I also went to and reviewed ICE CREAM last year when Mission Creek took place and instantly volunteered for a second year because I loved it so much. I have a huge affinity for art, and love seeing and learning more about what artists are doing locally. ICE CREAM is one of many expos that easily allow us to see a huge selection of art from people who are doing their work in or around Iowa.

ICE CREAM was already so much better this year based on the expo taking up two floors of Public Space One as opposed to just the basement. When I went last year, there were so many booths in one room that it was hard to stay still and look at one specific artist’s work. Having more artists spread across two different floors made it so much easier to admire and spend more time at each individual table.

(The artists I’m going to talk about are just a few of the amazing and great and fantastic people that were at this event.)

Initially, I found it odd that Ian Huebert had only a few items on his table when so many people around him had a plethora of work sitting out on theirs. Then, as I started talking with him, he told me that he bound, wrote, printed, and illustrated everything on his own. This if a lot of work for one single person to do, and I admire him for being able to do it all on his own and still get such an amazing product out of it. In this case, owning some of Huebert’s work is meaningful just for all of the time and hard work was put into it.

Next, I stopped at Ms. Harkness‘ booth to look at her comics. She’s the type of lady that you can tell from afar is a gigantic badass. As I started flipping through her comics, I guess she could tell that I was a gigantic cat lady. She showed me the comic she drew inspired by her cat, Dutchess, called Floor Troll. I saw the beautiful illustrations of her sassy (and/or semi-demonic) cat and knew that there was something special about it.

She also had comics about a wrestling belt that a one night stand left at her house, giving her the fuel to pretend she was a wrestling champion for a month. She also had a comic about trying to have sex at the airport. Ms. Harkness is someone who doesn’t have any shame in anything and decides to make art out of hilarious situations. I admire her for that.

Next, I visited probably my favorite booth at ICE CREAM, Vice Versa Press. The lady that was showing her art, Julia Arredondo, was probably one of the nicest people I have ever met. When I told her that I was at the expo to write for the campus radio station and that my friend and I had just finished a show half an hour prior, she was so welcoming and wanted to talk with us about all of the different shows she listens to. She found something to connect with me, and that was really neat.

I also, of course, found the art super cool. There was one piece specifically called Empty Bedrooms that was simple but also extremely moving. It is, as the title suggests, a series of illustrations of Arredondo’s empty bedrooms from her living spaces between 2005-2012 compiled into a zine. There’s something haunted and nostalgic about looking at her drawings, even though I had obviously no idea what the stories behind them were. I could help but leave with a copy of it.

As I walked over to Epi Climate‘s table, I realized that the guy behind the table, Matthew, was almost done drawing my best friend who was scanning all of the tables with me. I, personally, think that the best thing for an artist to do as they show their art is make new art that people around them can see their process and get to know their style a little bit better. He also let him keep the caricature he made and drew me as well.

His art revolves around nature and preserving the Earth, which is something that is so important to talk about and spread awareness for, especially right now. I also loved his use of green and blue as his two major colors, since it’s an easy way to keep people’s minds thinking about the planet.

Lastly, I visited a pal that I met at last year’s ICE CREAM event. Brady Wülf’s art has always stuck out to me because it is such a distinctive style. When I saw his work last year, he definitely had an impact on my own style and helped me see that it’s definitely ok to not be a have hyperrealistic style. I will always be a huge fan on his work for that.

Check out this list of all of these delightful and nice people’s Instagrams so that we can all give them some love!!!

Ian Huebert

Ms. Harkness

Vice Versa Press

Epi Climate

Brady Wülf

The post Mission Creek: ICE CREAM @ Public Space One 4/8/17 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Public Space One looked completely different than it did the one other time I’d ever been there (for a Paperback Rhino show.) There were no rows of chairs, instead a maze of fold-out tables, each with a completely different style of art on top of them. There was a crowd that was large enough to make me feel a little uncomfortable, but small enough that once you found a place to stand, you wouldn’t be bothered. Around thirty artists were there, and I was satisfied with almost all of their work.

First, I stopped at the Work Press & Publication table, which was right next to the door.  According to the publication’s website, Work Press & Publication was created in 2013 “to provide a physical and virtual genesis, storehouse, and marketplace for artistic publications and images.” I really liked the logo of Work Press & Publications, since the type seems to have a vintage feel to it. In fact, most of the type that was used for covers of zines, newspapers, or books that were at the table drew me in because they looked like something that you could see at a circus or on an advertisement  in the 30’s or 40’s. They all had that kind of simple typography with simple colors, especially yellow and red. I liked the look of the work that was set out. Something I found interesting was the Work Press & Publications  Sunday Morning Comics, a small-run newsprint publication that collects comics from artists around the world. Collaboration is essential for any art-based company and the Comics seem like a great way to provide a source of community for illustrators and comic artists.

