That's a wrap on convention season!

Hey pals,

This past month has been a real whirlwind of activity over here at False Knees Corp.! Last weekend was the Festival BD de Montréal (Montréal Comic Arts Festival). At the opening ceremonies for the weekend, my book Spores took home the Bédélys award (Québec award for comic books) for independent anglophone publication! It came with a hand-crafted award from Karl Dupéré-Richer that looks like a robot's head:

Apparently it is made from recycled material! (the head is an old detergent bottle). I've never received a trophy for my comics, so it feels very special.

The person who presented the award didn't announce the winner outright, but read the most thoughtful and moving description of the winning story. He kept it ambiguous for a sentence or two, but the moment I realized he was describing Spores, oh boy did my eyes well up!! It was a surreal feeling to have my story recognized in a room full of local artists.

The juries had to read through more than 400 submissions this year! There were displays in the street for the winning publications:

The festival itself was very lively and fun as always. We were so lucky with sunshine all three days. It is such a delight to have these events to interact with fans, strangers, cartoonists, illustrators, and artists! The rush I get from three or four shows keeps me motivated all year long.

Here I am, doing my best to avoid spelling mistakes on a diet of granola bars and fizzy water.

 A fan showed us some fan-made Chinese translations. Love the emojis.

It's also been the busiest time of the year for seeing migrators on their journey north! I've been prioritizing spending as much time as I can in the forests of this city. I've had some good days, spotting a couple dozen different species over a few hours.

This photo of a Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) is one of my favourite ones from this season. The Tanager and Blackburnian Warbler were my spark birds that led me into wildlife photography starting May 2020. Here is a photo I took with my phone through a pair of binoculars back then:

Glorious. I'd say it's either a tanager or a running shoe!

During the comic festival, we hosted a couple of great friends and accomplished artists Zoe Si (check out her website) and Jackie Davis (of Underpants & Overbites) in our apartment, and I met up with Sarah Andersen (of Sarah's Scribbles) to discuss a potential big collaborative project! (Hush hush!) I'm feeling very grateful for this wonderful community I've suddenly found myself a part of.

Whew!

With all of that action behind me, I'm looking forward to drawing some silly birds!

❤️🐤 Joshua

 (Drawing by Zoe Si)