Whoa.
We knew it was time to stand and celebrate creators and their work, to celebrate the very idea of “inspiration” and how to make work, and the concept of bettering yourself as an artist and storyteller to establish that YOU are the commodity, not a particular book or project.
We had no idea how well received TR!CKSTER would be. To honestly hear consistently and often these words: “Thank you for doing this,” absolutely makes the effort, blood, sweat and tears preparing and executing TR!CKSTER all the more worth it. And we bled. We sweated. We cried. We left our families and friends and day jobs behind to produce what would hopefully make people smile.
People did more than smile, they thoroughly enjoyed most every moment they spent: moments discovering new work by “unknown” creators alongside their favorite writers and artists; moments exploring technique, theory, and method in the Symposia; moments relaxing and actually concentrating looking at the person you’re talking to rather than the top of their head as they sign stacks of books.
The Odyssey of TR!CKSTER began with a truckload of books shipped to us in advance and hauled 500 miles south to San Diego. The truck blew two tires on separate occasions. Our endeavor looked bleak at times as we plowed forth. We discovered a lot of things that “work” at TR!CKSTER and a lot of things we’ll do drastically differently. Expect more learning-based events in the future and better executed opportunities to enjoy and appreciate original art. Expect more relaxed mornings and expect to spend your evening hours in an environment of pros and enthusiasts standing on equal ground.
Expect more pros. Again, in the same sort of situations: casual, relaxed, and excited to talk about comics and storytelling. We were absolutely flabbergasted by the level of enthusiasm from the comics-making community…and film-making community. And music-making community. We’ll work to incorporate academic-based events that’ll help us ALL reflect and explore the varied ways in which we can better make our work of a higher quality and more accessible to our audiences.
These are the tired ramblings of TR!CKSTER, the first words of decompression that will issue forth in the weeks to come. Stay tuned, and rest. Prepare as we build towards…
… TR!CK2TER …
