Not many artists aspire to have their creations recycled. But for Jodie Sarah Masiwchuk, being in a disposable medium such as a newspaper would be a dream come true.
“My ultimate goal is to have them clipped out of a newspaper and put up on someone’s fridge … or lining the bottom of a birdcage,” said Masiwchuk, a local cartoonist.
The Kirkland stay-at-home mom is the creator of Suburban Sarah, an on-line cartoon about the everyday life of a suburban mother. The comic is featured on Masiwchuk’s Web site, but she also has bigger plans.
“I want to eventually compile a book and I already have the name ‘Never under estimate a bouquet of dandelions,'” said Masiwchuk. “My ultimate goal is to be syndicated and share it with everybody and anybody.”
Masiwchuk decided to quit her job as a graphic designer to be a stay-at-home mom when her son Jeremy, now 7, was born. But her passion for art and writing drew into cartooning.
Her start was a bit of a secret. She said that the inspiration came from a children’s book called The Dot, where a child is encouraged to draw even though he doesn’t think he can.
“I felt like I had nothing to lose cause I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it,” said Masiwchuk, who started by buying children’s books on drawing and cartooning books.
Masiwchuk finally showed friends and family her talent and was surprised by their positive reaction. She also knew she had something when a cable installer saw her work and liked it.
“I was surprised that an 18-year-old Comcast guy would get it,” said Maswichuk, whose Facebook group for Suburban Sarah has 545 friends.
Maswichuk said her inspiration comes from her everyday life. Despite the fact that her comics are not always flattering to the husband character, she said her husband Jeff loves her art. Recently, her son has gotten into cartooning and has his own strip called Blake’s Adventures. Blake is his middle name.
Approaching 40 has also pushed her to pursue her art, she says.
“What a great way to make a living,” said Maswichuk, who graduated from the University of Michigan with a general studies degree emphasizing in English, Art History and Linguistics. “I am not the greatest artist but comics are a marriage of art and writing.”
She said that her bank of 76 strips has come easily. She has a folder full of ideas written on napkins and envelopes among other things that she tries to keep organized. She is never at a loss for ideas, she says.
“If I could just will them to paper. You have to feed the daily beast,” said Maswichuk. “I am honored to feed it. And the research is even fun.”
People e-mail her about her comics from as far away as London and India.
“I am really flattered by how many people are touched by this,” she said, adding she receives many ideas for strips from her readers.
But she has also stayed to her own experiences to keep the comics personal.
“The comic strip is very close to my heart,” said Masiwchuk, whose cartoon character is described as a modern mom who used to be a working professional but spends her time raising her six-year-old son Jake and fretting about pushing 40 years old. “But Sarah can do things I would never do.”
In one strip, Sarah’s husband is thinking about the fact their son is learning about sportsmanship during a first-grade basketball game when he is interrupted by Sarah screaming at a referee.
“Hey Ref! When are you going to call some of these fouls?” The fictional Sarah says in the cartoon. “Do you get some kind of sick pleasure out of seeing first graders humiliated? Open your eyes you moron!”
Other cartoons depict such every-day events as going to the mall and coming home empty handed, Valentine’s Day gifts that every family thinks their mother wants, endurance without sleep compared to youth and when a suburban house wife gets dressed up. All of her comic strips are G-rated.
Masiwchuk will take her art on the road to the 17th annual Portland Women’s show Oct. 30-Nov. 1.
“It is kind of my self-imposed deadline to get things going,” said Masiwchuk, who will also take part in the Emerald City Comicon next year.
