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Tuesday, December 05, 2006

More nostalgia

Many of you know about the Handicraft Guild studios, where a bunch of cartoonists got low rent studio space in the same building right in the middle of downtown. Zander, Kevin, Me, King Mini, Gene Ha, Will Dinski, Sam Hiti, Adam Wirtzfeld, Rob Franks, OZEL, Brian Ewing...

I found a couple photos of the old studios, I don't think I ever got one of Kevin's space. Click for slightly larger images....

Zander's space, the cover for The Replacement God #7 is up behind the light..so this is probably pre-Top 10:


Vinny's space:


My space on far right, Adam Wirtzfeld middle, Gene Ha back left...I think...I can't remember who had their chair up on blocks...maybe Rob.

12 comments:

Blogfoot said...

Sam was the owner of the chair that sat upon cinderblocks. He thought it was a car.

Kevin Cannon said...

yeah... I don't think I took a single photograph of my space. But the memory lives on in my mind!

Will Dinski said...

What, no photos of the homeless man "making out" with his lady friend in the bathroom? That memory too lives on in my mind. Burned in with a cattle prod.

Sigh. Good times ...

Anonymous said...

Blogfoot is probably right. The chair in the back left belongs to Sam. I never worked in that studio at the same time as Sam. We traded off. I think the table belonged to him too. My drafting table only has two legs (they're L shaped)and all the drafting tables in the photo have four.

So I'd come and left by the time of this photo. I did leave behind the light table on the file cabinets, the bookshelf next to it, and the computer desk next to that, and the colonial dining chair in the foreground.

I miss the place, but it was still kinda lonely. Most everyone else I worked with there had day jobs so I was usually by myself. Still, good times. Especially after they opened the Chipotle nearby.

Anonymous said...

Why are spring cleaning and sharing memories in the middle of winter. Old people do this right before they die. Are you not telling me something?

Shad said...

Man..I can't remember who was there when. Yeah, that's definately Sam's space with the Hellboy and Lone Wolf & Cub posters.

This space is still being used by Adam and Curtis Square Briggs.

Vincent said...

The tears are welling up in my eyes as the memories come rushing back: drunk hobo love, falling ceilings, the ever present smell of cannibus, the lost ones peeing in sinks, Keys lunch hangovers, rainy day naps, Keys delicious cookies, Shad chasing down a mugger in a snow storm, Zanders waiting for his second date with Julie with all the excitment of a school boy, Sammi picking up the brush. Amazing and fun times, the Franks working on his Handi Craft Guild Documentary, the worlds largest drawing table owned by the Will. Amazing and Fun days

Anonymous said...

Sigh, I remember that space - the day old rolls from Keys, bothering Zander for free comics. One day I'll go back there god willing.

Mister Tan said...

Yes, That was my space and my Chair... I was too poor to afford nice things. Back then the floor looked nicer- Rob hadn't yet attacked it with a Putty Knife. But his Dog did throw up on some books of mine.

In that space- I remember the heavy smell of pizza boxes, and walking in {at any time of the day} and finding Shad sleeping on that nasty love sofa. He would wake up and try to play it off that he wasn't sleeping. Playing Half-Life. Helping Zander Move out when he left for Japan.

Later- I got my own studio- Shad took a photo of that too, but where is it?- I fondly remember Will paying a bum 2-3 times to get him to leave. Me almost stepping on two bums "making love" {if you want to call it that} in the dark- on the bathroom floor. Vinny getting skinny. Adams Chily Willy, Orange Cones, and Chicken Wire. Will and I eating at Pot Bellys. Rob, Vinny and I- going to Block E and seeing such great films as- The Matrix 2 and 3.

Shad said...

Yeah, I pushed in on some bum love on the bathroom floor. I remember the drunk dude with the huge shard of glass chasing me up the stairs and the night I was choking on baby carrots while getting mugged for a pint of sorbet and a nutri-grain bar.

I remember listening to about 1000 screeeech...crash...accidents at the corner of 10th and Marquette, and countless Holidazzle parades. Big Brain every day instead of once a month. Let It Be records. Keys Taco Salads.

Rob with his binoculars. 338-SHAD.
Fat Cat Beer Cans and pieces of chicken wire. Zander's 3X5 cards. Chaz's robe. Fonzie poet climbing in through the window. Racing the drum dude up the stairs.

Anna and I had our first date where we sat on the roof and looked down at a car that had fallen from the second floor of the parking ramp across the street.

C--S--B said...

It's nifty to see the space in the good ol' days . . . there's still fat cat beer in the fridge and I've got my desk set up right next to that same couch. Was there a huge hole in the floor by the radiator when you guys were in there? Someone turned on the light downstairs and I could see through. I moved my desk into the middle of the room after that. Anyways this is awesome. I know what Gene meant about it being kinda lonely. No one is around during the weekdays, it's like a ghost town, kind of creepy.

Shad said...

Nope...no giant holes back then. Vinny's ceiling fell in though.