April 2025 Current Shows | EmeraldArtCenter

Show dates are April 1st- 25th, 2025

The Emerald Art Center presents Haiku Comics

by David Lasky & John Burgess.

Haiku is a three-line poetic form originating in Japan. Comic strips, taking form in American newspapers, are often just three or four panels long. It turns out that the two forms blend together very well.

While the Japanese art of haiga (haiku plus a drawing) is centuries old, the idea of making a haiku comic (turning a haiku poem into a comic strip of more than one panel) is something that originated in only the last 30 or so years.

Traditional haiku consists of 3 lines with a 5-7-5 syllable count. They almost always include a seasonal nature word and a “mind leap.” Starting in the 20th century, modern haiku do not always follow these rules. There are haiku that have a few more or a few less than 17 syllables, that are one to four lines, and cover a wide array of subject matter. What remains important is the brevity of the haiku, the experience it records, and the leap it creates in the reader’s mind.

Please take your time and enjoy each of our “haiku moments” presented in words and pictures, and with that combination, become something more than the sum of their parts.

David Lasky melds the craft of comic book illustration and haiku poetry. Haiku is a three-line poetic form which originated in Japan hundreds of years ago. Comic strips, taking form in American newspapers, are often just three or four panels long, making them a good match for haiku.

The show features a mixture of original art and prints. Also included will be work by fellow haiku comics creator John Burgess. John is an established poet who comes to haiku comics from the writing side. John lived in Japan and studied calligraphy, which informs the pared-down style of his comics.

Seattle writer-artist David Lasky co-authored the graphic novel Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song, which won comics’ Eisner Award in 2013. His work has appeared in numerous anthologies, including Kramers Ergot and Best American Comics. He is the colorist of the Newbury Honor Book, El Deafo. His goal as a graphic novelist has been to push the boundaries of the medium. He regularly explores new possibilities in informational comics, abstract comics, and poetry comics. Sometimes his comics are even comical. For the past 18 years, David has also been a graphic novel instructor to a wide range of ages and skill levels. He has focused primarily on teaching haiku comics for the past four years.

Lasky's Don't Forget This Song, a graphic novel biography of the Carter Family, written in collaboration with Frank Young, was published in 2012 by Abrams Books and was the joint-winner of the 2013 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work. Lasky has been nominated for numerous Ignatz Awards, and has also served on the Ignatz Award jury.

David will lead a fun, all ages workshop focusing on writing haiku poetry and drawing a basic comic strip. No prior experience is necessary. The workshop is from 1-4 PM on April 12th.

All ages are welcome. Members $50 / Non members $60. (see class page)

David Lasky co-authored the graphic novel Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song, which won comics’ Eisner Award in 2013. He is the colorist of the Newbery Honor Book El Deafo by Cece Bell. For the past 18 years, David has taught graphic novel to all age levels in a wide variety of venues. Find him on Instagram @seattlelasky.

J.B. has written haiku for 40 years and has been drawing for over 15 years. He has six books of poetry from Ravenna Press, including his latest “Punk Poems Complete,” each with an increasing number of illustrations, charts, and comics. He’s working on A History of Poetry Comics; see more at punkpoet.net.

Painting by Robert Canaga

Also showing are Featured EAC Members:

Robert Canaga and Bobbie Shosnick

Robert L. Canaga is showing "Hand Made".

All paintings contain paints he made from gathered rocks in Eastern Oregon. He also will display his mortar and pestle and his 250 year old glass mull. For these paintings, he gathered rocks from various areas in eastern Oregon, crushed them, and milled them into oil paint. He also used pigments acquired from an American who had lived in Paris for over 30 years. He made paint for artists and painted small Parisian scenes to make a living.

We met one beautiful spring afternoon on the Pont Neuf. He was painting a small canvas depicting Square du Vert-Galant, the park at the tip of the Île de la Cité, where Notre Dame stands. Curious, he asked where he was from—his American accent was unmistakable. He told me his mother lived in Eugene, Oregon. They kept in touch for years. Then, one afternoon in 2011, Robert received a call. He was in town and wanted to meet for coffee. When they met, he told Robert he was entering hospice and asked if he would like his pigments and his handmade glass mull.

He had discovered the mull in an antique shop, Les Antiquaires Bretons. It was 250 years old, well-used, and beautifully worn. That find had sparked his deep dive into the history and craft of making paint.

Today, that same mull sits in Robert's studio, still well-used, continuing its long legacy.

"JUXTAPOSITION EPHEMERA COLLAGE EXHIBIT " by Bobbie Shosnick.

To make sense of contradicting images these pieces embrace the past provoking all the senses to decipher what we lack today. Open the black and white world of nostalgia, trinkets and treasured memories. Looks deceive in photos of instant ancestors found in an old trunk full of dreams. Images depict the complicated evolution of female and masculinity through Life's milestones, graduation, parenthood, independence and success. Remember the comforting sense of place, formal and proper, complicated family units, malaise of the middle child and how we try to protect the innocence of a child under glass. Child rearing is a throw of the dice and time is a foggy lens.

Collages by Bobbie Schosnick

Plus select artwork from the Springfield Arts & Culture Awards.

And New Work from members of the Emerald Art Center.