Behind the Scenes at Stuart Ng Books: Your Guide to BTS – 2) Conventions and Wendling Connection (3.10.23)

Here is Your Guide to Behind the Scenes at SNB #2

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2) SNB -- CONVENTIONS AND WENDLING CONNECTION

CLAIRE WENDLING IN CALIFORNIA

The Stuart Ng Books - Claire Wendling connection dates back to 2005. That year, Claire was the featured artist at the annual Angouleme Festival of Bande Dessinee, the largest comics festival in Europe.
Prior to the 2005 festival, Stuart had discovered Wendling's work via her sketchbook of personal drawings "Desk" (first published in France; current edition published by Stuart Ng Books)....

http://stuartngbooks.com/wendling-desk.html

....and her award-winning art for the Bande Dessinee (or BD) series "Les Lumieres des Amalou" (written by Christophe Gibelin).

http://stuartngbooks.com/les-lumieres-de-lamalou-edition-integrale.html

Inspired to attend the 2005 festival for the chance to see a career retrospective of her work, and perhaps meet the artist, Stuart embarked on his first-ever trip to France. In fact, it was the first time he had ever traveled outside of the US. Stuart does not speak or read French. Fortunately for all of us, Claire and her charming husband and colleague Christian speak fluent English.
Even from those first meetings in the city cafes, Claire and Stuart spoke a common language of appreciation: for Claire's unique skills; and for Stuart's ability to bring her visionary talent to an ever-expanding US and worldwide community of peers and fans.
In the years that followed, Stuart's annual trips to Angouleme for the festival also included a visit with Claire and Christian... bringing them news and appreciation from her US fans ... and always talk of a hopeful visit by them to the US.

WENDLING IN CA - 2015

In 2015, on the 10th anniversary of the Claire Wendling-Stuart Ng connection, Claire was able to accept two long-offered invitations that Stuart had conveyed to her from mutual friends. Claire appeared as a special guest at the Big Wow comics convention in early April. She accepted an honorary doctorate and speaking engagements at the Academy of Art Universtiy in San Francisco in April and May. Photo below shows Claire and Stuart at Claire's table at Big Wow.

Here on the blog are a series of 6 posts with photos and behind the scenes highlights from this long-awaited return of Claire Wendling to her beloved California ... where she worked for Warner Bros Feature Animation in the 1990s.
Claire Wendling at Big Wow Convention (background post)
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2015/04/claire-wendling-at-big-wow-convention.html
Claire Wendling -- Highlights from Big Wow and speaking engagement at Academy of Art University
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2015/04/post-in-progress-claire-wendling.html
"animal" art show at Gnomon School (Claire attended and met with several of the artists)
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2015/05/animal-benefit-art-exhibition-at-gnomon.html
Paul Choy photos from Claire Wendling signing at SNB
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2015/05/paul-choy-photos-from-claire-wendling.html
Behind the Scenes at Wendling signing and CA visit
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2015/05/behind-scenes-at-wendling-visit-to-snb.html
Claire Wendling sketching at Big Wow, link to video by John Fleskes
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2015/05/claire-wendling-sketching-video-from.html

WENDING IN CA - 2016

Wendling was a featured guest at the 2016 CTNX Animation Expo. Here's link for an interview with her on the CTN website: http://tv.creativetalentnetwork.com/a-conversation-with-claire-wendling

3 posts on CTNX 2016 -- including this one w/info on Wendling book that debuted:

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2016/11/ctnx-2016-post-3-of-3-snb-at-parlor.html

CLAIRE WENDLING IN CA -- 2019

Wendling was a featured guest at the inaugural Lightbox Expo.

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/09/lightboxexpo2019-top-tier-talent-4-of-xx.html

She also had a signing at the SNB store in Torrance.

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/09/wendling-at-snb-store-sat-921-and-sat.html

LIGHTBOX EXPO -2020

The online version of Lightbox Expo exceeded expectations with its virtual Artist Alley and array of panels and programs that were recorded and available to re-watch. Here's first of 3 posts on the blog:

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2020/09/lightbox-expo-2020-friday-online.html

Views of the virtual artists alley...

sample of multi-artist "jam session"

LIGHTBOX EXPO -- 2019

September 2019 was the inagural Lightbox Expo at Pasadena Convention Center.

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/09/lightbox-expo-2019.html

Five posts here on the blog detailing this new convention and highlighting guests and exhibitors.

