Summer’s on the way out. Fall’s on the way in. Somehow it feels like this Summer has been going on forever and way, way too short to cram in all the fun plans we had. We haven’t sat by the river enough but we’re reading a lot of comix & sci-fi novels and watching movies at the theater and coming up with fun plans for Fall. We harvested 27 pounds of blueberries from the garden this year, some of which we’ll turn into natural dye to give our least favorite garments a chance to get back in the rotation. The shop is filled with small press books & art & weird stuff and has been bustling lately. :) thanks, ya’ll!
Lots of new readers for this issue. Welcome to a rambling newsletter!
In this issue:
Comix Live On!
Portland Zine Symposium
GamJam 3
Thoughts! 💭
Comix Live On! ← our next art show
Since we started talking about opening a Secret Room shop, we’ve always wanted to showcase contemporary comics art originals. There are so many people doing astounding work in the modern comics scene and we often just see the end result; printed (or digital) comics in their final, digestible format. Obviously we love to hold a comic book in our hands but there’s a lot to learn from seeing original art.
Kicking off this Saturday with an opening reception with all four artists present, we’ll have original art from comics released in August 2024, beautiful work from the members of Speck.
Original comix art & accompanying RISO prints from/inspired by:
Phoebe Mol — Extinction (Parsifal Press)
Re Pinter - No Name Comix #1: The God Issue (self-published)
Quinn Amacher - Frolic #1 (self-published)
SIDE NOTE: We’re picking up the 2nd Printing of Amacher’s 150-page book SYNCING (Secret Room Press, 2023) from Portland Bindery just in time for the art show!
Molly Lecko Herro - Meatloaf Castle #1 (self-published)
*Opening Reception*
3225 SE Division St -> Portland, OR
Saturday, September 14th
6:00-9:00pm
We’re so, so excited for this event! We’re even putting the comics on plinths ‘cause guess what, nerds, they’re fulla art!
See ya Saturday 👋
Portland Zine Symposium
The Portland Zine Symposium is almost here!
We’ll be tabling BOTH days this year, on September 21st & 22nd. It’s an honor to get to table, let alone for two days straight. WE LOVE IT! PZS has been an institution driving creativity and self-publishing efforts since 2001 and it’s no surprise that once again, the lineup is unbelievably good. Shoutout to the volunteers and organizers who keep this festival alive. Shows like this are the lifeblood of our city!
150-ish tablers
2 days of zines & comix
Lots of friends visiting from outta town for this one too. Excited to see everybody, both at the event and at the inevitable karaoke afterparty (or afterparties??).
Also, if you’re visiting town or creating new work for PZS, please bring extra copies of your comix, zines, and RISO prints to consign with us at Secret Room!
GamJam III
Another tabling event coming up?? You betcha!
The Third Annual GamJam is on October 5th this year and we’re guest curating a little section of the festival with friends & weirdos! What’s GamJam, you ask? A little one-day art fair at the Lloyd Center Mall featuring toys, zines, handmade goods, art, glass, ceramics, comix, art, and more!
Organized by Bwana Spoons (the brilliant painter, illustrator, and toy maker behind Gravy Toys & Grass Hut Market), this event will bring together dozens of creators of all sorts of incredible stuff.
Here’s a poster we printed for the event on a RISO MZ790u!
💭 Da Thought Bubble 💭
This is just a bunch of junk!
We’ve been busy lately but we also like keeping busy, if that makes sense? Always somethin’ to do. Not a lot of thoughts other than gratitude in this here newsletter.
Betty Graceland — Three early paintings (1952-61) from a lifetime of art reinterpreted with risograph: The show is coming to an end this week! Thank you so, so much to everybody who supported this show. It meant quite a lot to us to get to showcase Grace’s art and it warms our heart knowing that reproductions of her paintings are hanging in peoples’ homes all over the city (and elsewhere)!
Tokyo Zine Popup Recap: Thank you so much to Asami Akinaga for organizing this project. Unbelievably cool zines & comix from an array of artists working in many different styles in Tokyo, coming together for a month of special display work in Portland. What a treat! We met so many people who came by just to check out the show, which was really lovely, and were introduced to some wonderful artists. Honored to be a part of this and excited for this project to continue at many different zine shops worldwide. Didn’t make it to the pop-up? No worries! The books, zines, prints, and stickers are now part of our shop’s collection!
WAX // The LP Show at A Sometimes Gallery: Our friends over at A Sometimes Gallery have a new show going up with 35+ artists… an incredible lineup and lots of Friends of Secret Room Press! We were asked by guest curator Bobby Adams to do a print run of the poster. Show kicks off on Friday, September 20th just down the street from Secret Room — we’ll be open late so we can all hang out! Go check out the art show and swing on over to Secret Room to say hello! Check out this gorgeous poster, printed in glorious faux CMYK RISO on our MZ790u:
We’re excited for da future!
Okay, that’s it for now!
Pursue peace on earth. Be kind. Love life. Make Art.
💛 Secret Room H.Q. 💛