Elizabeth: Browse The Strips

Monday, July 14, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I remember thinking I could dig down to China. I really believed I would come out the other side of the earth to find a completely new civilization. I also believed our beach blanket could fly--as long as I was wrapped up in it and couldn't see. My imagination was so strong, I could feel the wind come under the blanket and lift it up. Because of these memories, I can appreciate the daydreams my granddaughter has. I watch with fascination, hoping she doesn't lose this wonderful gift too fast.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I did this Sunday page after I was squeezed in half by a sadistically designed lawn chair. I brought the chair into my studio and drew the exact position it was in when it maimed me. I felt relieved and vindicated even before the art was published. This job came with unlimited and curative benefits. I was jubilant when I took the chair to the dump.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My kids liked most vegetables, so eating wasn't a problem. A cartoonist who draws on family stuff for gags, however, needs the gag reflex of unpalatable foods--and the thing about peas is, they're funny! Squash is funny because of the name, and of course the goofy shapes it can come in. A head of lettuce can be funny, I guess, but peas are made for comedy. They are hard to get on a fork, look like frog parts, and roll onto the floor easily. They are easy to spit, mash, or fling off a spoon. They can be bright or bilious green depending on how "left over" they are, and dogs, for the most part, hate them. Anything a dog won't eat is usually spurned by kids.

I have done several gags about this maligned dicotyledon, and the surprising result is that I have had no complaints. I thought there was a reader out there for every complaint possible, but so far I have heard nothing from pea fanciers, associations, or "protect the pea" movements, and I'm curious; now that I have mentioned this lack of interest, will I finally hear from these people?

Monday, August 18, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My mother was a wonderful seamstress. She could make anything, which was a blessing because we couldn't afford to buy much in the way of clothing. One year, she found several good quality raincoats at the Salvation Army store. She washed and ironed them, took them apart, and remade them into coats for my brother and me. They were attractive, stylish and beautifully finished. Nobody could tell they had been made from second hand fabric. Even though it looked good on me, I refused to wear mine--not because it was second hand, but because it wasn't what the other kids were wearing. My mom was near tears but said nothing as I put on my blue cardigan. I never did wear that coat. This is one of the many nasty little things I did that I still regret. Guilt. Sometimes, it can last forever!

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Katie was starting grade two when we moved to North Bay. (The children in the strip were three years younger than Katie and Aaron). The little school she attended was about a mile and a half down the road, next to a hobby farm. At lunchtime she and the other children could watch the animals through the fence; a donkey, chickens, and some rabbits. On occasion, the farmer would take the kids for rides on his donkey, which I thought was charming. I said to her, "Katie isn't this a great place to have a school?! This is something you'll remember for the rest of your life!" and she replied, "Yeah, I will --'cause it stinks!"

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Aaron's grade two teacher in Lynn Lake told me that little kids felt good about seeing their classmates coats on the hooks outside their rooms because it meant that their friends were there. If a coat was missing, they noticed right away and were worried. Sheena had some wonderful observations about the kids in her charge and I said to her, "If you ever write a book, I'll illustrate it." Sheena Baker wrote, "There's A Worm in my Apple," which I did illustrate. It's out of print now, but it was a sweet and funny read. It was released in 1985 by Stoddart Publishing and the ISBN number is: 0-7737-5029-0. Maybe you can find it online somewhere. I still laugh when I read it!

Friday, August 29, 2014

Lynn's Comments: In Lynn Lake, we would walk the kids to school. When we moved to rural Ontario, even though Kate's school was close by, the bus would pick her up and drop her off at our mailbox everyday. Aaron, too, caught the school bus, and because he went to a different school, he had to transfer to another bus in town. For both of them, it was a whole new experience, in a very different place.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Listening to Katie talking to her dollies, I realized I was hearing myself. Her choice of words, her phrases, inflections, and body language, had all been learned from me. I'm sure I was parroting my mother when I directed my children, and now that I'm a grandmother, I'm waiting to hear if my granddaughter will talk the way HER mother does!

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My folks used to take us to farms in the Fraser Delta for fresh strawberries. Both Alan and I were too young to enjoy picking, but we sure liked eating them. One day when our family was standing at the checkout with our baskets of strawberries, the man at the till looked at my brother with a curious smile. Alan was covered from his mouth to his navel in red juice. The man picked him up, put him on a big metal scale, and announced that he had to charge for the extra weight of the berries inside. He was kidding, but Dad paid him a little extra anyway.

Every summer we went as a family to get fresh fruit in season. In the Okanagan, we got peaches, plums, and apricots. It was a long drive but worth it. Mom canned everything, so we had the luxury of fruit preserves all winter long. Nothing tasted like the fresh stuff, though, and on one trip, Dad said we kids could eat whatever we wanted--so we did! As I said, it was a long drive home. With two kids full of fresh fruit, it's easy to imagine the results. We used the "roadside" washroom many times, with Mom hiding us behind her skirt as Dad looked madly around for paper!

