Curls: Rachel Alexandra at The Preakness

Curls was on hand last Saturday at The Preakness to hang out with the winner Rachel Alexandra and her jockey, Calvin Borel. Rachel Alexandra became the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes in 85 years. Curls enjoyed chatting with Calvin. She likes his Cajun accent and fun personality. Rachel Alexandra had a great win. This one is for the girls!

Handmade Mart is May 31

Curls Studio was recently accepted to be a vendor at Handmade Mart in downtown Silver Spring, MD! We hope to see you at booth #19 on Sunday, May 31. You can check out our Q&A on the Handmade Mart blog and take a look at what other vendors will be selling. Along with an awesome array of vendors, the Handmade Mart will also feature a full day of live indie rock and hands-on workshops at the Pyramid Atlantic Store.

WHAT: Handmade Mart
WHEN: May 31, 2009 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
WHERE: Ellsworth Drive in Silver Spring, Maryland (between Fenton and Georgia Avenue)

PULSE News » BELEFSKI'S COMICAL CURLS

Jennifer Contino interviewed me on Monday. Here is a sample of the interview and a link to the full goodness, which includes eight Curls comic strips.

Carolyn Belefski told THE PULSE, "I'm inspired by what is around me," when asked what was the genesis of her eclectic webcomics series, Curls. She's been drawing as long as she can remember and created the strip when she was a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Although she's stuck in the grind of a nine to five-ish day job, she still creates funny, webcomic strips. And she likes turtles. So I had to talk to her about her hopes, dreams and turtles!

THE PULSE: A lot of our readers will be meeting you for the first time in this interview, so for those who don't know much about you, what makes Carolyn Belefski tick?

CAROLYN BELEFSKI: I'm inspired by what is around me. My interests: comics, animals, design, movies, pop culture ... come across in the comics I make. I like to commentate on the positive and negative things in a creative outlet. Everyone is surrounded by good and bad things. I try to take the good, the bad, make a big mix of it to move on. That's what keeps me going and makes me tick. Taking what you have and making something out of it. Otherwise I have nothing if I'm not creating.

THE PULSE: So how did you channel that spirit and energy into webcomics, out of everything you could have used to represent yourself?

BELEFSKI: When I create comics, I create a world. The characters are my friends, and they represent and entertain me. Hopefully others can connect to them as well. The stories are very character-driven. Sure, there are creative outlets other than comics and multiple ways to represent yourself, but with comics everything feels larger, and it feels right and comfortable to me. I have been drawing comics ever since I can remember, so in a way I feel like the characters discovered me. One of my earliest memories is drawing and watching Bugs Bunny.

Read the full interview here: PULSE News » BELEFSKI'S COMICAL CURLS

The Birth of Conehead

This is a Curls comic strip I completed in 2006 and do not believe it has ever been published anywhere... until now! I was digging through the archives and thought it would be nice to share with you all.

It is the birth of the character, Conehead. Yes, the bird with an ice cream cone on his head. Conehead!

This strip makes me feel good because it reminds me of summer. Summertime is nice because you can wear less clothing and cool down with some ice cream and Italian ice! Yes. Italian ice rules. In fact, I just purchased some yesterday. What types of flavors do you all like? You know what else is good? Orange creamsicles. Yummy!

DC Counter Culture Festival

Join Curls Studio and 30 other vendors at DC Conspiracy's fourth annual DC Counter Culture Festival at The Soundry in Vienna, VA on Sunday, May 24, 2009 from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. I heard there will be live bands there also. I'm sure additional details will be available in the next few weeks. Admission is free! Hope you can join us.

If you don't know what to expect, view our 2008 experience on film from Astray Productions:


Image credit: Scott White