December Newsletter: "Churning Portent", Cicada Prints, & a Shrimp Alert!

Zine Fest Season

Greetings! We’ve made it to the final dispatch of 2024. 

Firstly, a very, very big thank you to everyone who has come out for any of our recent tabling events. Thank you so much for your support and showing love to area artists. Just showing up and being present counts for so much. 

We had a fun, somewhat chaotic Zine Fest Houston weekend. ZFH itself was a great time. I loved the very sporadic, big finale fashion show. I pray this becomes an annual tradition because folks really do turn looks and fly their freak flags when they get dressed for Zine Fest Houston and I live for it. I have harbored a desire to make a street style photo zine that documents the outfits we see at zine fests for years now. IYKYK. 

We hit the hay immediately after ZFH this year, woke up and drove to Dallas the next day for Dallas Zine Fest at the storied Texas Theatre & next door Oak Cliff Cultural Center. Sidenote: if you’re unfamiliar with the connection between the Texas Theatre and the JFK assassination, you can read more here. 

No rest for wicked zinesters. I can’t do a lot of coffee, but that’s pretty much what sustained me for this unhinged marathon. 

This was DZF’s first year at these combined venues and while I was apprehensive at first when I saw the modest size of the space, the turnout was phenomenal and visitors were very patient and respectful given the crowds. We had a great night and got to catch up with our sweet Dallas friends, Strange Powers. If you're in the DFW area, check out their current show, “Come Home,” at Point of View bookstore in Fort Worth. These folks are a constant source of inspiration to us.

 

SHRIMPS ARE LIVE!

Friends, I am happy to report the shrimps came out of the kiln safely and they also slap. I’m irrationally stoked on these shrimps. I knew I liked this Palladium glaze. I’ve used it a handful of times before, but something about these chromed-out shrimp is pure magic for me. I am very pleased. 

https://www.mysticmultiples.com/products/shrimp-necklace

For now, I’ve strung these shrimp charms up for necklaces. I bought some very cute olive green hemp twine for this purpose. I think they could also work as X-mas ornaments. One customer told me they planned to hang it from their rearview mirror. The possibilities are endless. I might experiment with some broaches in the future for these. I’m feeling my grandma broach phase coming on. 

They are all a bit different and unique. Just listing 8 or so for now, but will continue to make more if we sell out.

 

Cicada Brood Riso Prints

Cicadas have emerged! Some of you may have seen this print in person at our recent events, and we're happy to now formally introduce our Cicada Brood prints on the MM website. These risograph prints are 8" x 8" and are printed on cream, recycled cover stock from French Paper. Marvel as these tiny friends frolic in the dew among the plants...

https://www.mysticmultiples.com/products/cicada-brood

 

Last Chance for Bog Beauties 2025

Wow! We were blown away by the response we got to our Bog Beauties 2025 calendar. After we previewed them in our newsletter, we sold all available copies during the course of a weekend. After checking every nook and cranny, we can now report that we have eight additional copies available in our online shop.

Since next year is going to be the year of the snake, we're planning to revisit some of the images and themes in this calendar. I'm thinking we'll see some recycled paper and screenprints coming up in the very near future!

https://www.mysticmultiples.com/products/bog-beauties-2025-calendar

“Churning Portent” at K Space Contemporary 

“Queen Isabella Causeway,” latex paint on dyed muslin, 8’ X 15’, 2024 by Sarah Welch.

Whilst we endeavor to enjoy the Yule season this year, we are also working on new art for a small installation at K Space Contemporary down in Corpus. The show, “Churning Portent,” will open in mid January 2025. 

Here’s a little flavor text written for that: 

Churning Portent is an installation created by artist-collaborators Sarah Welch and James Beard. This Houston-based duo has worked together for over a decade producing primarily zines, comics, and printed ephemera under the imprint, Mystic Multiples. In recent years they’ve turned their attention to multisensory installations about the precarity of life on the U.S. Gulf Coast. 

In “Churning,” the churn refers both to the water in the Gulf of Mexico during storms and the agitation and disruption of our ecological balance writ large. The theatrical-style backdrop paintings in this installation are Texas coastal landscapes and seascapes: the Queen Isabella Causeway, the offshore oil platform, Perdido, a stretch of HWY-146, and a concrete rubble seawall and pier in Seabrook, TX. Each location captures a portion of infrastructure which exists for human access above or across stretches of water: transporting the body and industry  beyond the confines of land. These mammoth scale projects--which are now banal, everyday scenes--are a representation of the ego, hubris, and folly of man. This spirit is hellbent on touching every remote patch of island and taking what it will in the process– consequences be damned.

The central sculpture, titled “Portent Siren,” is an amalgamation of the mythological mermaid. This dour creature is our “portent.” She has risen from the pelagic depths as a supernatural, folk-tale messenger warning us of devastation and seeking redress. She sits perched on a mound of concrete sidewalk and building fragments which nod to makeshift coastal erosion barriers and the inevitable entropy of all human empires. 

Will update on this project in the new year. 

Thanks for staying tuned. Sending blessings and light in these dark times. 

Much love, 

Mystic Multiples