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Note from Artist...
I suppose it's true of every profession that there are stereotypes and
common questions. Here's a few facts and points that may set the record
straight, keep me off the Homeland Security watch list, or perhaps give
others some basics on the creation process and/or artist. Sprinkled with
a little humor, of course.
Where'd you get your name?
How do you make a living as a cartoonist?
Have you always wanted to be a cartoonist?
How did you get started a cartoonist?
Where do you get your material?
Who's your favorite cartoonist?
Who's your favorite cartoon character?
How'd you get
published in PLAYGIRL Magazine?
And now for the really nosey
and personal questions...
So, why are you still single?
Have you come close to marriage?
Do you have kids?
You and your mother can pass for sisters...
Now about that belly dancing...How'd you get into that??
Why do you belly
dance?
Where do you perform?
Anything else?
Where'd you get your name? (It's so
odd/unusual/weird/interesting/I can't pronounce it)
Pronunciation/spelling guide/fun facts:
O.K. My mom had a
friend named Ché in college. That's it. She thought it was cool, and so
do I. Not named after Ché Guevera. And it's not short for anything. I
could care less how you pronounce my last name, just please, please,
please get my first one right. It's not that hard and there's only 3
letters to it.
Here's how I say it so people can figure it out:
It's Ché is pronounced "Shay", same as "Shea" like the NY
Stadium, but spelled differently.
FYI it's a French styled name and has the French
acute accent "´" over the "e" to make it sound like an "a". If all else
fails, an apostrophe ( ' )after the "e" will work, if your keyboard
can't accommodate the accent over the "e," or heck, just skip it. It's
more than you wanted to know anyway.
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How do you make a living as a cartoonist?
I have a real job.
Have you always wanted to be a cartoonist?
Nope.
How did you get started a cartoonist?
I was taking a professional illustration class
for a Commercial Art Design certificate program at CU Boulder. My
teacher happened to be a New Yorker magazine cartoonist. I wrote one
funny joke for the class assignment. The whole class laughed. The first
cartoon was easy. The second one was really hard.
I offered to take him back to the airport
and got to talk to him about cartooning. He was a hard core creative
business person and took a look at me and said, "If you are serious
about cartooning, I will teach you the business end of it." His advice
was great, just way over my head at the time. I had no portfolio, no
background, and nothing in the can (work that's done or pretty close to
it). He told me to go to L.A. to talk to people. And New York for a
couple of huge shows. I was not prepared to do either. Nor did I even
know who to talk to, or what about.
So I went about it the old-fashioned way...the
"try something, bomb and tweak it" method. I've attended classes,
courses, seminars, conferences. I've hit my library up a zillion times
(now there's where frequent mileage would pay me back!). I've also
networked. A lot. I've met sooooooo many people over the years. And
you'd think I'd be a lot further up the food chain. But I kinda suck at
follow up. I forget that I'm supposed to market myself and that's normal
in business. I feel bad sending out e-mails because I hate to bother
people. And calling people isn't as easy when it's for yourself.
Funny thing is, no one can market me, like me. I
care about my work. I am really good at it. And, on occasion, I can toot
my own horn well. Lot's of people know who I am, like my work and
respect me too. And as with everything: we all know what to do, we just
don't actually do it! (ie., sleep, eat right, live a balanced life,
plan, stay organized, etc.)
The other funny thing is I have absolutely no problem
singing the praises of anyone else around me. I will recommend the heck
out of my friends and colleagues. Perhaps karma might make a benevolent
swipe at me, at some point.
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Where do you get your material?
Life. Seriously, I am out there like
everyone else, trying to live and get things done in the world. There
are things that annoy and frustrate me, that I'm sure do the same for
others. So if I make my little observations, and throw in a little
twist, it keeps me seeing the bright side of life (as the Monty Python
song goes). It also gives me a sane outlet to get my ya-ya's out. So
hopefully, you won't see me on the bell tower. Besides, I'm not a big
gun fan.
Also, I'm Ché and I am a media junkie. "Hi, Ché."
I try to get, see, read, watch, and listen to as much possible. I try to
read my two papers a day, but the darn things secretly stack themselves
into a very tall intimidating and mostly unread piles along with their
magazine brethren.
