What is Meditation? PAGES 43-45 + ROTHKO & Mississauga

"WHAT IS MEDITATION? And Why Should I do it?" is now complete!  I am super-excited that Editions TRIP Comix of Montreal is scheduled to release it at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) in May, 2018 in both English and French.

I've already started work on my next book--ROTHKO--a cartoon biography of my favourite artist, Mark Rothko.  Here is me, eating some Rothko-esque pastry to celebrate.

 

 Eating Rothko-like pastry

Here is Mark Rothko.

 

Mark Rothko with "Number 7," 1960

Here are some paintings by Mark Rothko.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, I'll keep posting "WHAT IS MEDITATION?" panel by panel on Instagram and Facebook... Here are pages 42-45!

Finally, I hope you can make it to the Independent Comic Artists Exhibition at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre from January 13 to March 18, 2018.

 

What is Meditation?

(page 43)

 

What is Meditation?

(page 44)

 

 

What is Meditation?

(page 45)



What is Meditation? (work in progress) PAGES 40-42

“What is Meditation? And Why Should I Do It?” is an ongoing confessional slapstick autobiography docu-comic about meditation—daily panels can be found on Instagram under Poopsiepenguin... and Facebook.

Last night I finally completed finished a first draft--including comic book interviews with living teachers Ed Muzika and Fred Prack, a "Notes" section with tips on How to Meditate and Comics Masters who influenced this project, plus the complete typed transcripts of Ed and Fred's original interviews--it came in at 107 pages.  EXCITED!

  I am open to any questions, comments or good anecdotes.

Email:    teacherintherye@hotmail.com

What is Meditation?

(page 40)

What is Meditation?

(page 41)

What is Meditation?

(page 42)

Independent Comic Artists Exhibition at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre! (Jan. 13 - Mar. 18, 2018)

Featuring original artwork pages from the artists; a reading space for the public; artists drawing on the gallery windows; video loops of actors reading comics and a live reading with improvised soundtrack at the opening night reception!

Participating artists: Caeleigh Boara, Claudio Ghirardo, Joy Sans, Katie Shanahan, Matthew Brown
We do still need $600.00 to cover the rent. Please consider having a look at the Indiegogo fundraising site for the MLAC Independent Comic Artists Exhibition and dropping a few dollars!

https://igg.me/at/ComicsExhibition/x/5372526

What is Meditation? (work in progress) PAGES 37-39

“What is Meditation? And Why Do It?” is an ongoing confessional slapstick autobiography docu-comic about meditation—daily panels can be found on Instagram under Poopsiepenguin... and Facebook.

These pages continue the live comics interview with spiritual teacher Frederick "Korim" Prack--explaining how the individual builds their "mental map" of the world in early life, the emergence of "should's" which form a key part of our mental map and cause conflicts with the world, and the key role of awareness.

I've finished all the pages with artwork, and am now working on lettering the final sections about "How to Meditate" and "Comics Masters whose Work has Influenced this Project!"  Then I've got to scan and photoshop them.

Hopefully the book will be ready to launch by May, 2018.  There may even be a simultaneously released French translation... Peut-être même une traduction en français diffusée simultanément!

  Get in touch if you like what you see!

Email:    teacherintherye@hotmail.com

What is Meditation?

(page 37)

What is Meditation?

(page 38)

What is Meditation?

(page 39)

THE CLIFF reviewed on Shelf Abuse dot Com!

Carl Doherty's great review is reproduced in its entirety below.  However, I highly recommend visiting his wonderful site directly: http://www.shelfabuse.com/graphic-novel-reviews/cliff-graphic-novel-review/

I can't thank Carl enough for this gem of a summation, and the full gamut from laudatory to critical which he achieves with acuity!

GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEWS

THE CLIFF GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW

SEPTEMBER 18, 2017 CARL DOHERTY LEAVE A COMMENT

2017, Trip Comix
Written and illustrated by Matthew Brown

When I reviewed Matthew Brown’s Architecture Department last year in Indie Penance #8, I wrote that I “didn’t have a much better idea of what it was about as I reached the final page. But that didn’t stop me from loving the book and wanting to read it again soon.” Well, Brown has once again evoked a state of befuddled joy with The Cliff, his second book set within the titular vertical world.

