Ladies and gentlemen, a word from the Mrs….
Mark asked me to write a blog longer ago than I care to admit, but I needed some time to get a little more of a handle on things happening at home and some time to think about what I wanted to write. So…here goes!
Being married to a cartoonist means that
• I understand that Mark, sitting on the couch and staring out the window, really is working as he writes new cartoons. Once snores enter the scene, though, I think work time is officially over!• It’s not only my son who shows me his artwork.
• People are always intrigued when they ask about Mark’s job. They’re also usually confused as they try to understand. “Does he draw editorial cartoons? Are his cartoons in the newspaper?†They’re impressed when I can list off a few magazines they’re familiar with.
• I’m Mark’s gauge for his pop culture references. If I can get the reference, he figures most anyone can!
• Mark gets to check his e-mail a lot in the name of work. He tells me that he needs to check to see if anyone wants to buy a cartoon, but I strongly suspect that even without the customers he would still be checking his e-mail fourteen times a day because he likes mail and computers. With cartooning, though, he has the perfect excuse.
• My family has been known to gather around Mark in awe as he draws. In my family, our stick people look far more like sticks than people. I sometimes joke that I teach first grade because I can still draw better than most of my students (there are a few every year who already surpass me). If our children show any kind of artistic talent, we’ll know which side of the family they got it from.
• We talk about funny things. We discuss Mark’s cartoons as he fine tunes them, we talk about other cartoons, and we focus on the funny parts of movies and t.v. shows. We don’t just point out the funny parts to each other, though; we talk about how the joke was constructed, what made it funny, and what the creator could have done to make it even funnier. I think people outside the humor business would be amazed at how much serious discussion can take place about funny stuff.
• The lines between work and home life are blurry. The good part of that is that Mark can stay home and take care of our children, primarily working on nap time and once I get home from school. If we want to pick up for the day and go to the zoo with the kids, Mark’s his own boss and he can take a day off like that. The flip side of that is that work is never far from Mark’s mind either. Sometimes when I catch him staring off into space at a meal, I ask him if he’s off in “cartoon land,†which usually means he’s trying hard to flesh out a germ of an idea into a full-fledged cartoon. Other times I may finish talking about something, get a neutral noise from Mark before he starts with “Hey, tell me what you think about this idea…â€
• I’ve gotten to share some unique experiences with Mark. I went with him to Ohio State University several years ago and listened to many cartoonists speak. I was even able to walk up to Lynn Johnston, one of my favorite cartoonists who works outside our household, and chat with her for a few minutes. I’m looking forward to making it to an NCS convention one of these years, too.
• Nobody will play Pictionary with us. I mean nobody, but nobody. We finally gave the game away.
• I am so very proud of Mark. Not only is he doing what he loves, he’s even found a way to make it into a good business. I love being able to pick up a magazine and see his cartoons and show those cartoons off to my friends. I love taking my dog to the vet, glancing at the cartoons they have hanging up by the receptionist’s desk, and then getting up to show them which one is Mark’s. Mark has worked very hard to figure out this unusual profession every step of the way: from when he was first getting back into cartooning and trying to figure out his tools and style to now when he is constantly trying to use today’s technology to his advantage. Mark got back into cartooning in our first year of marriage when he set his trombone down. (Our apartment neighbors appreciated the switch!) It’s been fascinating to see how far he and his business have come in those nine years, and I can’t wait to see where he goes from here. I love you, honey!
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