When life and media and entertainment outlets don't
provide comedic seeds for my brain to harvest, there's always
eves-dropping. And my personal favorite: hearing snippets of
conversations, completely out of context. And sometimes, mishearing or
misreading something (ie., the brain put in what it wants to) results in
some pretty damn funny stuff. Even if it is only amusing to me.
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Who's your favorite cartoonist?
OMG. There are so many. I like different folks
for different things. Bob Mankoff is a huge favorite, and one I can
think of quickly. And I'm not just saying that to suck up to him because
he's the cartoon editor of the New Yorker magazine, and I wanna get my
stuff published in there. He's a damn funny cartoonist. And the guy can
speckle for a style! Also there's a bevy of New Yorker cartoonists whom
I greatly respect and admire. There's a reason for that...they are the
cream of the crop of the cartooning world. They also appear in a lot of
other stuff, too. I respect anyone at the top of their game, whether
it's from the music, sports, political or acting fields (one in the
same, right?).
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Who's your favorite cartoon character?
Chilly Willy. Look him up. Way before penguins
were all the rage, hip and cool. Old school, Baby!
How'd you
get published in PLAYGIRL Magazine?
Funny thing. I sent in some cartoons to them many
years ago. And I recalled that the editor at the time sent me back a
response that they weren't raunchy enough. But years later, I sent off
some more targeted (and better with years more of experience) cartoons.
As I was updating my files, I found that the editor didn't quite say
that, but my mind made up a better story, apparently. The new editor on
the later on the 2005 run called me up and told me they hadn't used
cartoons in 20 years. She really liked my work and was revamping the
magazine (as many new editors do when they take over a publication). So
I was the first one "under contract."
Now that's pretty amazing for several reasons.
One is that most magazines don't put anyone under contract. The second
is that most magazines use cartoons very sparingly, so it's pretty tough
to even get one in. And under the best circumstances, that's usually out
of a batch of 10 really great and specifically tailored pieces. Unlike
most cartoon work, PLAYGIRL-specific material, doesn't exactly have a
lot of other possible markets just yet. Although Sex and The City made
it ok to talk openly and comedically about women having fun with sex,
we're still not at the place where women have classy and mainstream
choices like the male population does.
2 Side note tangents here: I grew up reading my dad's
Playboy magazines. I've always wanted to be in Playboy. As a cartoonist.
(Get your mind out of the gutter.) They're one of the top markets in the
world for cartoons. And lots of people don't know that Hugh Hefner
started out as a cartoonist. That's how he got started in the publishing
industry. I did make it into PLAYGIRL. That's 1/3 of my way to my
publishing goal of my big 3: The New Yorker, Playboy and Playgirl.
My other tangent is that my grandparents can't quite
bring themselves to extol my Playgirl publishing feat. Probably not the
thing you bring up at the church social. Oh well. But my extremely
conservative dad blew me away with how proud he was, when he and his
lovely wife Susan had my first published PLAYGIRL cartoon and magazine
cover framed--in a sleek black frame and black suede mat.( And he almost
got kicked out of his own office for sexual harrassement for showing my
PLAYGIRL magazine debut around to his employees!)
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And now for the really nosey
and personal questions...(and really none of your
business, but that won't stop you from asking)
So, why are you still single?
(So, why didn't your mamma teach you
better manners?!)
I haven't found a person worth forever yet. And I don't believe in
starter marriages.
Have you come close to marriage?
Of course. A college sweetheart once asked me.
Unfortunately, it was when he was drunk and forgot he asked (though his
friend told me later that he did remember)...surprisingly, the words
came out of my mouth as "no." Whoops. That was a shocker, even to me.
Turns out that was a good choice.
Another was one that all my friends were
soooooooooo happy when I was out of the relationship. I had a very
lovely $8,000 engagement ring (loved the setting but would have been
completely happy with a zirconia-cuz it's not about the jewelry). It was
asked back for so many times, I lost count. It now sits in a safe, with
his guns and two other ring sets from other people. Whew, so happy I
didn't go down that road.
These are oversimplifications, of course, for the
purpose of answering the inevitable questions, and making light of
something more serious.