Monday, September 8, 2014

Lynn's Comments: The Enjos provided both Elizabeth and Michael with friends to play with--I wanted the whole family to integrate with the Pattersons. This is always the hope when new folks move into the neighbourhood, and I could make it happen in the strip!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Lynn's Comments: These ornate dolls were based on a collection in Louise Masuda's house. Children in Japan often receive these lovely figures as gifts. They form a large retinue of characters with different levels of importance, so after many years, you can have a sizeable number--arranged in order of their station. They are heirlooms not toys, and eventually a showcase is needed to display them in. I thought this was a wonderful idea and so I included them here.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My dad made us a leaf press and we used it a lot. After we left home, my mom continued to use it for the 4-leaf clovers she found. She would place the dried leaves between two sheets of sticky acetate and laminate them; then she'd put them into cards and letters--sending a bit of luck along with her regards. To this day, I have a box of her 4-leaf clovers. They are too precious now to send.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My mom could make a casserole out of anything. In turn, I too have no fear of this classic leftover surprise. My friend Kelly once told me that her husband refused to eat leftovers. I asked if she had offered them to him in a casserole. She said, "No, because he'd find out." "What do you think quiche and stir fry and pizza and soup are made of?" I argued. "Bits of stuff from the refrigerator, cut up and fashioned into something ELSE!" She said she hadn't thought of that, and we set about making a great pot of soup out of what was left in her fridge. It was a delicious brew, and her husband ate it with relish (and buns). When he was done, he asked her how she'd made it, and she replied, "soup mix," referring to a mix of stuff from the refrigerator. "Good," he said, "as long as it's not made from leftovers."

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Lynn's Comments: One of my husband's favourite sayings--when he was facing a seemingly impossible task was, "Details! details!"--meaning that anything can be done. This was a family inside joke, which the kids really enjoyed.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Lynn's Comments: When my brother was moved to his new bedroom in the basement, I thought I'd love having a room to myself. My mother replaced the kiddie curtains with flowered drapes and made a bedspread to match. I had a new dressing table and a white headboard for my bed. It was a room to be proud of. Still, when the trees outside whistled in the wind and their branches made stark, skeletal patterns on the walls, I'd lie there, terrified. Now that I was alone, spooks, goblins, and other imaginary evils were coming nightly to "get me." During one very bad storm, my mother got out of bed to see if I was all right. As she opened the door to my room, lightning shook the house, and the flash turned my mother into a silhouette shrouded in a glowing, transparent gown. I screamed as hard as I could! She never did understand why I was so frightened by her--I couldn't explain what I'd seen. It was something I couldn't describe. This is the way I remember that evening.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Lynn's Comments: After Halloween, Katie would save up her goodies until Aaron went dry. Unlike her older sibling, she could restrain herself from eating all of her stash at once--which surprised me. Of the two children, she had the sweetest tooth. We even called her "Cake" instead of "Kate" because she liked desserts so much. At the end of October, however, willpower set in. She could hoard her gains in full view, then savour each morsel after Aaron's was long gone. I remember watching him as he pretended not to be fazed by the sounds of crinkling wrappers followed by lip smacking and the sound of "mmmmmm." I was surprised that he didn't pounce on her or ask me for a treat to make up for the discrepancy. He just put up with the injustice, and I wondered when and how he'd get even, because this would come about, guaranteed. Like my brother and me, my kids were creative teases!

Monday, November 3, 2014

Lynn's Comments: The malapropisms kids use while learning the language are so much fun. Words like "awfuls" for "waffles" and "Anointed Stakes of America" made me laugh out loud. My mother told me she once wrote an essay on the copulation of Canada and how it grew bigger after the first world war. I never thought I'd get away with using that one, but I did.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Lynn's Comments: The strips I did on skating and hockey moms always struck a chord. Parents who spend a good part of their time sitting on hard benches in cold arenas while their offspring scramble over the ice should be given their own special place in heaven. It will be warm, have comfortable seating and the coffee will not taste like socks.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Lynn's Comments: In North Bay, we had access to some great sports facilities, so the kids were soon skating, swimming, and playing hockey. My car was on the road constantly--ferrying them to the rink or the "Y," or wherever the game was to be, and I had a rule: four trips only. I would only drive into town four times in a day. This was met with some confusion, as I had counted each way, there and back, as separate trips! The rule was then changed to eight trips. AAAUGH!

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I have a friend whose worst accidents at home have been because of her dog. She has tripped over him, fallen over him on the stairs and she even broke her foot when he pulled her down an icy sidewalk one winter. Her favourite quote was "When I saw him at the shelter, I just fell for him!"

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Once again--a true-to-life bit of stupidity became a Sunday strip. It was one of those things that made me say to myself, "What was I thinking? I KNEW that would happen!" Because these events made such good material, I was almost HAPPY to have done something silly! When I could use a situation, make fun of it, exaggerate it, draw all of the expressions, delve into the body language--I was grateful! Knowing this, my kids would try to diminish a situation by saying, "Hey, you can use that in the strip!" Using the strip as an outlet was convenient. I didn't need a therapist; I just poured my thoughts into the ether and waited for the results to come back. Always, there was someone out there who felt the same way I did, someone had had the same experience exactly and could identify. Their letters were wonderful. There's nothing more comforting than knowing you're not alone!