mosaics and things have been going very good for me. I’m a very curious person and I love to learn different art forms I can get my hands on. I’m very proud of the things I’ve produced and I hope to begin selling my work soon. IG: lyn.artx

My name is Sammie Seamon, I am 17 years old, and I love being part of the Caminos program! I’m passionate about journalism and animation and hope to one day be a journalist and write about political and social issues in the U.S. and internationally. I’m an editor-in-chief of the Polaris Press, captain of my school’s cross country and track teams, and am currently working on a solo traditional animation for my senior thesis! I’m very grateful for the exposure Caminos has given me to new art forms and creative projects, and I’m super excited to showcase our zine at the Staple Expo!

My name is Abraham Hernandez, i'm 18 years old and i have a puppy husky named Luna. I like to watch Naruto and memes. I want to become a owner of my own business( business type to be announced).

We look forward to participating in STAPLE, which will be the students first public presentation of their own forays into self-publishing!

___ _________________ ___

NAVA is a mexican-american artist, cartoonist, photographer, Augmented Reality pioneer and editor of the international Latino Toons Collective. Since 2017, he has been working with the CAMINOS program teens in developing comics about their own experiences. His works have been published internationally and he has participated in individual exhibits in Mexico, as well as group exhibits in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and the United States. In Austin, he has presented his collective's work at Nerd Nite and other venues. The group's travelling exhibition, is slated to arrive in Austin to the ESB-MACC main gallery in fall of 2019. 

An Interview with Jess Fink, illustrator and creator of CHESTER 5000, WE CAN FIX IT, and just all kinds of online stuff (like KID WITH EXPERIENCE)

By Dave Farabee

Jess Fink wears many hats: illustrator, cartoonist, designer of many a Threadless t-shirt, and more. She's been drawing since she was a kid and earned her degree in Illustration and Cartooning from the School of Visual Arts. Jess has produced female-friendly erotic comics like Chester 5000, a sci-fi autobiography in We Can Fix It, and has many an online offering to be enjoyed from her Tumblr (which we should perhaps mention is NSFW). Alan Moore described her work as "liquid and elegantly stylized." In advance of her STAPLE! appearance, she kindly took time to tell us a little more about herself and her work.

Both erotica and biography are among the less-traveled paths in comicdom, or perhaps just less-discussed in between the Batmans and Walking Deads. What led you to those paths?

I suppose it's because I didn't come from a super hero/marvel/DC comics background. As a kid I was heavily influenced by animation, especially Looney Tunes, I wanted to watch every cartoon. I'd wanted to be an animator since I was 7. The first comic I bought was The Maxx, after seeing it on MTV, and I adored it. I didn't know comics could be like that! After that I dove in and read any indie comic that appealed to me. I also got heavily into manga and anime. In college I read tons of auto bio comics by artists like Julie Duchet, Craig Thompson, Chester Brown, Lynda Barry. It blew my mind to think I could talk about my own life in my comics. As for making erotica, I think it was a thing I always drew and as I got older I just became less ashamed of it. Live action porn had always left me with a bad taste in my mouth and I preferred to make my own. I had a great teacher, Tom Hart, who introduced me to some fantastic erotic comics by Molly Kiely that told stories and were compassionate, funny and sexy. I also found out about Fantagraphics' Eros imprint, and I jumped on submitting things to them right away.

How important is the internet to your livelihood?

Very! It used to be that Erotic comics were kept in the secret, back room of the comic store that no one talked about, not so with web comics. The internet has made it possible for a lot of artists who would otherwise be censored or marginalized to produce their work and find an audience. I love print comics too, but the internet is definitely where I've made my home.

Science fiction tropes from robots to time travel weave through your work. Simply springboards or does science fiction hold any special meaning for you?

I love Science Fiction, I always have. The kind of sci fi I love is usually more focused on talking about what it means to be human, rather than on the awe of new technology though. I guess it's the same with erotica, I want more of this type of sci fi so I try to make it.

How do you strike a balance between humor and drama in your work?

It's super important to me that things be funny. It's always easier for me to believe stories that have humor in them because I think it's just a natural impulse.

The square page format pervades your sequential work, from the formatting of Chester 5000 and We Can Fix It to your autobiographical one-pagers. What led you to that format?

