by Emily Anderson.

Snow! Even Emily's puffer fish is excited. But the puffer fish is EVEN MORE EXCITED than you are, because it knows what other great things are in the works. Just wait!

(I know what you are asking yourself - "Is that puffer fish really as big as my head?" It is BIGGER than your head. Just wait till it's glazed and finished.)

From our first cone 10 and raku kiln firings of the year:

by Bri Truong

by Nick Danna

by Trenton Hudkins

I had to resist putting a bunch of exclamation points after that title. We haven't gotten any ceramics work through a final firing yet, so while you wait, enjoy this comic that Kristine Lee dashed off at the end of last year. Just click on the cover to read the rest.

This was the view from my tent for a couple days during a relaxing week of backpacking in the Cascades. Sunny days, starry nights (except for one lightning storm), scrambling up to wild beautiful places, and a bunch of friendly mosquitoes for company - ahh.

I've been catching up on some Northwest fun. My brother Dan came out from North Carolina at the first of the month, and the next day we headed out gray and early to hike up Mailbox Peak. It was steep, wet, muddy and completely socked in - good leg-thrashing times.

The next day Lisa and I headed up to Lopez Island for the 4th of July and a vacation. I did the 5k fun run on the 4th and placed 6th overall (my legs were still thrashed, and I haven't run in a couple years). We watched the parade, then had the annual family picnic with great food and cold breezy gray weather. It was so cold no one wanted to go back to the village to see the fireworks that night, so Lisa, her sister and I went up to the nearby church and sat in the graveyard, where we had a great, (but still freezing) view over a flooded pasture all to ourselves. If you just counted the living.

Kristine Lee and Hannah Dougherty (Pixar, pay attention) have been up to their usual doodly antics when they've had time this last year, and now have their own website. (Okay, I helped - but you'll see why.) It's the best thing since marsupials. I can't wait to see what shenanigans come next.

UPDATE: Shenanigans have put Kristine and Hannah's website on hold for the time being, but when they're soon famous I'll be sure to post links.

Another first page, this one by Cory Hosken. I cannot say enough cool things about Cory, except that I want to see more of her work.

Some great comics to round out the year! For now here's a first page teaser by Gracie Dahl, who did wonderful work. There's more good stuff to come!

by Peter North

by Elena Thomas

by Robert Andrilla

by Lilith Winkler-Schor