Cryogenic Comix # 23

Cryogenic Comix # 23
Copyright (c) 2019 Steve Willis

The drawings are felt tip on thin bond, probably drawn in the first half of 1980.


Old memories resurface as I rediscover my own drawings from about two/thirds of my life ago.

The equine drawings come from my upbringing on a 55-acre farm where my Dad raised Shetlands as a sideline. For part of the summer of 1980 I went down there to help build a barbed-wire fence. I recall that every time I slammed that posthole digger into the ground a little cloud of ash from the Mt. St. Helens eruption from May 18, 1980 would rise up. Heavy dense stuff. Most likely still in my lungs today!

Notes: The TV antenna sort of dates this, as does the Dean Rusk reference. Actually even in 1980 most people had forgotten about Dean Rusk, one of the "Best and the Brightest."

Phone photo 3158

During its heyday in the 1960s, The Trail's End was out in the country in the Tumwater area, hosting lots of horse and pony shows and events. Since we raised Shetland and New Forest ponies, this was a place we'd visit from time to time.

The place has been closed up and derelict for quite awhile, and residential sprawl has caught up to the surrounding area. Today it could serve as a nice location for a B-movie.

Morty Comix # 2472

Morty Comix # 2472 was drawn on the morning window condensation of the trailer where my brother Bryan and nephew Zach were staying at the Sou'wester in Seaview, Washington.

Too bad most of the image is lost in the photo. I guess this issue of Morty Comix is mostly lost to history as well. I realize that my current distribution of this title on the face might seem crazy, but on another level I have an audience who reads the Morty the Blog documentation of this artistic communication, although it garners very few responses from the finders. So the comic alone isn't as important as the conceptual placement and documentation, which in itself has become my new art form.

The Myth of Sisyphus by Big Al Camus probably explains my motives here better than anything else.

Back in 1965 we lost our big farm home to fire, and that was followed by seven glorious years with four of us in a trailer about the same size as the one pictured above. Our trailer was a third-hand, falling apart Great Lakes. Our Shetlands would scratch their backs on the end of the mobile home, and our whole house would shake.

But we survived intact and emerged the better for it. My own early lesson here was that material possessions are temporary and can be taken away in a flash. And when that happens, what is left?

Phone photo 2053

I bought this 2000 Buick Regal a few months ago. This car has an attitude, almost like riding a pony with a strong independent streak, an activity I was familiar with on the Shetland farm where I was raised. It has already killed two animals, a bird and a squirrel. The electronic door locks loudly go off and on at random, like the vehicle is attempting to talk or comment.

I suspect the previous owner died behind the wheel. His or her handwritten notes survive on the car's handbook, "Must ... warn, beware of Na... Nad... Nada... Aaargh! Ugh! Nngh! Ergh! Croak!"

And then-- nothing.

This is Christine's little sister.

And thus the car shall henceforth be known as:

Nadine.

I just need to get on her good side. This will be a test of my automotive political and social skills.

Christmas, ca. 1964

Thanksgiving is over, let the Seasons Greetings greetings begin!

I found this large tempera painting on butcher paper in my studio yesterday. I'm guessing this was created about 1964. Santa and an elf are trying to move a stubborn reindeer in the snow. It is no accident the reindeer looks a little bit like a Shetland pony, since at that time we had a herd of about 70 ponies (mostly Shetland, some New Forest) on the family farm.

Phone photo 166

This photo was found on a federal poster educating the public about noxious weeds. This particular part of the poster was the example for tansy ragwort, an invasive plant here in the Pacific Northwest that can be deadly to some livestock. I remember my grandmother (who was born here in Washington in 1891) telling us about women who wanted to shed themselves of unwanted pregnancies in the early 20th century found that tansy tea did the trick.

Anyway, what caught my eye here was the fact this photo was taken on the 55 acre farm where I grew up. In the summer of 1980 I came back home and helped Dad put the roof on that little pumphouse on the right. And I put up that barb-wire fence in the same summer, or in 1981. Every time the posthole digger hit the ground, little puffs of Mt. St. Helens volcanic ash would poof up.

I can tell this was taken after my father died and we sold the place. There are several tipoffs. First, we didn't let tansy grow to that size. Second, I don't see any Shetlands grazing in the field. Third, the ever present horse trailer next to barn is missing. And last, Dad would have shot anyone sneaking into the field with a camera, especially a Fed. You could say he was sort of libertarian in his outlook.