Actually, not all of my work is square! For Chester it felt better to use a square format so I could really fit all the swirling art nouveau panels in and not overwork myself on each page. Recently I've been doing quick auto bio comics in a square just because it's faster and looser. We Can Fix It doesn't have a square format though, and neither do a lot of my older auto bio comics. My comics for the Smut Peddler anthologies have all been standard sizes as well.

An Interview with Writer/Artist Kate Leth, of ADVENTURE TIME, BRAVEST WARRIORS, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, More

by Taryn M. Gray

Kate Leth, of Kate or Die fame, has a lot going for her these days. Hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, the artist/writer/Queen of the Valkyries has her hands full with the New York Times-bestselling Adventure Time: Seeing Red, the ongoing Bravest Warriors comic series, a Fraggle Rock mini and the current Edward Scissorhands mini. We were fortunate enough to grab a few seconds of her time before her big STAPLE! appearance next month.

What has stood out as one of your biggest accomplishments in your career thus far? Your proudest moment since you began working in the comic book industry?

It was very, very exciting to see my first Adventure Time graphic novel make the NYT Bestseller list! Honestly, though, my favorite ongoing experiences are either seeing pictures of kids reading my books or meeting younger fans. I've gotten fan art from kids a few times, and that's one of the best feelings in the world. It's just so great!

How has working in the comic industry changed you? How has it influenced your writing, your art, your attitude or your outlook on life in general?

Well, it's changed pretty much everything. I was a college dropout working in a comic book store before my boss encouraged me to start making my own work! I became a writer when I was offered a writing job. Comics are the first thing I've ever felt like I was good at, and I've become so involved in so many different aspects of it now that I feel like it's my whole life. I read or write or review comics every single day.

In the past year and a half (give or take) you have been spearheading a revolutionary organization - The Valkyries. Can you explain who these women are and what this group means for women and other minority groups who want to become a part of the comic community? [Full disclosure: Both the writer and the editor of this piece are members of the Valkyries. -ed.]

My warrior women! The Valkyries are an amazing group of women who work in, manage, own or otherwise are integral to comic shops all over the world. There are close to 400 members now, and it's growing all the time. It started as a place to chat about the job and swap stories, but it's become so much more than that - there are comic trades, convention meet-ups, files upon files of comics to appeal to every demographic, ongoing discussions about how to host book clubs and ladies' nights; I love every minute of it. I think places like that, safe spaces, are really important. A sense of community goes a long way.

Finally, as the new year begins, what are some of your hopes for the comics community? What advice can you give to make sure we can realize, even achieve, those goals?

Same hopes as always, I suppose! I hope for more diversity and representation in comics. I want to see more women working in and playing interesting roles in all kinds of media. My advice is pretty well tied into that, too: support the kinds of creators and stories you want to see. Keep breathing life into this industry and it'll keep growing and bettering itself all the time.

STAPLE Art for for Charity

Hey folks,

I'm offering some unsold paintings I did at Staple and this past weekend's New Orleans Alternative Media Expo. All of the money is for an outstanding charity too! So, some background on the purpose and the cause, I'm riding again in the BP MS 150 from Houston to Austin and raising money to help fight MS. I'm a bit behind on my goal of raising $2000 so I thought I might offer up some original art if anyone was looking to put some weirdness on their walls. Please check out the following pieces.

Email me (toby at ithinkican dot com) if you are interested in one of them, or maybe request a commissioned piece? Standard donation for one of the 8x5 watercolors has been $65. Please pass this on to friends and strangers alike...









To make a donation online, visit my personal donation page. REMEMBER: Email me if you'd like a particular piece reserved.

Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. Learn about your options by talking to your health care professional and contacting the National MS Society at http://www.nationalmssociety.org/ or 1-800-FIGHT-MS (344-4867).

Our postal address is:
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
733 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10017

Austin, TX, here I come!

I am so excited to be coming to STAPLE. This'll be my first time at the show, Austin, or Texas! I can't wait to meet a brand new group of independent creators and publishers. I'll have a bunch of books I'm really proud of, as well as free comics, buttons and stickers for folks.

What I'm most excited about is I'll be previewing my latest book, What is This? which will first be available in May, exclusively through Uncle Envelope, a subscription-based paper-arts service for kids . You can read the entire thing, or just glance at it, and I'll have information on how to subscribe to Uncle Envelope, so you can be the first to get the comic, and eleven other fantastic months of paper surprises through the mail by some really great names in comics, crafts, and children's literature.

Don't be bashful on the 7th, come up and say "Hi," even if you don't buy anything, we're sure to have a great conversation.