Next was Jonathan Sims, the creator of a comic book called Floating Bunnyhead. On the back of his business cards, Sims printed a fun description of the comic book: Floating Bunnyhead is an awesome comic book. I mean, we got Floating Bunnyhead (the disembodied rabbit noggin), Armless Bear (the massively magenta ursine amputee), Slicey (the piping hot piece of pizza), and Raptoro (the Saturday morning cartoon pinata-sauras), and they all are saving the world in exciting encounters with villains, jerks, robots, buttheads, aliens, ancient evils, and even more buttheads! I think that Jonathan Sims had the most overt creativity in the building, and the style of his artwork showed it. Some of it was crude, but that was the point. He also has an Instagram, which is a great way to keep tabs on what an artist is doing (and sometimes he posts pictures of a stunning adorable black cat).

After I snaked around a few more rows of tables, I saw a man sketching a really cool piece that looked like a city street. He turned out to be Will Santino and based on the work that was laid out on his table he was a versatile artist. He had a stack of children’s books named My Week about a young boy’s summer that he wrote and illustrated. I would recommend My Week for any kid that wants to have a gigantic imagination. The different pages of the book each had their own style but are still clearly illustrated by the same artist. There were also a variety of prints that looked like they were all different mediums, from paintings to digital to drawings and sketches. The versatility of Will Santino was really interesting.

The next artist that I saw was probably my personal favorite of the artists at the expo. Brady Wulf had his entire table full of tiny sketches and drawings, none of them more than a few inches across. Most sketches were only black ink on paper, but a few of them had some color. There were a few stacks of an (as Wulf describes on his Tumblr page) “comic/art/future propaganda pamphlet.” One big painting was set in the middle of the small drawings. There was also a small sign on the front edge of the table that said Wulf would attempt to draw anything someone were to ask for and would only ask one dollar for it. I really like that he was willing to draw whatever a person wanted, and was confident enough to offer. Being able to think quickly and sketch something on command is something that I admire, especially when that artist has their own distinct style. Wulf’s cartoony, yet somehow-realistic style was really interesting to me. I will definitely keep and eye on his work.

As I neared the end of the table maze, I talked to an artist named Kate McDonough. She has a very simple illustration style, which I like sometimes. She had a lot of work that revolved around self-confidence and self-love, and I think that is very important.When I talked to her as I was taking photos of her illustrations, she told me that she draws a lot of inspiration from social anxiety, and trying to make the awkward things in life seem cute and funny. She also has a Tumblr, where she posts photos of her art and answers questions that people send in for her. I feel like her drawing style is one that is popular, and could easily be found on a Tumblr feed, but nonetheless is still a style that I enjoy looking at when I don’t want to look at something too busy or intense.

The last artist that I talked to wasn’t someone I was expecting to see at all, but I recognized her immediately. Her name is Megan Hindman, and she just happened to be the only person that I talked to in my last African-American Art History class from last semester. It was really refreshing to see her, not only because her artwork is awesome, but also because it made my dream of ending up with my work at one of these things ten times more real. Someone who was in one of my required art courses is in a show that I’m attending. The event instantly became ten times more personal and more realistic. It validated my hopes of one day becoming an artist.

Overall, I think this event rejuvenated my passion for what I do.  It also made me extremely jealous of people who had money in their bank accounts, because the art was so cheap (and so amazing) but I am perpetually broke. There were so many things for sale: drawings, paintings, buttons, stickers, cards, prints, etc. It was amazing to see people be successful with exactly what I want to do in the future, even more so because art majors are continuously told that what they’re doing will never bring them success. Some may say that the basement of a student center isn’t “success,” but if these artists had this kind of effect on me, I would call them successful in a heartbeat. I hope that Mission Creek makes this event annual and that there can be more events like this in Iowa City more often. I think that it fits in perfectly with Iowa City’s perfectly artistic culture.

To see more work from the 30+ artists that attended ICE CREAM, see most of their websites here.

The post Mission Creek: ICE CREAM @ Public Space One 4/9/16 appeared first on KRUI Radio.