Bread, Love, and Cha-Cha-Cha :: The Blog of Carolyn Belefski
Curls Studio experienced CulpeperCon this past Saturday with a display at their Artist Alley in the morning. Joe Carabeo debuted his new 2026 filmmaking reel during his presentation. I gave my "Fine Toon Your Life" comics workshop including an engaging Q&A segment in the afternoon. Several people walked away from the presentation with a freshly drawn comic and a start to their career in cartooning!
On Saturday, March 28, 2026 Curls Studio will be at Culpeper County Library for the 4th CulpeperCon. We will be giving a presentation and workshop in the afternoon. John Gallagher, the creator of Max Meow, will be giving this year's keynote at Noon.
Joe Carabeo presents How You Don’t Need Hollywood…But...
2:30-3:20PM
Filmmaking is a wonderful world, but is the reality of being a filmmaker right for you? Join Joe Carabeo as he shares a rare glimpse into his evolving process as a professional creative, while discussing the joys and hardships he endured in the evolution of being part of modern cinema making through his 20 years as a independent filmmaker and creator.
Fine Toon Your Life with Carolyn Belefski
3:30-4:20PM
Welcome back CulpeperCon 3rd Edition Keynote Speaker, Carolyn Belefski!
In this workshop, cartoonist Carolyn Belefski will teach how to turn humor of your everyday life into clever, relatable comic strips -- because if it’s going to happen to you, it might as well be funny.
Curls Studio will be at the 13th year of Awesome Con in Artist Alley Table C-36 at the DC Convention Center March 13-15, 2026. Say hi and peruse our original comics, stickers, prints, enamel pins, magnets, and more! We will have the debut of issue 24 of Magic Bullet, a large format comics newspaper featuring Washington, DC based creators.
A new edition of "The Other Side of the Table: Lessons from Creators" is Saturday, March 14, 2026 from 11:15AM to Noon in Room 204. We have a massive amount of panelists joining us from a wide variety of backgrounds in comics, podcasting, films, and other creative outlets. If you ever wonder how to break into the industry or enhance your career, this is the place for your professional development. Panel participants: Shawn Martinbrough, Clint McElroy, Jimmy Gownley, Kata Kane, Rich Woodall, Joseph Schmalke, Carolyn Belefski
Awesome Con Short Film Festival presented by Joe Carabeo with Astray Productions will have three days of programming (see schedule below) as well as an award show and filmmaker meet-up on Saturday at 4:45PM in Room 204. Hope to see you at Awesome Con.
Friday, March 13 | Horror, Sci Fi, Action | 6:45-9:45 pm
Saturday, March 14 | Comedy, Drama | 1:30-4:30 pm
Saturday, March 14 | Awards Celebration | 4:45-5:45 pm
Sunday, March 15 | And Beyond! | 2:00-5:00 pm
VOTE FOR 2026 AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD
astrayproductions.com/vote
The year 2025 was a good "growth" year for me as a person. In January I was sick most of the month, there was no productivity to lead the year because of illness. It really took the wind out of my sails for a bit. I became more physically active by February through the end of November. A big priority for me this year and moving forward is to gain strength, so I put a lot of focus on that personally. I took a break from crowdfunding this year, but am not against doing it again in the future when the timing is right.
I was asked to be speak at Culpeper Con my keynote was titled "How Comics Shape Minds and Health" and that was in March. We had a good time at Awesome Con in April and Joe presented the Awesome Con Short Film Festival with Astray Productions. In May I attended events for Cartoonists Rights and the Herblock Awards.
In July I entered a Jack White button design contest put on by @tmrcreativecollective. I won runner-up for "single button" category and they sent me a bunch of posters, a few buttons, stickers, and an enamel pin by Matthew Jacobson.
