Well… it’s been a race against time but I have my entries packaged up and winging their way… as we speak… to the inaugural Women of the World Exhibition at the Bunker Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour. This exhibition is being held for the very first time in 2009… in celebration of International Women’s Day… and runs from 13th March to 11th April 2009. The event is for women only… and cartoonists, illustrators and caricaturists from all over the place have been invited to submit their work.
Pen & Watercolour 8″ x 12″
Artwork & Content Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
(unauthorised use prohibited)
I have submitted two cartoons. The first is “If Women Ruled the World” and is a whimsical take on the state of the nation (aka the world) if women were to dominate it’s halls of power. Let’s face it… we women are the only ones with our priorities right when it comes to the big issues of shopping and shoes. I realise that this particular theme will likely get me into all sorts of political hot water but it’s just for fun (and in the words of Jane Austen)
“For what do we live but to make sport for our neighbours and laugh at them in our turn”. She said it… not me… I’m just reporting what she said! (((chuckles)))
Pen & Watercolour 8″x 12″
Artwork & Content Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
(unauthorised use prohibited)
The second cartoon is a re-make of my earlier cartoon “Mothers Make the World Go Round” I think it’s an improvement on the first… and as I simply couldn’t bear to part with the original “original” I did another to send away to the exhibition.
Cartooning has… for reasons unknown… been historically (hysterically?) dominated by men… (it is a man’s world afterall girls – wink & grin)… so it’s great to see that this time the girls are going to get a guernsey of their own… and for a cause that’s close to our hearts as well.
International Women’s Day began in 1911 and remains a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.
I hope you enjoy my cartoons as much as I enjoyed making them.
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I love both of the cartoons, Jean. You’re really good at cartooning (even if you are a woman). I am reading a book by Sue Monk Kidd titled “The Dance of the Dissident Daughter.” It’s been a stretch at times to open my mind to accept her writings in this book. Coming from a patriarchal Judeo-Christian background, my mind was all but closed to some of her ideas. It’s been a good stretch for me. Have you read it yet? Enough of that. I wish you good luck in the exhibition! You go, Girl! P.S. It’s really good to see your blog up and running again.
(((chuckles))) Thanks Vernita!
I haven’t read that book but I checked out the book reviews for it on Google and it looks to be a very interesting read. I also checked the local bookstores here today as well… but no luck… so will see if I can order it through Amazon.
Thanks for the lovely encouragement. I really do appreciate it!
now will remember napoleon his phrase
men manage the world and women manage men so
who manages the world
Terrific cartoons, Jean. I actually think of them as satirical art, which is arguably a bit loftier term. In the preface to my book I talk about how cartooning has got a bad rap from the art historians, critics, and academics, and I mention several cartoonists from the past half century that I consider genuine artists. It occurs to me now they could just as well be thought of as satirists. Now that you mention it, Jean, they’re all men. However, I had a college classmate named Larry Buell, who is the son of Marge Buell, creator of the very famous “Little Lulu” comic strip. We oldsters remember it well.
Too true Mary! And then there’s “I’m the boss of the house and I’ve got the wife’s permission to say so” (((LOL)))
Thanks John! Glad you liked them. Yeah… they’re not really cartoons I guess in the traditional sense… but from what I can gather the genre nowadays may encompass a variety of forms. (I could be wrong on that though… I often am! *wink*) I only call them cartoons because I don’t know what else to call them! LOL They choose me… not the other way round. The stuff comes into my head unpackaged without a label… and I’m expected to do something with it? Sheesh! (((chuckles)))
What I can say is… they’re a heck of a lot of fun to do… although I sometimes have the feeling that I am “just missing the mark”. I guess only practice will improve that!
The Australian Cartoonists Association lists male/female members at what I’d haphazardly ‘guestimate’ to be around 10:1 but I haven’t made an in depth study. It’s interesting that historically there have been few women in the field. But I wonder if they were there all along… hiding behind the nom de plume like so many female authors have done throughout history?
Good to see this revived. I was a little worried although you were a regular commenter at John’s site.
Thanks Roger… it’s lovely to see you here!
Jean, I love these too. You have a special sense that allows you to give serious topics a comical twist. Good luck on the entries–I’ll be staying tuned. So glad to have you back at the drawing board again.
Thanks Anita… I’m happy to be back there too.
I’m glad you liked the cartoons. I guess what I like most about doing them is the immediacy of the message… coming in small visual bites… bringing truth to the old adage that “a picture’s worth a thousand words”. Fine art sometimes takes time to evaluate and interpret… the interpretation varying in accordance with the viewer’s standpoint. Cartooning suffers no such precarious fate! LOL
Ahhh Jean!! You have done well! I thoroughly enjoyed both cartoons for their artistic quality as well as the satirical quality…it is not an easy task to produce something that will be under such scrutiny, but you have done it! You shall just have to come down and visit me now and we can both go and have a look at the rest of the competition!! Hmmmm…now thats not a bad idea!
Thanks Jools
You must have read my mind! I was hoping to go down for the opening and thought of asking if you wanted to go. The opening night is Friday 13 (I think) but I don’t have firm details as yet. Will let you know as soon as I do!
No worries..we shall be there with our frocks on, matching shoes and jewellery!
(((chuckles))) all right then!