While I believe it began life before Architecture Department (Brown’s Master’s of Architecture thesis forged into a graphic celebration of design), The Cliff continues the world constructed withinthat book, and is a similarly existential passage through a world of improbable structures and allegorical personalities.

The plot, for what little justice summarising it can do, follows mafia prince Mutt Blue, whose desire to explore the lower levels of the Cliff sees him exiled from his family and commencing a journey of self-discovery. In an increasingly surreal adventure that seems to take as many elements from Samuel Beckett and Lewis Carroll as it does Cerebus the Aardvark and Peanuts, Mutt finds love and friendship, explores the dark secrets behind his heritage by visiting Earth under the protective wing of a detective penguin, and discovers that you truly can never go home again.

A labour of love that took 13 years to complete, The Cliff is comprised of a “cycle” of five books with a discernable 7-year gap between the first and second instalments. It’s fascinating to see the shift in Brown’s art style and approach to storytelling here; his work is often rudimentary in places and defiantly inconsistent, and therein lies its charm. The Cliff feels raw and personal in places, yet equally detached through its heavy surrealism and symbolism in others; a potently esoteric concoction that lends the plot the mystery of a labyrinthine puzzle. At times, it’s apparent what the author is alluding to, but then the story will take a sudden turn into territory so unexpected that you’ll doubt your initial interpretation. As with Architecture Department, I finished the book convinced that I’d appreciated it merely on surface level and would only glean more on future visits.

The Cliff is for a very specific kind of comic book reader. If you’ve made it this far into the review then you probably know whether or not that’s you. If you’re tired of the same old genre crap, and ready to embrace work that marches to the beat of its own drum, then you owe to yourself to check out Matthew Brown’s work. In an era where so many talented artists and writers limit themselves by producing work for a pre-existing audience, Brown is that rare creator confident enough to take the sort of risks in his storytelling that defy reader expectations. Not all those risks pay off – certainly the Earthbound portion of the story didn’t grip me as much as the Cliff sections that bookend it – but the medium is far richer for those few brave comic creators slinging the tangled inner workings of their heart and mind onto the page with abandon.

Check out Matthew Brown’s books and other autobiographical works at www.ambientzero.blogspot.co.uk.

What is Meditation? (work in progress) PAGES 34-36

“What is Meditation? And Why Do It?” is an ongoing confessional slapstick autobiography docu-comic about meditation—daily panels can be found on Instagram under Poopsiepenguin... and Facebook.

These pages start the live comics interview with spiritual teacher Frederick "Korim" Prack--explaining how the individual builds their "mental map" of the world in early life, the emergence of "should's" which form a key part of our mental map and cause conflicts with the world, and the key role of awareness.

I have reached my goal for the summer--I completed the entire 73 pages of the graphic novel before heading back to full-time teaching!  Now I just have to fill in a few remaining pages of shading and solid blacks, complete the lettering on a bunch of Notes, and correct all of the new pages on Photoshop!  

Hopefully the book will be ready to launch by May, 2018.  There may even be a simultaneously released French translation... Peut-être même une traduction en français diffusée simultanément!

  Happy to receive your inquiries!

Email:    teacherintherye@hotmail.com

What is Meditation?

(page 34)

What is Meditation?

(page 35)

What is Meditation?

(page 36)

Good news! THE CLIFF in the Library + Mississauga Living Arts Center

Hurray!  The Toronto Public Library has purchased 4 copies of THE CLIFF!  Now THE CLIFF will be sharing shelf space with the likes of Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez, Will Eisner, Daniel Clowes and a host of great cartoonists for the public to enjoy!

Liyat Benchetrit, Jacob Pendergrast, Morgan Phillips

Jacob Pendergrast, Sarah Goodman, Liyat Benchetrit, Morgan Phillips, Colin Matthews

News item: We went into the recording studio this week to record voice tracks for the Local Comic Artists exhibition coming this January-February 2018 at the Mississauga Living Arts Center!  Pages from THE CLIFF will be up in the gallery, along with a video installation of actors reading Book 5 to an original soundtrack by the Cliff Ensemble, plus a live reading with actors and musicians at the opening!  (Watch this space for further details!)

