Sci Fi Night features local writing, art on Sweden Street
CARIBOU — Thursdays on Sweden is a bi-weekly summer event that brings a variety of people, from both in and out of Caribou, together for food, music, and festivities. While many vendors provide homemade food and crafts, others showcase local art and writing.
In honor of July 28’s “Sci-Fi Night” theme, Ryan Palmer of Caribou offered one of his novels along with artwork for a comic book series that he will be writing alongside veterans from both DC and Marvel comics.
“I’m doing three titles,” Palmer said. “We have a huge launch lined up, so it’s not an independent project. We’ve got former Disney animators who want to do cartoons and also have a toy affiliate ready to go with top-end 3D printing technology. We want to do action figures, video gaming, and everything.”
Palmer’s novel, entitled “Age of Armageddon: The Spirit of Krynn,” was written with the intention of later breaking into the world of comic books. After speaking with a copyright lawyer from southern Maine, Palmer decided to self-publish the books, which would allow him to own the characters and intellectual property as opposed to using an outside publisher.
“I went for it and got picked up by Cornerstone. I’m lucky to be with them and still do independent work,” he said.
Character art was displayed next to Palmer’s novel, which was drawn by some big names in the comic industry.
“A member of my studio, Freddy Lopez, is a former Marvel coloring artist and he helped with colors for the artwork,” Palmer said. “Another was done by Paris Cullins, a 30-year DC veteran who did it during a Bangor convention in April. He’s a member of Cornerstone and does admin. He flew up from New York to attend the convention, so I was honored to see that.”
Much of Palmer’s inspiration is taken from the experience of growing up in the 1980s.
“The ‘80s were one of the most awesome times to be a kid,” Palmer said. “I loved the cartoons back then, they were so imaginative: ‘He Man’, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’, ‘Transformers’, ‘Thundercats’.”
For literary inspiration, Palmer drew mostly from Stephen King, R.L. Stine and his “Goosebumps” series, and Dean Koontz.
“I like horror novels but also pop culture and video gaming. I decided to just go for it and write my own story one day. I think the big thing is that anyone can create. My actual writing comes from a love of computers. I went to school for CIS, computer information systems, and I also love to talk; I’m really long-winded and have a lot to say. When I get on the keyboard, scripts just seem to pop out.”
The process for Palmer’s first novel was somewhat non-traditional, as it was initially written by hand.
“I had five thick notebooks,” Palmer said. “We took a free trial of Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat so I could hit the specs to publish within that time. I had to get all the formatting and editing done in just 30 days.”
Further down Sweden Street, Bill Duncan of Stockholm offered a unique type of art that combined photography and painting.
“I started out with photographs,” Duncan said. “Then I started hand coloring my photographs, so all these are hand-colored photographs. Some are done with paint, acrylic, crayon, or oil pastels.”
For future artwork, Duncan is working to veer away from photography and focus on painting.
“I haven’t broken out of it completely,” said Duncan. “What I find I do is take a picture on my phone and use that to help with composition and proportions. Although I don’t know if I’ll get to a point where I’m not dependent on the camera.”
Duncan’s interest in art began while he was in grade school, and only grew from there.
“I used to doodle in grade school,” Duncan said. “I was interested in photography but wasn’t able to do anything with it until I got into college where we worked with chemicals to develop the pictures.”
Having attended craft fairs in Caribou and Fort Kent in the past, Duncan is looking to get back out into the community and meet people.
“Thursdays on Sweden is a great way to get out there and meet people,” Duncan said. “It doesn’t have to be about art, just whatever we find in common.”
Duncan has a show coming up on August 15 at the Presque Isle library that will go until the end of September. Those interested in obtaining Duncan’s artwork can call him at 896-3461 or visit his website WilliamLloydDuncan.com.
During the July 28, 2016 Thursdays on Sweden, Duncan sold a painting to a high-profile customer – U.S. Senator Angus King, who was in town during an Aroostook County tour.