A highlight of the year for me was to be able to have a meet-and-greet experience with Benji and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte at a Southern Maryland Blue Crabs baseball game. I showed them an illustration I did of the band. It was motivating to hear their positive and encouraging words. I also got to take a photo with their mascots! That same week I entered Sloppy Mama's BBQ inaugural Pickle Party and won Best Pickle award! I even did some comic strips for Curls about the pickle contest, so I guess art imitated life in that instance.
Without knowing it at the time, we had the last Fairfax Comic Con at the Dulles Expo Center in August. The location will now become an IKEA and the convention is looking for a new location. In September my creative juices were flowing at Small Press Expo and I enjoyed being in a huge ballroom with so many talented creators.
New York Comic Con was an absolute blast this year. Reaffirming why it is the biggest show we do because it's simply an amazing place to be. The city. The food. The exhibits. I really enjoyed taking it all in. Plus the surprise of the year was meeting the wrestler and musician Real1 (formerly known as Enzo Amore) at the booth directly behind ours. Please read my NYCC 2025 recap because I covered a lot of the show aspects if you want to do a deeper dive. We actually got to visit NYC twice this year (Joe went a third time for work)!
Baltimore Comic-Con was memorable because we got to take part in the BCC Yearbook featuring Jeff Smith's Bone. It is delightful to have a piece in the yearbook with my Curls characters interacting with Bone characters. I was not able to talk to Jeff Smith at the show, but I did see him and his long line (I have met him a couple times before). It is really cool to see him honored and respected for all his hard work and achievements in the industry.
In the fall filmmaker Joe Carabeo released "Paul Pope: THB," a documentary on best-selling comic book revolutionary and creator Paul Pope. You can watch it on YouTube.
Cartoonists Draw Blood was revived this year with some new blood (see what I did there). The National Cartoonists Society Washington, DC chapter was represented by Colleen Doran, John Gallagher, Steve Artley, Joe Sutliff, Ruthi Postow, and myself. We drew for people who donated blood. Can you believe this was our 12th event with American Red Cross and NCS DC?
To close out the year, I recently won a contest hosted by Fairfax County Public Library for their new library cards releasing in mid-January as a regular library card, keychain, and bookmark. You can read more about the process on my newly created Substack and in the FFXnow article that came out a few days ago.
Here is the full list of our 2025 tour for comic conventions and appearances:
March 22 • CulpeperCon
April 4-6 • Awesome Con DC
May 18 • Spring Lot Con
June 28-29 • Tidewater Comicon
July 19 • Dog Days of Summer
August 23-24 • Fairfax Comic Con
September 13-14 • Small Press Expo
October 9-12 • New York Comic Con
October 17-19 • Baltimore Comic-Con
October 26 • Fall Lot Con
November 15 • Local Author Book Festival
November 22 • Cartoonists Draw Blood
We also went to a number of live wrestling events (in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the District) and got to see the final John Cena match, which took place in Washington, DC. I participated in SCBWI events and am excited to learn from them. I also hope to build up the NCS DC chapter so we can do more. Curls Studio is looking forward to 2026 with a goal of creating more comics and storytelling!
New York Comic Con took place last month and Curls Studio had great adventures in the city. We stayed at a different hotel than our usual because the price was astronomically high and it ended up being a fun room to stay in that served our minimal needs.
NYCC is a four day show, and we need to be at the booth for nine hours each day (however Sunday is only a seven hour day and then load-out after). Needless to say it is an exciting and exhausting event. Even if we have to hop right back to work the next day on Monday, the effects of NYCC can sometimes be felt for a few weeks! I have recovered, but the fact that I'm writing this full blog recap a month later could tell you something (we also had Baltimore Comic-Con the following weekend).
The new Curls book debuted as a convention exclusive limited edition (second con-exclusive book that you can only get in-person). We had the new Scott Morse "This Ink Runs Cold" collaboration book that Joe Carabeo wrote a story for. Joe also debuted his Toni Storm Direct To Ink book.