Morgan, Matthew, Colin, Mikhial's elbow, Liyat, Sarah, Jacob

Present at Tuesday's session were actors Morgan Phillips, Sarah Goodman, Jacob Pendergrast, Liyat Benchetrit and Colin Matthews, engineer Mikhial Gurarie, studio impresario Paul Swoger-Ruston and myself--your humble narrator.  These pictures and video shot by the excellent actors hopefully give some idea of the fun we had exploring the heights and depths of THE CLIFF--in glorious stereo!

Colin, Liyat, Matthew, Jacob

Liyat, Matthew, Jacob - Video by Sarah

Me, Crad Kilodney and Chester Brown

I habitually forget that one of my first commissions (other than painting a copy of a Picasso for a Taiwanese account executive's condo living room) was drawing the cover of Junior Brain Tumors in Action for Toronto self-publishing legend, Crad Kilodney who used to sell his self-published books on the street in the 1980's and early 1990's... since then he has, unfortunately, passed away.

Anyway, I was reminded by a mention in Chester Brown's excellent page on Patreon -- I suggest everyone support Chester, one of the greatest living cartoonists!  -- anyway, it mentions that back in high school I drew the cover for this book, which I no longer have a copy of.  It was meant as a parody of some school primer that kids used to have in the 1950's.

"Junior Brain Tumors in Action"

by Crad Kilodney, 1990 (cover by Matthew Brown)

Crad Kilodney in action

Click on link to go directly to Chester's Patreon site - https://www.patreon.com/posts/6601903

(Quotation follows: )

"Matthew — I’d forgotten that you did a cover for one of Crad Kilodney’s books, but now I remember that when I saw that cover I was a bit jealous, thinking something like, 'Why hasn’t Crad asked ME to do a cover for him? Doesn’t he like my work?' Thinking about it, I don’t recall him ever complimenting me on anything, although I must have told him how much I enjoyed his stuff, particularly those last two books, Excrement and Putrid Scum. I’m hoping this documentary will trigger a posthumous interest in his work and that some publisher will put those two books back into print.

Matthew Brown - Poopsie the Penguin

Hi Chester! That would be fantastic. I'm not sure why Crad asked me... maybe he figured he could pay me a cheap rate because I was still in high school. Plus, I had two cute female friends (fellow high school students) who came with me to visit his place, so maybe that tipped the scales...? I do recall as they were analyzing his movie poster of a giant ant eating a well-endowed heroine, he had a gleeful glint in his eye. Or I was just malleable or something. There's no way my drawing matched anything you could do!"

12m

What is Meditation? (work in progress) PAGES 31-33

“What is Meditation? CONSCIOUS AWARENESS” is an ongoing confessional slapstick autobiography docu-comic about meditation—daily panels can be found on Instagram under Poopsiepenguin... and Facebook.

These pages conclude the live comics interview portion with spiritual teacher Edward "Edji" Muzika--driving home his teachings on consciousness, human identity and Self-realization under his own teacher, Robert Adams.

I'm currently working on page 61!  Please direct inquiries or comments to

Email:    teacherintherye@hotmail.com

What is Meditation?

(page 31)

What is Meditation?

GUEST STARRING: Robert Adams

(page 32)

What is Meditation?

(page 33)

THE CLIFF Graphic Novel Book 5, "The King" - Live Reading Video!

Live Graphic Novel
Reading – THE CLIFF, Book Five - “The King”

Intrepid hero Mutt Blue finds his way back to the Nexus Island to enlist his travel companions Torvek and Partridge to meet a mysterious bearded bureaucrat who runs the universe—The King.
However, while for Mutt it only seems to be a week since he swam off toVaranasi with Poopsie the Penguin, for Torvek and Partridge fifteen years have passed; they are reluctant to leave their settled lives. 

Mutt must go it alone to meet The King, find love, and figure out why he is alive.

Live reading at Red Eye Espresso, Toronto – July 8, 2017

Voice actors: Morgan Phillips, Jacob Pendergrast, Colin Matthews, Sarah Goodman, Liyat Benchetrit and Tova Epp. 

Musicians: Adam Reich, Mikhial Gurarie, Paul Swoger-Ruston and Matthew Brown. 

Slide Advancer: Quyen Tieu. 

