Trees & Hills (and many individual artists) will have a table at MICE (the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo). Don’t miss this always-excellent show—it runs for two days (10/4 & 10/5) and admission is free!

October 4, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM & October 5, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
University Hall at Lesley University, 1815 Massachusetts Ave (Porter Sq), Cambridge, MA

The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo was established in 2010 to create a showcase space for artists and writers in the greater-Boston area working in the field of comics. The event is a joint project between the Boston Comics Roundtable (an independent arts collective) and the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University.Unlike traditional comics shows, which emphasize commerce and memorabilia, MICE puts a focus on the art of making comics. We connect local creators with local audience. We also run a number of workshops for children and adults, as well as panel discussions on the craft and relevance of the comics form. We’ll be featuring several special guest creators, along with an expanded line-up of programming.

September 27, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Downtown Winchester, Main Street, Winchester, NH

Trees & Hills returns to the Winchester Pickle Festival after years of MICE-induced absence!* Colin Tedford will serve up our homemade comics; meanwhile:

The event kicks off at 10:00 am with a parade!

Here are some of the events …

Nelson town band, Winchester town band, northern ridge rythm band, weathered roads country band, junction 1-3-5 quartet, mavericks line dancers. Free pickles, homemade pickle judging, pickle eating contests!

Yay hope to see you all there!!

(c) 2006 Mark Martin (inspired by his visit to the Winchester Pickle Festival)

* Last time was in 2008, the year before MICE started; luckily MICE changed its date this year. ^

September 26, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Keene Public Library, Heberton Hall, 76 Winter Street, Keene, NH

Celebrate the Freedom to Read by attending this engaging Banned Books Week Lecture and Social Meetup. N.H. cartoonist Marek Bennett presents several episodes of censorship and challenge from the long and rich history of comics around the world. We’ll look into the “Comic Book Scare” of the 1950s and the “American Comics Code”, the eradication of the Ancient Mayan library system, the miraculous secret life of the subversive Bayeux Tapestry and more.

At the end of the lecture, there will be refreshments and you’ll have an opportunity to discuss comics with Marek.

Banned Books Week 2014 celebrates graphic novels.

Yesterday’s Trick or Treat Comics-making event in Keene produced two finished and two partly-finished comics. Not bad! :) The weather turned gloomy as we worked (and ate skull & bone-shaped candy), so we turned on an electric jack-o’-lantern.

Three couples attended, each with one person making a comic:

These two finished so quickly:

This could be you!

You still have until this Saturday (September 13) to make a comic for Trick or Treat Comics #3 — and they’re small, so you can do it even if you haven’t started yet! Find out how in the call for submissions.

Aliceheimer’s author Dana Walrath gives one of the day’s seven talks at TEDxBattenkill 9/13 in Manchester Center, VT.

If Alzheimer’s disease brought humor and clarity into our lives, does this mean that our lives were utterly crazy beforehand? Perhaps it was a bit of insanity that led me to move Alice, into our home just as our nest was about to empty, just as she was losing her marbles. But with a community of help that included pirates, good neighbors, a cast of characters from space-time travel, and my dead father hovering in the branches of the maple trees that surround our Vermont farmhouse, Aliceheimer’s let us write our own story daily—a story that, in turn, helps rewrite the dominant medical narrative of aging.

Tickets are $75 and include a welcome reception, seven live talks, a Vermont cheese station, wine and beer reception, a local chef locavore potluck lunch, TED videos and an after party with the speakers at TED Restaurant.

Want to submit a story to Trick or Treat Comics #3 but having trouble coming up with one? Maybe this list of spooky stuff will spark some ideas:

• Bat
• Bone
• Cemetery
• Cobweb
• Coffin
• Curse
• Crypt
• Demon
• Fog
• Forest (spooky)
• Full Moon
• Ghost
• Goblin
• Grave(stone)
• Grim Reaper
• Haunted House
• Jack O’Lantern
• Monster
• Mummy
• Ruins
• Skeleton
• Skull
• Sorceror (evil)
• Spider
• Swamp
• Vampire
• Werewolf
• Witch (evil)
• Zombie

Feel free to share more ideas in comments!

You can also get more support at our Trick or Treat Comics-making event this Saturday, September 6 in Keene, NH.

Granite State Comicon presents two days of comics artists, dealers, gaming, costumes, events, and media personalities this September 13 & 14 in Manchester, NH. Artists appearing there who we know live in the T&H area (though no doubt there are plenty more): Blair Shedd, Jesse DuRona, Liz Plourde & Randy Michaels, Randall Drew, and Rich Brunelle & Josh Belanger.

Admission: $20 for one day or $30 online / $35 at door for both. Children ages 7-12 get in for $10 for one day or $15 for both (only available at door). Children 6 & under get in free. There are also some VIP packages that include extra bonuses.

Visit the Trees & Hills booth this weekend at the 19th annual Southern Vermont Garlic & Herb Festival! Colin Tedford & Madsahara will have garlic-themed comics and art for your enjoyment as well as the usual selection of comics from around the region and assorted art-bearing merchandise.

August 30 & 31, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Camelot Village, 1545 Route 9, Bennington, VT

Admission is $5 per day or $8 for a two-day pass. Children 12 & under get in for $1.00.

“Super Friendly Garlic” by Colin Tedford

The new date for our Trick or Treat Comics-making event in Keene, NH is September 6. A brief how-to, a little story idea brainstorming, then we draw! Colony Mill Marketplace (ex-)food court, 222 West Street, Keene, NH, Saturday, September 6 12:30-5:30 pm. Full details: http://treesandhills.org/events/trick-or-treat-comics-making/

Trick or Treat Comics submission details: http://treesandhills.org/2014/05/trick-or-treat-comics-3-call-for-submissions-boo/

If you plan to attend please comment, email (organize@treesandhills.org), or RSVP on Facebook so we can have a sense of how many people to expect.

“Candy Corn!” by Madsahara from Trick or Treat Comics #2

Updates

September 3: Linked to Facebook event, separated out updates.

3:04: Request to RSVP.

We haven’t sent an email newsletter in quite a while, mainly because Mailchimp by default requires more work from me than sending them the old way. I’ve finally set it up to generate emails from our site feed, so now it should take less work than the old way, and those of you who’ve subscribed can actually get some updates.

I’ve also simplified our newsletter categories. Previously we let people subscribe to updates about events, creator opportunities, and publications; we’ve now simplified it to “Everything” and “Publications only” to reflect actual usage.

In the (hopefully near) future I’ll add a newsletter signup form to the site. Until then, if you want to subscribe just email us at organize@treesandhills.org and let us know if you want “Everything” or the “Publications only” version.