This year I noticed a lot of Asian influences (Gashapon capsule machines, video games, and more) and overall Halloween vibe. The theme was "Haunted" after all, so I think a lot of people were jumping on that and celebrating all October. For freebies, a lot of publishers and vendors were giving away stickers. Stickers everywhere. Labubu everywhere. Pop culture themed candy everywhere. Claw machines. Attendees sometimes needed to wait in a line to play a game to win a promo item (or a coveted Labubu grand prize), so it felt more interactive to "win" something for your time rather than a grab-and-go.
I'm still keeping in touch with Jean Schapowal and the other master cake artists so on Thursday I went to their Cakes With Character booth. Last year I worked with them to provide art for a large pinback button that was exclusive to the show. This year their theme was "Pop Culture Pop-Up Boutique" with all wearable art -- think purses, backpacks, bracelets -- all made from cake! I thought the Stanley "Stan Lee" Cup was very clever. I will be doing a whole dedicated post to their booth experience on Instagram soon.
On Friday I met cartoonists Kyle Baker (who I didn't even know was going to be there and he was randomly in a corner area of the show floor, if we didn't turn that direction we would have missed) and Sam Grinberg (who I have been following on IG and have been a fan of for awhile, but have never met -- his booth appearance was for only one hour and he said he had not been to NYCC in twelve years). I also saw Post Malone from a few feet away and John Cena's Peacemaker outfit on display.
Saturday was fantastic because unexpected things can happen at NYCC. Guess who is standing to my left at the table directly behind us? Enzo. Amore. Let me tell you a story: Enzo Amore is a former WWE wrestler and I've been a fan of him when he was always on TV. I created three pieces of fan art to represent that at the time (one was a Curls comic strip). I was enthralled whenever I heard his entrance music and amazed at his mic skills. But then he was suddenly released from WWE in January 2018 (history note: there was also a U.S. government shutdown then too). The very next day I had tickets to a WWE event he was most likely going to be at. I had my Certified G shirt on ready to go. You can go look up what happened if you didn't know, but ultimately he was wrongly accused of something he didn't do and he said he never even got a call from the police. Ultimately he never informed WWE of allegations before they went public (in this case "viral" online), so it makes the company look bad even if he is innocent. So fast forward over seven years later this is a major payoff to see him after all that wait -- and the proximity to our table? Crazy.
Enzo is currently known as Real1. He was nice and caught me up to speed on what he is doing right now in wrestling and music. He talked to me about his grandma named Grace and showed me a banner across from him that said "Grace" so it was a magic moment for all to be there in that occasion. I had the first con-exclusive Curls book with me that has the Enzo mention in the comic strip and he signed it for me and took a photo with me. This is the type of stuff that can only happen at NYCC (and if you read my 2022 recap I mention missing him at NYCC because I didn't know he was there until later).
Also on Saturday I saw Jim Lee drawing the face of Wonder Woman at the eBay stage. He was giving an art lesson as he drew and they auctioned it off for $3,350. I also met Gabriela Epstein, one of the cartoonists of "The Baby-Sitters Club" at Scholastic.
Sunday was a standard day at the show. Overall the vibe was very positive this year (not like it wasn't before, but it felt happy with every one excited to be there). The energy of this show was really great and takes so much effort to put on and display work, or items for sale, or cosplay, or even the nature of physically being there. The photo above showcases some of our fans who purchased from our table. New York treated us well with bagels, tacos, pizza, and tasty ramen. We hope to be back at NYCC with new comics and products in the future.
The East Coast's largest pop culture convention, New York Comic Con returns October 9-12, 2025 at Javits Center located at 429 11th Avenue. Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo (Curls Studio) will be at Booth #2048 all four days (same location as last year, area with the low ceiling). The location is on show floor level 3.
The new "Curls" con exclusive book will debut as well as a new "Direct to Ink" book by Joe Carabeo.
We will also have the new "This Ink Runs Cold" collaboration book -- Joe Carabeo wrote a story that Scott Morse (former Pixar story artist) illustrated.
