From the Vault of Artleytoons

This cartoon from 1987 when Florida — thanks to NRA lobbying —was one of the first States to pass a concealed carry law with the goal of making its citizens safer (click on image for larger view).

See more recent work by Steve Artley at Artleytoons. 

Mere weeks after he helped organize the Annual Association of Editorial Cartoonist's annual meeting in Washington, DC, 2nd generation editorial cartoonist Steve Artley has just announced on his Facebook page that he's retiring from doing them -

Steven George Artley updated his status: "My editorial cartoons are no more. I am done, finished, kaput. Earlier today, I stepped down from the Alexandria Times. I guess it's time to try something else. What that something else may be, I don't know. Anyway, thanks to those of you who "liked" my work and left supportive comments."

In the following discussion, Steve (who is a friend of mine) also noted, he was "Tired of being an invisible Quixote. Feel like no one is out there. I make a sound and all I get back is my own echo. Or, I'm a ghost. I cast no shadow. There's no indication of measurable readership, no following, no community support... I get virtually no feedback, 'cept for the occasional hate mail. All that tells me it's time to go."
  
"Coincidentally, when I called my editor today, he said the mayor had just called, asking "who is that guy?" Meaning me, of course, who drew the local issue cartoon that portrayed him as an anthropomorphized bulldozer. I HAVE BEEN THERE FOR FOUR FREAKIN' YEARS, MISTER MAYOR!!!! And only NOW, you notice I'm there? This all underscores that I made the right decision."

Cartoonists at Artomatic photos in my Flickr account. Exhibitors include David Hagen, Ben Claassen, Michael Auger (not pictured), Annie Lunsford, Karon Flage (photos by the former Small Press Expo/SPX head), illustrator Bono Mitchell and collagist Grace Yost. Bon vivant editorial cartoonist Steve Artley is in the pictures too. Hagen, ARtley, Auger, Lunsford and Mitchell all contributed to the Team Cul de Sac anthology which goes on sale tomorrow.



David Hagen. I'm now wondering how to get the drywall off the pillar.

And here's two shots of Russ Kick from his Graphic Canon booksigning at Big Planet Comics Bethesda:

Steve Artley writes in about his editorial cartoonist father (Bob) and brother Rob's new book -

A description and cover image of Memories of a Farm Kitchen was included in the "Holiday Gift Guide: A Food Book for Everyone on your List" of the Food & Think section on the electronic version of Smithsonian Magazine.

 

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2010/12/17/holiday-gift-guide-a-food-book-for-everyone-on-your-list/

 

Memories of a Farm Kitchen, by Bob and Rob Artley. A charming and utterly unique memoir about growing up on a 200-acre farm in Iowa in the 1920s and 1930s, this homespun book recalls bygone days of icebox refrigerators, cellar larders, and ham hanging from the rafters.

 

Steve told me a bit more about the book's history-

"This was a book that almost didn't happen. My dad started it about 6 years ago. The last few years, he had a series of strokes that affected his vision and hearing, as well as his drawing hand. One day, while I was visiting him in his Florida studio, he showed me some of the pieces he was working on for the book, and I could see they were not up to his usual level of the dozen books he had produced up to that point. I told him this frankly, adding that I figured he'd want to know the truth."

"I offered to help assemble the pieces and layout the pages, if he could finish the text. A couple of years and another stroke later, he got the text to me and it was not quite up to his usual standards of writing either. So, I called in my brother. I told him the manuscript needed more than mere proofreading. It needed fixes in style, etc. I was so pleased that he took on the assignment with enthusiasm. He far exceeded my art direction. He used Dad's story, but dressed up the style. He even wrote an additional chapter, for which we had art, but no words."

"At my father's urging, the publisher had been planning to put my name as co-author. I was never comfortable with that from the beginning. I was just the art director and project manager. My sister Joan Artley-Sterner also took part in planning out the book. Both of us were more comfortable being listed in the acknowledgments only. So I told the publisher to make my brother the co-author."

That's a nice story about a family pulling together, isn't it?