Wha? Who’s There?
(Probably larger than actual size)
Tanning Bot
(Probably larger than actual size)
In other news:
Item One: The first list of event sites for 24-Hour Comic Day has been announced and once again, my school, Pacific NW College of Art will be hosting for Portland. I’ll be doing a bit of coordinating for the event this year, so I’ll be mentioning it again I’m sure. If you’re a comic-y person living in or near Portland, we had a great time last year, and we’d love to see you face at the event this year. 24-Hour Comic Day 2007 is on Saturday, October 20th.
Item Two:Sock It To Me Socks, who I did the Etta-tron socks for while ago, has finally put out a men’s line and a few of the designs are mine. One, Two, Three, and Four. I have a pair of each and they are comfy as the dickens, even with my gigantic feet and calves.
Enough!
(Probably larger than actual size)
For those of you not yet convinced, here’s another review of The Life & Times of Baby Otto Zeplin: Volume 1 from MidnightFiction.com.
Robot Art Is Back!
(Probably larger than actual size)
For old time’s sake, how would you feel about seeing a robot every day for say the next three weeks? Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? I’ll still of course be posting the rest of “Business Casual” and whatever else I’m working on, but there will be also be an itty, bitty robot.
I just finished 15, one inch by one inch square robot portraits, probably the smallest I have ever worked. They will be sold off the wall as part of an Art Buy The Inch show during the grand opening of a new store in Portland, Olio United. I got in the show on very short notice, so making these little bots has been taking up a lot of my time the last few days. Click the flyer below for more info on the shop and who they are or the Art Buy The Inch link for more info on that. Sadly, I have to be out of town, and will not be able to make it to the opening.
For those of you thinking that I wasn’t much into the robots anymore, let me tell you that A) you’re wrong, and B) I’ve got three big robot things in the works right now, so stay tuned.
Portland Mercury - “I, Anonymous” Illustration
The Portland Mercury runs a column called “I, Anonymous” in which Portlanders write in anonymously with their various rants and the best one gets picked to be run alongside an illustration every week. They are usually some of my favorite illustrations in the Merc each issue. The regular artist couldn’t do it this week, so I got to fill in, and boy was it a doozy! Here’s a link to the article, if you’re curious, but I will warn you by saying that the last few words of it are “roast beef-smelling VAGINA PANTS.” Click at your own risk.
Baby Otto Research Day… Sort Of A Bummer
In much happier news than what lies below, The Life & Times of Baby Otto Zeplin: Volume One was reviewed by Sarah Morean over at The Daily Crosshatch. Thanks, Sarah!
I was feeling the urge do a little more Baby Otto research today. As I have mentioned previously, I was able to find the Zeplin’s 1900 census records (big link, 1.3 mb), so I know the address of the house where Otto was most likely born in. The problem is that Portland renumbered all of its streets in 1933, so the address I have no longer exists on any modern map. The address I have for the Zeplin house is 388 20th Street. In 1933, all numbered “streets” were changed to “avenues,” so I had a start, but no finish. I was looking at the census records again today and realized something, in all this time, I have never thought to use the other addresses on the same page as reference. The first street listed on the census page is Thurman St. then 20th St. where the Zeplin house was and then Upshur St. Thurman and Upshur are consecutive streets in NW Portland, so I could deduce that the Zeplin house was on what is now NW 20th Avenue, between Thurman and Upshur Streets. I took a look at a map before I left, so I knew what to expect, but I decided to bike over and take some pictures anyways.
This sidewalk is the closest thing to “20th Avenue” that exists between Thurman and Upshur. I am standing on 20th and Upshur, the street on the other side of the chain-link fence is Thurman.
This is taken from the sidewalk underneath the overpass, possibly where the Zeplin family once resided.
This area of Portland is, and has been for a while, very industrial, but I was able to find little pockets of what once was. About two blocks from the overpass photo is St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, built in 1889. The Zeplins were German, so there is little chance that they were Catholic, otherwise I might have stopped in for a visit to see if they had any dusty shelves full of church records I could pore through. And about four blocks in the opposite direction was a single block full of houses, all obviously built in the early-1900s, amidst nothing but warehouses as far as the eye could see. One was even for sale, and advertised as being built in 1903, so I snapped a few pictures for reference.
I took another look at Emma and the kids’ immigration records too and noticed that the address listed for Peter, already in Portland, was 635 Thurman St. If you have downloaded the above census record, you’ll notice that 635 Thurman is the first record, the Eggerts. So it’s possible that Peter had been living with or renting from the Eggerts during his solo time in the U.S. You may also notice that the Eggerts had a 21 year old son named Otto. It’s possible it was just a popular German name at the time, but I sort of like to think that Otto Eggert had such an effect on Peter and Emma that they chose to name their own son after him.
Business Casual - Page 7
Alright! Time to get back on track. Baby Otto #1 is complete, the Zine Symposium is over, and it’s time to finish “Business Casual” before starting in on Baby Otto #2.
Being that it has been a while, perhaps you’d like to start from the beginning?
Also: Stumptown Comics Fest. It’s September 29th and 30th. If you’re thinking of having a table and you haven’t registered yet, today’s your last chance, so get on it! Download the registration form right here!