We will have the revised Black Magic Tales 154 page omnibus comic book. We will have several of our hard enamel pins available for purchase -- including a few pins produced in 2024 (Annual Cicada, Peach Fuzz and Strawberry). We will also have prints, stickers, buttons, and more.
We will bring copies of Magic Bullet #23 comics newspaper. With any purchase from our table, you get an opportunity to spin the wheel to get something extra as our thanks to you.
Join us at Dulles Expo Center (4320 Chantilly Shopping Center, Chantilly, VA 20151) this August 23-24, 2025 (SAT 10:30AM-5PM (VIP 10AM), SUN 10AM-4PM) for Fairfax Comic Con.
Curls Studio will be at the 12th year of Awesome Con in Artist Alley Table C-38 at the DC Convention Center April 4-6, 2025. Say hi and peruse our original comics, stickers, prints, enamel pins, magnets, and more! We will have the debut of issue 22 of Magic Bullet, a large format comics newspaper featuring Washington, DC based creators.
Awesome Con Short Film Festival presented by Joe Carabeo with Astray Productions will have three days of programming (see schedule below) as well as an award show and filmmaker meet-up on Saturday at 4:45PM in Room 204 (with cake to celebrate). Check out the wrestling belts the winners receive! Hope to see you at Awesome Con.
Friday, April 4 | Action, Horror, Sci Fi | 2:00-4:30 pm
Saturday, April 5 | Comedy, Drama | 2:00-4:30 pm
Saturday, April 5 | Awards Celebration | 4:45-5:45 pm
Sunday, April 6 | And Beyond! | 2:15-4:45 pm
VOTE FOR 2025 AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD
astrayproductions.com/vote
Curls Studio will be at the 11th year of Awesome Con at Table JR-05 from March 8-10, 2024 at the DC Convention Center. Please view the map above to locate us.
On Saturday "The Other Side of The Table: Lessons From Creators" will be taking place from 7:45-8:30PM in Room 206 featuring Maria Laura Sanapo, Jamar Nicholas, Marc Gaffen, and Carolyn Belefski. This is your in-person opportunity to ask us anything about the creative process and what it is like to be a comic creator.
Awesome Con Short Film Festival presented by Joe Carabeo with Astray Productions will have three days of programming as well as an award show and filmmaker meet-up on Saturday at 4:30PM in Room 202. Check out the wrestling belts the winners receive! Hope to see you at Awesome Con.
We enjoyed being in the city and got to experience wonderful dining at Planet Taco (I had the three "Out Of This World" tacos -- Mars Vegetarian Chorizo, Venus, and Saturn). We ate pizza from three different joints over the course of our stay and I had my first Everything Egg Bagel (not to be confused with egg filling inside, but imagine an egg bagel with everything spices on top).
On Friday night I walked over to Poster House for their First Friday events with free admission. The exhibits "Masked Vigilantes On Silent Motorbikes" and "Air-India’s Maharaja: Advertising Gone Rogue" were on display and I met up with a friend at the museum. We both had dice readings from Maia Lorian. Look for my Instagram (@CarolynBelefski) to be updated with a post solely about my participation at Poster House within the next few weeks. Afterwards we ate at Eataly, our most expensive meal of the trip. It was tasty, but not filling enough. I was so hungry and ended up getting a slice of pizza later on at night.
I got to play ping pong at PingPod. I visited Coney Island and it was a better experience than last year when the weather was drizzling and the town didn't look as vibrant as it could be on a nicer day. I rode Deno's Wonder Wheel for the first time! Luna Park was decorated for Halloween and they had a fog bubble machine. When popped, the grayish bubbles let out mystical fog. I learned that apparently Nathan's does not make the creamy orange shake anymore (so I'm glad to have gotten that last year).
