Last September, Lynn was invited to give her “chalk talk” at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., coinciding with her show at the Canadian Embassy.
Here is the full video of Lynn’s 1-hour presentation! Enjoy:
Author Archives: fborfwnews
Lynn on Geoff Grogan’s Blockhead Podcast
Cartoonist Geoff Grogan recently interviewed Lynn for his “Blockhead” Podcast! You can listen to part one here. Part two will be online soon!
Episode 36: Lynn Johnston on Blockhead! Need I say more? One of the greatest cartoonists of the last 50 years talks with Geoff about her life, career and her ground-breaking and beloved syndicated comic strip, “For Better or For Worse”.
A Fun Project: Meet Our New Alien Sculpture
One of our “surface designs” featuring whimsical space aliens.
When my daughter, Katie, and I moved into our new studio and office location, we were surprised by the size of the space we had. When everything is under construction, things look quite different. The finished interior—all white and empty—made us wonder just how to colour it up!
Our unit has two floors, with an atrium in the middle and an open stairway to the upper level. One of the “surface designs” we created is made up of funny outer-space characters, so we wondered if it would be possible—instead of installing the usual kind of light fixture—to hang a spaceship in the atrium. Through an interior decorator, we were connected to a wonderful team of sculptors on Granville Island, who specialize in large outdoor art installations.
Mike Vandermeer and Cheryl Hamilton at ieCreative can make anything! I took them a sketch of a spaceship with a character inside, and asked if it would be possible to build a 3D model and if it could light up! Always up for a challenge, Mike and Cheryl have built and installed the most wonderful sculpture. It looks exactly like my original sketch!
It’s about 4 feet in diameter, and has a plexiglass dome on the bottom in which you can see tentacles. As you ascend the stairs, you can see the goofy alien inside. He sits in control of his flying saucer, grinning ear to…well, he has no ears.
The finished lamp!
My 5-year-old grandson has named our alien “Beep-Bop”. Fortunately the lamp is silent—but it does change colour! Mike created a system which allows a soft, glowing light to shine in a series of brilliant colours. The whole thing lights up my day. We wanted to show you our new sculpture–just to let you see what can be done when you get a bunch of funny folks together with an idea, some resources, and some skillful engineering.
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- Michael and Cheryl carefully assemble the lamp.
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- Getting it into place!
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- The lamp in blue.
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- The lamp lit up in pink.
Katie and I are looking forward to working with Mike and Cheryl again…we just have to come up with another crazy idea!!
bCreative adds “For Better or For Worse” to brand portfolio
Jan 13, 2020
For Immediate Release:
Contact-
Bill Barrow
bCreative, Inc. – Executive Vice-President
bbarrow@bcreative.com 519-577-1911
Charlottesville, VA.
bCreative adds “For Better or For Worse” to brand portfolio.
bCreative is pleased to announce the addition of For Better or For Worse comic art to its licensing portfolio. Scott Gardiner, President of bCreative, states “It’s a true pleasure working with Lynn Johnston and her team on the For Better or For Worse brand. It’s not often that you get to collaborate with the creator of an iconic comic strip that has such fabulous multi-generational appeal. We’re thrilled to partner with licensees to bring the designs to life for the millions of fans”. The portfolio includes classic art from the comic strips, as well as newly created artwork and patterned designs featuring the Patterson family and their beloved dog Farley. “What’s really awesome,” Gardiner continues, “is that while the fan base of the strip will be drawn to licensed products featuring the beloved characters, the universality and timelessness of the humor and themes mean that all audiences, even ones that have never heard of the For Better Or For Worse comic strip will be attracted to and purchase licensed products featuring Farley and the family members.
For licensing opportunities please contact Bill Barrow bbarrow@bcreative.com
Lynn Wins A “Sergio” Award
Last May, at the Reuben awards, Sergio Aragonés–the master of the wordless MAD “marginals” and author of “Groo“–asked if I would accept the “Sergio” award, named in his honour, from the California based Comic Art Professional Society, or CAPS for short.
I said I would be more than happy to…and I was! On November 9th, I was presented with the very funny and coveted statuette of Sergio himself, at a small banquet at the Airport Burbank Hotel.
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- Lynn With Sergio
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- Lynn With Her Partner, Paul
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- Sergio and Lonnie Millsap
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- Lynn and Sergio Again
Some of my best pals were there. Greg Evans (Luann) gave a roast of yours truly–for which I now owe him a clobbering rebuttal–and Cathy Guisewite (Cathy) made a most wonderful introduction, over which I am still feeling pretty misty-eyed.
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- Lynn and Greg Evans
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- Lynn with Sergio and Cathy Guisewite
Over the years, we syndicated cartoonists have all become family. It’s a crazy career with its ups and downs–a sort of stand-up comedy gig, but from basements and quiet studios, hidden from our audiences. We understand, respect and admire the people who share this coveted newspaper real estate. A comic strip isn’t an easy job.
While in Burbank, Paul and I had the opportunity to spend time with Cathy, which was wonderful. Now that we are retired, we can actually sit and talk about other things! We enjoyed lunch, dinner, and some lingering cups of coffee and we introduced her dog, Leo, to bacon….something for which Cathy has some regret.
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- Leo, Cathy’s Dog
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- Paul and Lynn Introduced Leo to Bacon
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- Lynn at Cathy’s House
We spent time with the CAPS members, some of whom work at the Disney studios. On the morning of our departure, we were treated to a tour of Disney’s products department, which works on things such as books, toys, and clothing. It’s a maze of cubicles–and in each one works a creative genius. I’m not kidding. In one fast tour, we met some of the most talented artists on earth.
The “Sergio” Itself!
After lunch at the company commissary, and a promise to come back for the animation tour, we caught our flight back to Vancouver, almost missing our boarding time. The Sergio statuette had caught the attention of the security system and had to be thoroughly inspected. The funny part was seeing the look on the guards’ faces as they found “Sergio” standing on a pedestal, holding a dripping pen. It really is a funny bronze statuette, and it’s now one of my most favourite things. What an honour. What a gift.