I have been very blessed with a lot of great love in my
life, not all perfect, but some really wonderful people. And many good
lessons learned along the way, as well. Happy enough to be single.
Romantic enough to believe true love still exists, and it doesn't have
to hurt your brain. Also realistic enough to know that love, or even
fabulous chemistry alone, cannot make a relationship work. It does take
real effort, from at least two people (and sometimes the rest of the
village has to chime in).
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Do you have kids?
Yep. 2 now. And they're always shedding.
1
dog and a cat. I know they are not "kids," but they sure as heck are my
great family and I love 'em dearly! I did have 3, but I lost one
of my puppy dogs this year. Aspen
was a sweetheart and 11 years old.
.
You and your mother can pass for sisters...
Yep. and I'm the older one. Ask anyone.
(Translation: I act older, and she acts like a rebel teen, or younger,
most of the time. She also brightens up any room she walks in. And if
requested for a party and only one of us can go, the invite goes to
her.) She's a kick in the pants. And a great woman as well.
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Now about that belly dancing...
How'd you get into that??
It was my 40th birthday and I worked at a
miserable job. The Mercury Cafe had different dance lessons on each
night, and Mondays were belly dancing. (Ah, to celebrate wildly on a
Monday!!) I have a dance background anyway, but had never tried that
style. So I went and gave it a shot. I loved it, and was immediately
hooked. Even though the teacher reprimanded my "cheerleading" arms (Oh
no she did-ent! I was so NOT ever a cheerleader. I was on poms in
high school--BIG difference--aka--dance oriented, and btw, also had
classical training in ballet---those were so NOT cheerleading arms.)
I did fall in love with the style though and did some
classes sporatically. Got dvds from the library. Finally found some
teachers who taught with humor and positive motivation. Went back to the
other talented instructors and learned how to stand up for myself in
class, with a thicker skin, a little more humor and a lot more practice.
Also, I found out that there's swords in belly
dancing. Cool! Did wushu broadswords in martial arts. And I've danced.
Now to combine the two! Funny thing is, that none of my collection
worked, so I still had to get a different sword that "balanced."
Seriously, I've gotta get another one that actually doesn't create such
a fast deep head dent, and isn't so slick it slides off my head and
kills my grandma's antique furniture.
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Why do you belly dance?
I didn't do it to impress any men. I did it for
myself. It's a beautiful form of self expression. It celebrates all
female body types. And surprisingly enough, it's mainly women dancing
for women. Contrary to the "sexy" stereotypes. (BTW: there are some
really amazingly talented guys out there doing it, too!)
Also, it has as much variety, world culture and
diversity, as martial arts had for me. You can learn and learn and
learn, and still only scratch the surface. So far I have really enjoyed
cabaret style (what most people think of as belly dancing) and tribal
style (a very unique and snake-like offshoot of belly dancing).
All the styles come from all over the world, the
middle east, India, the orient, folk styles, and even flamenco. And if
you talk to the teachers who know their stuff, they are all very
different. Funny thing is, just like in martial arts, there are some
similar moves and they all have different names and ways of going about
them. And like martial arts, there's a level that is easy to learn and
makes you feel really good about yourself. Then there's the learning
that drops off the face of a cliff in technical difficulty.
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Where do you perform?
Since I did this for myself, (with some back of
the mind inkling that maybe I'd have yet another creative career option
to market and try to be successful at), usually just in class. I have
done a few performances. Two were actual big shows with Rafi'ah's group.
Others were private parties where I made sure the crowd thinned out, and
had been drinking heavily, so they'd barely remembered if I was any good
or not.
Anything else?
Yeah...I've been a longtime Denver Press Club member,
a constant "go-to" gal volunteer, and even a past board member. Some
really awesome people in one of the press clubs with the longest and
richest histories in the country.
Also, I've been with the Colorado
Alliance of Illustrators for many years, since the beginning
meetings in originator David Veal's living room. I've served as board
member, past President, and am fulfilling the duty again.
Now it's your turn...If you have an
original, interesting, and non-offensive/invasive question or two for
the artist, how about asking?
Contact the Artist
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