After the show we heard that former WWE wrestler Enzo Amore was at NYCC at a table about a two minute walk away from our booth. I didn't know he was there and missed him, but it would have been great to see him. Reminds me of how last year I found out after the event that MJF, Danhausen, and Orange Cassidy were all there and I missed out on that too. But it also shows how going to all these comic cons is "work" for us and we have to be at our table and represent the books we create. Yes, we get to have a good time and it is sort of a mini vacation, but we are also there to invest in ourselves.
We hope to be back at NYCC in the future. Big thanks to Francis Bonnet, Joe Carabeo, Hannah Mount, NYCC staff, NYCC volunteers, NCS, the kind people at the hotel, and everyone who stopped by the booth.
Our next tour stop for this year is Baltimore Comic-Con (Booth K17) this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Curls Studio has exhibited at every Awesome Con and this year will be the first time we will be taking part in Pin Bazaar (Collectible Enamel Pins) with my "Umbrella Watermelon" design, which will be available at table A11.
Kickoff the event on Friday, June 3 from 1:30pm to 2:15pm for The Other Side of the Table: Lessons from Creators in Room 209 featuring John Gallagher, Kami Gracia, Sweeney Boo, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Carolyn Belefski.
You have an idea. You write, draw, and concept that idea into a comic book. But the work doesn't end there. You have to either find a publisher or self-publish your work. We will focus on starting out in the comics industry as a small press writer and/or artist. Once you have your first few books created and completed it is a good idea to get out and meet people and exhibiting is a great way to push yourself forward because creating your comic is only the first step. Are you a creator considering exhibiting at Artist Alley or Small Press comic conventions? This panel will give you tips and suggestions on how to create your professional appearances from the POV of being behind the table. We will discuss the metamorphosis from attendee to exhibitor, effective table display design, how to talk and interact with people at your table and how to generate sales with your table pitch.
After the panel join me Friday, June 3 from 3:00pm to 3:30pm for Emoji Comics with Carolyn Belefski at the Awesome Con Jr. Workshops area.
Joe Carabeo will be presenting the Awesome Con Short Film Fest. Each year fans gather to watch specially selected short films in the categories of comedy, drama, horror, action, science fiction, documentaries, and more.
Exhibit Hall Hours
Friday, June 3 | 1:00pm - 8:00pm
Saturday, June 4 | 10:00am - 7:00pm
Sunday, June 5 | 10:00am - 5:00pm
Short Film Fest Hours
Friday, June 3 | 4:30pm - 6:30pm | Room 204
Horror, Sci Fi, Action
Saturday, June 4 | 4:30pm - 6:30pm | Room 204
Comedy and Drama
Sunday, June 5 | 3:00 pm - 5:00pm | Room 204
Animation, Docs and More Awesome Films
On Saturday, April 2, 2022 "Netfins & Chill" (directed by Joe Carabeo) won "Best Local DC Film" during YouFilmFest shown at REACH Kennedy Center. I contributed to the film by designing the film titles. Congrats to the hard work of the cast and crew.
"Netfins & Chill" from film director Joe Carabeo will be shown at the Kennedy Center in Washington. DC during YouFilmFest. Each screening block is about 1 hour followed by a Q&A with filmmakers. "Netfins & Chill" is part of the 6:15 PM block called "Films from the US & Around the World: Part 1" on Saturday, April 2, 2022. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/film/2021-2022/you-film-festival-r
I designed the film titles and am happy to be a part of the project. Excited for the cast and crew to receive recognition and some of them will be a part of the audience Q&A after the screening.
Magic Bullet, a large format comics anthology newspaper based out of the Washington, DC area, published our latest "Black Magic Tales" story in issue #20, written by Joe Carabeo and illustrated by Carolyn Belefski.
Our story "Optioned" introduces us to two indie filmmakers destined to leave their mark in Hollywood and continues the adventures of world famous criminals Roxy Monroe and Dean Casanova (plus their cat, Black Magic). We made this comic back in 2020, but things were on hold because of the pandemic -- I'm glad you'll be able to read it soon.
