SAW Micro-grant awardees

We want to thank everyone for submitting to the SAW Micro-Grant. We were confronted with an enormous amount of dedication and energy, which as consumers and fellow artists, we are always excited to see. We saw a lot of amazing projects, obviously far far too many for our small organization to assist, but we saw some amazing projects. We want to congratulate our two winners:

Jess Ruliffson For her comics based on interviews with veterans of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Link on her blog, callingthedog, here. Our judges were in agreement that this was a great project, some remarking  that "This is serious work, committed and beautifully drawn" and "Urgent subject matter and beautifully drawn, I wish we had more money to give her." Her project asks her to frequently travel to conduct interviews and sketch her interviewees directly, and we hope that our measly $300 goes to deferring those costs somewhat.

Julia Gfrorer for Black is the Color http://studygroupcomics.com/main/black-is-the-color-by-julia-gfrorer/  Julia's Black is the Color is in progress, at present, a beautifully made mini-comic with a second issue to come. What seems to be a simple dialogue-driven story becomes haunting and mystical as its protagonist is confronted and slowly seems to move to a lonely cold death. Julia's mythology and ideas stand apart from others in its starkness and directness: it seems truly real. Additionally, her drawings, which seem to have a broad base in European expressionism like Schiele or Munch, show extreme dedication to her dark, original subject matter. The choice of this project was a harder one, as Julia is a bit more established, having been published by Sparkplug, interviewed by The Comics Journal and featured in The Best American Comics, but the depth and directness of her work, the lavish, personal drawings and the point she is at in her career made the judges agree that she was our next winner.

Short List RAV 7 by Mickey Zacchilli http://mickeyz.org Intense fever dream about Mr. Juice, a sort of punk rock, meta-soul searching wanderer. Eighth Grade http://www.eighthgra.de Lush book about a boy in 8th grade. Fedor the Dog Boy by Patt Kelley http://www.pattkelley.com/ Fictional biography of famous circus sideshow freak JoJo the Dog Faced Boy. With a great, sculpted cover image. Her Name Was Prudence by Cathy Johnson. http://www.dontletthesungodown.com Lush drawings in pencil about a girl trying to understand her place in society. Fishboy http://yofishboy.blogspot.com/search/label/comic Charming, funny comic strips about a touring band.

Honorable Mentions Felicia Fortes - Daddy and the Lonely Tree http://www.feliciafortes.com Caitlin Cass - The Great Moments in Western Civilization Cooperative http://www.greatmomentsinwesternciv.com/postalconstituent.html Justin Pageau - Bird Brain Comics #2 birdbraincomix.blogspot.com Mike Freiheit - Monkey Chef http://www.mikefreiheit.com/comics Vreni Stollberger - Two Dumb Girls http://stillvreni.tumblr.com/post/28926476771/jaws-of-love-finished Dimitri Kalemkeris - Argopawk http://portnereidpress.com/argopawk/ Greg Farrell - Strand Book Store Labor Dispute Comics AKA “Wildcat Action” http://strandaskus.blogspot.com Alexander Rothman - Versequential http://www.versequential.com Morgan Boecher - What is Normal Anyway? http://www.whatsnormalanyway.net Anthony Meloro - Ghost Heat Up http://www.anthonymeloro.com/Ghost-Heat-Up Denny Riccelli - Cousin Harold http://www.cousinharold.com Gina Kirlew - Scandalbags http://scandalbags.blogspot.com Sarah Palaszynski - Starseed Comics www.starseedcomic.com Christopher Green - Wall of balloons http://www.wallofballoons.com/cmx Katharine Miller - Robot of Leisure - http://www.robotofleisure.com/ Erin Mehlos - Next Town Over http://www.nexttownover.net/ Joe McFee - AFW http://www.xigencystudios.com Next Grant Cycle Thank you all for submitting. Please be aware that due to our limited resources, those artists listed above are not eligible to apply in the March 2013 round. For those applicants who are not listed above, please keep in mind that maybe we didn't understand your proposal, or there weren't enough materials to help us understand, or maybe we just don't "get" what you are doing, or maybe we're just a bunch of jerks. Own your own belief in your work and forge ahead. For those interested in applying to the March 2013 round, please go here.