I have a new book out!

 

From the back cover:

Poem: A Mashup

What makes poetry effective? How does a poem work? What are its goals and aims? 

Taking his cue from the musical form of mashup, in POEM M. D. Usher has composed what is known as a cento, stitching together snippets from famous poems in such a way that the words of the text illustrate the aspect of poetry being described. A lively introduction and short, irreverent biographies of the featured poets add to the fun. 

In T. Motley’s artwork, Word literally becomes Flesh, as letters emerge like epiphanies from the drawings. 

POEM is a unique achievement that stands in relation to canonical poetry as Disney’s film, Fantasia, stands to classical music—first of its kind, something for all ages, and well worth experiencing again and again. 

Order it here, PLEASE.

The Rumpus

I'm the subject of a substantial interview on The Rumpus.net this week. Please have a look, read about my influences and projects and stuff. Warm thanks to Andrea Tsurumi for the complimentary questions.

Portfolio 2013

This is my current illustration portfolio, which I'll display here until I finish rebuilding my website.

First are examples of cartooning combined with hand lettering:

Next are book illustrations from The Golden Ass:

More book illustration and wild figure drawing:

...and inventive pages in a mix of styles:

Skillful and ingenious, right?

Deeply Funny?

Some of my comics just received a plug in this philosophy blog,
The Partially Examined Life.

Performances, Lectures, Panel Discussions, & Literary Readings

I've fallen wa-a-a-ay behind on posting my sketches of notable creative people. Let's catch up.

First, here's my hero, the hyper literate songwriter/cartoonist Peter Blegvad, performing at The Stone, April 15, 2010. Blegvad, along with other songwriters, presents new songs monthly on the always entertaining webcast, Radio Free Song Club. Check it out.

Here's another, to me, very important and influential author, Harry Mathews, reading new poems at 192 Books, October 19, 2010.

And here's a sketch from long ago of the late Dr. Jonathan Cohen, author of Apart from Freud, presenting a paper at Denver's Auraria campus circa 2002. I miss you, my friend.

Continuing the theme of my personal influences, here's another, Al Jaffee, in conversation with another, Peter Kuper. Jaffee is here receiving an award at the 2011 MoCCA Fest.

And here's Richard McGuire speaking with Bill Kartalopoulos at Parsons in February 2011.

More sketches from MoCCA Fest 2011: a panel on non-fiction comics with Heidi MacDonald, Dean Haspiel, Nick Bertozzi, Sarah Glidden, and Nick Abadzis,...

...and a panel on book publishing with Mark Newgarden, Ben Katchor, Lauren Redniss, and Stephen DeStefano.

Returning from the comics sphere to the literary, here's Lance Olsen reading at Unnameable Books, along with Rob Stephenson, Brian Conn, and Margo Berdeshevsky.

Here's Mark Usher at UVM reading from The Golden Ass, introduced by Jeffrey Marshall,...

...and here's Mark's "author photo" from the inside flap of our book.

Reading at the Perch Cafe in June 2010 are my good friends Padma Thornlyre and Janet Glovinsky, joined by Kirpal Gordon, William Seaton, Karen Moulding (also sketched by my daughter Violet who was 4 at the time), and Liz Longo.

Back when I first arrived in Brooklyn, there was this reading of poems by the late, great Sekou Sundiata featuring Kimiko Hahn, Rashida Ismaili, and Danny Simmons, at the 2007 Brooklyn Book Festival.

And back before I left Denver, there was this reading at the Denver Zine Library on 5/24/07 which included Patrick Porter, Lee Green (reading from My Small Diary), and Aidan Aberrant.

Whew! That very nearly cleans me out. Now to go draw some new ones.

Check Out My Ass!

few reviews have appeared of the new book, The Golden Ass, which I illustrated for author Mark D. Usher.

Of my contribution, The School Library Journal says, "Motley's pen-and-ink illustrations are terrifically detailed and cartoon like and are reminiscent of John Tenniel's work in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." They also say the book is "perfect for humor-loving middle schoolers."

Vermont's Seven Days Review called my illustrations "cleverly allusive."

A starred review in Kirkus says, "Motley's elaborate illustrated initials and pen-and-ink drawings add satiric bite," and calls the book, "an entertaining romp, even without the raunchy bits."

One can find it at Barnes and Noble and Amazon and, who knows?, maybe your local bookstore.

The Golden Ass

t last, my new book is about to come out from David R. Godine, available Oct 31, according to Amazon.




The Golden Ass is a classic story from ancient Rome whose influence can be seen throughout the subsequent history of western literature in books as diverse as Don Quijote, Pinocchio, and The Midsummer Night's Dream. This adaptation, by classicist/children's author, M. D. Usher, is aimed at children ages 9 and up.




I festooned it with full page illustrations, decorated initials, and graphic dingbats, and packed the images with little gags and visual allusions. Quoth the publisher, "Motley's lively, thoroughly contemporary drawings capture the boisterous, see-sawing plot, while wittily quoting any number of graphic predecessors. Here is illustration at its best, at once illuminating and expanding a text while bringing it squarely into a new century."



It's a beautifully printed book, and fun to read and look at. Pick it up and/or check it out, if you please.