Cambridge is one of many Boston neighborhoods that is fun to roam around.  With interesting landmarks like Harvard University and the Cambridge Galleria, Cambridge will make for a great day trip in the city.  Famous speakers pop into Harvard University to discuss a topic that is relevant to the world today.  Other famous universities around Cambridge include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge College, and Lesly University.

Lesley University is a private university that specializes in art and design.  Thousands of students flock to Lesley to show off their artistic skill to their professors.  Whether it is piecing together short stories or painting new pictures, artists from all across the country apply to Lesley University to become an amazing artist.  There are special panel events that students can attend to gain some insight from other well-known artists in the area.  This past weekend, I went into Lesley University to attend MICE.

MICE, or the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo, is an expo celebrating comic book designs from independent creators.  This was the 7^th annual event that took place on October 29^th-30^th at Lesley University.  It was produced by the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, aiming to introduce local readers of all ages to the variety of art and storytelling in independent comics.  There were two levels filled with exhibitors showing off their masterpieces.  Upon entering the exhibits, I have seen some of the most spectacular work ever on comic books, posters, stickers, and other materials.

Some of the work was so impressive that I just had to stop and chat with them for a bit.  Upon entering the first area, I noticed a big colorful poster that had the movie title Showgirls on the bottom of the design.  That was what drew me to talk with Chris, the comic book designer from Brooklyn.  I mentioned that I really enjoyed viewing the colorful poster and the comic version of The Room.  He mentioned that his love for bad movies inspired him to create an animated comic out of the cult films that flopped in the box office.  Another unique thing I noticed was that all of his business cards featured a tarot-card like design on the back of each card.  This was a really cool idea and praised him to continue making more works of art like this.

Earlier in the same area, I noticed a book showing Peanuts-like drawings in a comic strip design.  While it didn’t feature Charlie Brown or Snoopy, the drawings drew me into that similar environment.  When talking to the comic artist/illustrator Jesse, he mentioned that he was influenced by Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip when creating Year ‘Round Days.  I really liked where he got his inspirations from and was impressed by how familiar the art work was.  It was a cool comic-strip showcasing his lifetime experiences with interesting stories in each page.

Another exhibit table showed a colorful design of Kirby and his friends, which prompted me to talk to designer Madeline.  It was then that I told her that I really liked the drawing of the Kirby gang and she told me that she really loved Kirby after playing Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.  Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards was actually one of my favorite games for the N64 and was pleased to see how that game inspired her!  Other works included a drawing of Rini from Sailor Moon and No-Face from Spirited Away.  Madeline really did a great job drawing the familiar characters and utilizing colors to make them pop out good.  I thanked her for discussing her artwork with me and moved on to check out other areas.

In another room, I noticed small cards on one of the exhibit tables.  All of the cards were referring to popular characters from cult films/TV shows.  Some of the characters I recognized were Wolverine, The Incredible Hulk, Freddie Krueger, Batman, Jason Voorhees, and other popular figures.  What was unique about the cards were that each character was transformed into fairy creatures.  I spoke with the conart creator Jay about how amazing they were and he showed me a few comics he works on as well.  His fairy creatures were very well done, with each character showing off their flair in the card.

I was just heading into another room of the exhibit and I noticed some mini comics that were sketched using pencils.  The title was Feeling Worthless? and it featured self-help tip for people suffering from mental health issues.  I spoke with the creator, LB Lee, on how interesting his idea was as a comic.  This was an interesting concept that is entertaining and could give people a purpose to not feel so worthless sometimes.  His idea was amazing and I praised him to continue doing more work like this around Boston.

Overall this was an amazing comic book expo to attend this past weekend.  I don’t read a lot of comic books in my spare time, but it was interesting to see lots of artists gathering together to show off their finished works of art on display.  The event was free for everyone and you could spend HOURS looking through all of the work people made for the event.  While my specialty belongs with writing, I did learn some things while being in a big room with artists.

Whether you’re a writer or animator, artists gather together to create something meaningful in their lives.  Being an artist doesn’t mean that you can pick up a pen and draw a picture of pig; it means looking deep down with yourself as how you see the pig being drawn.  Maybe the pig is colored blue or maybe his snout has monster-like features that make him a mutant.  Whatever creative idea you come up with, it was designed from your imagination.

As the writer of MakeSandcastlesNotWar, I know that I can’t just write a short summary of American Horror Story.  I have to juice up the story with interesting detail, crafting the story to be something relatable to all audiences.  This writing tip applies to many instances when I write about television, movies, music, fashion, cannabis, social media, and other categories.  Anybody can say they are able to read and write, but it takes LOTS of work to write something truly amazing from your creative perspective.  After attending the MICE event, I definitely took away some interesting tips that will shape MakeSandcastlesNotWar to become a better blog in the near future.