Those who know me professionally (and those who know me privately), know that I am a Clinical Nurse at the Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital in the Psychiatric Emergency Centre. I absolutely love my work, even though it is sometimes an hour's drive (depending on the traffic) from my work. Carlene and I have lived for many years now at our Margate home (on a main road), Over this period of time, perhaps due to the fact that Brisbane people have 'discovered' the area, our home has become increasingly noisy (something that bothers Carlene more than myself, given she was raised in the country). With an act that may change the course of our lives completely, I have - suddenly and impulsively?! - just tonight applied for a position at... the Coffs Harbour Acute Mental Health Unit... Whether I am successful in my Application or not, we shall have to see... It was not an easy decision to make, and there were/are still a lot of things to ponder about the merits (or otherwise) of this.
You, dear Reader, are one of the first to know, as I have not told anyone outside of Carlene... I shall keep you posted as to the outcome...maybe after I tell my family, friends, workmates... Fran Stephenson, from the Bunker Cartoon Gallery has kindly informed me that Carlene and I made Page Two of yesterday's 'The Coffs Coast Advocate' following our weekend visit... I have not seen the original newspaper clipping just yet, but I understand it runs along similar lines as the on-live version that appeared the day after our visit (as detailed below). There are more plans in the months ahead for us to promote John Dixon's Air Hawk, and I shall post them here when I have more details. There are also some exciting new developments in the wonderful world of Comicoz, and this will also be shared when plans are more concrete. Be still, my beating heart!
Rest assured, you will read about it here first! Carlene and I want to say "Thank You" to everyone at the Bunker Cartoon Gallery for making us feel so welcome last Saturday (yesterday). We enjoyed our (very short) stay in Coffs Harbour so much, we have even begun talking about moving there more permanently...! To be continued....??!!
In the meantime, let me orientate you, dear Reader, of how to find the Gallery; and urge you - once again - to make sure you make it on your list of 'Things to Do in 2012'... Here for your visual pleasure, are the Original AIR HAWK dailies Comicoz is donating to the Bunker Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour this Saturday. It is a complete week of work by John Dixon, taken from his early 1970s Heyday... For the record, it is week eleven (of sixteen weeks) of his 33rd daily adventure, "A Bag Full of Wallabies". The work features the main Air Hawk characters, pilot Jim Hawk, Sister Janet Grant, and Sgt Bob Fenton, and - of course - the marvelously detailed backdrop of the Australian Outback and John Dixon's wonderfully detailed aeroplanes... I have talked about The Bunker Cartoon Galleryin a previous posting, but 'for those who come in late' (as they say in the classics), the Bunker Cartoon Gallery is Australia's first and only dedicated black and white cartoon art gallery. It is housed in an underground World War II bunker that has been converted into a contemporary exhibition space.
Shame Shame!! For all my passionate support of all things Australian, especially all things Australian COMIC-related, I must confess to you - I have never visited the Bunker. It is only about 5 hours drive south of Brisbane (in Coffs Harbour), so I really have no excuse for not having visited... Shame Shame!! For all the Bunker's thousands upon thousands of original Australian Cartoon Art within its collection, it doesn't have one piece of original John Dixon artwork.... All of this is going to change next Saturday! Carlene and I are driving down to Coffs Harbour with the express intention of seeing the Bunker Cartoon Gallery for the very first time - and donating a couple of Original John Dixon Air Hawk strips to the Gallery into the bargain! So now every Australian can view the original artwork of one of our Greatest Adventure Strip Artists in the comfort of this Gallery. And now no-one has any excuses not to visit Coff Harbour's Bunker Cartoon Gallery! |
Comicoz is Nat Karmichael's publishing imprint. Nat is committed to preserving a permanent collection of Australian comic and comic strips. He feels that there is a need to recognise comics' contribution to and depiction of Australian culture.
Nat Karmichael.
Since 2011, Nat has self-published over twelve comic-related books and was Publisher-Editor of Oi Oi Oi! -- the last series of nationally-distributed comic books of original stories to appear on Australian newsstands. He is a member of the Australian Cartoonists Association and edited the Association's journal Inkspot for 14 issues from late 2015. He remains the Lead Judge in the Ledger of Honour Awards for the Comic Arts Awards of Australia (formerly the Ledgers). Nat has now retired from his former occupation as a Clinical Nurse in the Psychiatric Emergency Centre in Queensland's largest public hospital, so that he can spend more time with his long-suffering wife and their six children and fourteen grandchildren. He still plans to publish more comics and comic-related books, the details of which you should see here in the coming months... Comicoz acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay respects to elders, past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all First Nations peoples.
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1 x Poster 19 x comics (one a co-production with Cyclone Comics in 1988/9, one a co-production with Cowtown Comics in 2022) 2 x Paperback books 10 x Hardcover books All Australian! |