THE CLIFF graphic novel is available in Toronto at Red Eye Espresso, The Beguiling, Silver Snail, Doug Miller Books, University of Toronto Bookstore, Sonic Boom, Page & Panel, Book City on the Danforth and Seekers Books.

Available online from Editions TRIP Comix - http://editionstrip.tumblr.com/

Available in Toronto or via email from Matthew Brown – teacherintherye@hotmail.com

Info and news about Matthew Brown’s graphic novel projects can be found online at www.ambienzero.blogspot.ca

Or, follow Matthew Brownon Instagram! 

https://www.instagram.com/poopsiepenguin

Know Your CLIFF Characters!

Here's your chance to know the CLIFF characters!  What are their hangups?  What do they like to do?  Could you dance to the same song?  Or would you drive each other crazy?

Name: Muttula "Mutt" Blue

Occupation: Exiled mafia prince.

Relationship status: Anguished.

Likes: Long walks on the beach, sense of identity.

Favourite song: "Beginning to See the Light" 

by The Velvet Underground

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MGu697BMss

Name: Partridge Bark

Occupation: Aspiring novelist.

Relationship status: Encounters in geological places of interest, attracted to power.

Likes: Glum passion, erotic nay-saying.

Favourite song: "Shoulder Holster" 

by Morcheeba

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgjUVDxjvmY 

Name: Honky the Pig

Occupation: Assassin, gun for hire.

Relationship status: Obsessive jealousy bordering on ecstatic devotion.

Likes: Revenge, shooting, word play.

Favourite song: "Under Cover of the Night" 

by the Rolling Stones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVJkfXeTs9Q 

Name: Poopsie the Penguin

Occupation: Private detective, part-time minor deity, trans-dimensional guide.

Relationship status: In love with his secretary but afraid to tell her.

Likes: Water, jokes, travel.

Favourite song: "Hat and Beard" 

by Eric Dolphy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tnPkQufnZY&list=PL923EB42A5CC1582C&index=1

Name: The King

Occupation: Bureaucrat running the universe.

Relationship status: Married, with kids.

Likes: Earnest effort, candid inquiry, sexual tension and the occasional cigarette.

Favourite song: "I Am the Walrus" 

by the Beatles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqbZjr5PY1w

Women of THE CLIFF (from left to right) 

Rebecca Nurse (Poopsie the Penguin's secretary)

Lolita Perspecks (The King's receptionist)

Partridge Bark (aspiring novelist)

Quongo Retoola (Mutt Blue's girlfriend)

Anita Raymont-Rotinski (anti-police activist & daughter of Sheriff Raymont Raymont)

Mei-Mei Castiglione (detergent billionairess's niece)

Luxy Fan Belt (detergent billionairess)

Theme song: "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon)" 

by the Mamas & the Papas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N73Md2Z7M0A

People of THE CLIFF: Nexus Island, Varanasi and Moronto (from left to right) 

Fafa Raymont-Rotinski, Anita Raymont-Rotinski (holding Boo-Boo Raymont Rotinski,) Sheriff Raymont Raymont, Partridge Bark, Torvek Rotinski, Muttula "Mutt" Blue, Honky the Pig, Poopsie the Penguin, Laxmi Blue, Rebecca Nurse, Ganga Fan Belt Blue (holding doll,) Sgt. Rajesh

Theme song: "Stronger Through the Years"

by Roxy Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2ELVdXutp4

Copies of THE CLIFF Graphic Novel are available in Toronto at these fine establishments!

Page and Panel Comic Store - 789 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4W 2G8
Seekers Bookstore - 509 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 2N5
Doug Miller Bookstore -  650 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M6G 1K9
The Beguiling Comic Store - 319 College St, Toronto, ON M5T 1S2
Silver Snail Comic Store - 329 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M5B 1R7
University of Toronto Bookstore - 214 College St, Toronto, ON M5T 3A1
Book City on the Danforth - 348 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 1N8
Sonic Boom Music Store - 215 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2C7
Red Eye Espresso Shop - 29 McCaul Street, Toronto, ON M5T 1V7

Or directly from me--I will mail them to you with a personalized sketch--ORIGINAL PAGES OF ARTWORK ARE ALSO FOR SALE!  Please email me if interested - Matthew Brown.    teacherintherye@hotmail.com