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/09/lightboxexpo2019-booths-and-tables-3-of.html

Lightbox Expo also hosts the annual Concept Art Awards. I was very grateful and proud when this community of elite industry professionals recognized Stuart with an important honor.

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/09/lightboxexpo2019-concept-art-awards-5.html

ANGOULEME AND FRANCE

Each year, Stuart recharges with travel to France to attend the largest Comics festival in Europe. It's held in the city of Angouleme, about 2 hours from Paris. During this trip, we get to reconnect with artist pals and colleagues.. and I often get to document my side trips to museums and other art reference adventures. While I used to attend annually, I have taken an indefinite sabbatical from intercontinental travel. You can find France related posts in the February posts of most years on the blog: http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2017/02/paris-2017-sites-and-recommendations_20.html

SNB at SAN DIEGO COMIC CON (SDCC)

Yes, Stuart Ng Books exhibited at Comic Con 2018 and 2019. However, I did not attend these years so there are no posts here on the blog.

5 POSTS ON BLOG FOR COMIC CON 2017

Views of the Exhibit Hall and around the convention... including links for the Blade Runner Experience interactive attraction.http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2017/07/comic-con-2017-1-of-5-stuart-ng-books.html

COMIC CON 2016

Six posts .. highlighting SNB booth.. Indie Artist Exhibitors....Pavilions, Toys and the Price of Popularity.. link for podcast on Exhibitor Tips for Artists.... Revisit the show starting with #1 of 6 http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2016/07/comic-con-2016-snb-booth.html

COMIC CON 2015

Comic Con 2015 Seven Posts in all on topics from SNB Booth to Cosplay .. to Marty Mouse Tour..to SDCC survival guide.. plus lots of links for commentary and photo albums. Start here for topic titles and links: http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2015/07/comic-con-2015-seven-posts-hundreds-of.html

CTNX

From the first CTN Animation Expo in 2009, Stuart Ng Books has been an annual exhibitor at this event. We missed out on 2019 because booths were sold out when Stuart went to sign up. Instead we enjoyed a more relaxed weekend just shopping and visiting with colleagues.
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/11/ctnx-2019.html

Posts on the November entries here on the blog over the years document this Expo's explosive growth. The 9 blog posts from 2011 show a range of activities and guests:

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2011/11/ctnx-2011-overview.html

Artist tables moved into the large outdoor tent in 2016.

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2016/11/ctnx-2016-post-2-of-3-artist-pavilion.html

An admission ticket to this large outdoor tent venue at the Expo is still a great way to meet many artists and buy directly from them.

WONDERCON

Blog posts document booths at WonderCon from its days in the Nor Cal San Francisco Bay Area through its transition to current location in So Cal at Anaheim Convention Center.

In 2009 we almost didn't make it --

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/our-wondercon-that-almost-wasnt-part-1.html

First blog posts of WonderCon at Anaheim are from 2014

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2014/04/wondercon-2014-snb-booth-and-beyond-1st_22.html

DESIGNERCON

Stuart rarely gets to exhibit at or attend this con, as it's on the same weekend at CNTX. However, many of our artist friends find exhibiting at DesignerCon is a good fit for them. I have posted on the blog about it on the times I've been able to attend.

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/11/designercon-2019.html

As an experiment, SNB was at both CTNX and DesignerCon in 2018 -- but we were stretched thin as you can see in this brief blog post

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2018/11/ctnx-and-designercon-2018-photos-added_24.html

This 2014 DesignerCon post shows it at the Pasadena Convention Center

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2014/11/designercon-2014-post-in-progress.html

EMERALD CITY COMIC CON

NEW YORK COMIC CON

Stuart attends these cons, but I haven't been to them, so no posts here yet.

SNB KNOWN FOR BOOKS SIGNED BY ARTISTS

Exhibiting at conventions and long-time personal relationships with artists are just some of the ways Stuart is able to provide signed copies of books for his patrons. He is also called on by studios and art schools to provide book sales for guest artist lectures. Signed copies allow SNB to carry some in-print titles from major publishers. Indie bookstores can't compete with the massive price-cuts on current books offered as loss-leaders by online giants. They are selling books at a loss. They don't care about books. They want your consumer dollars for all sorts of other purchases and services. Stuart wants to offer in-print books as a convenience for his patrons. So he adds the priceless benefit of the book having been in the hands of the artist and/or author. This way Stuart can offer the book at a reasonable price that covers his inventory expenses etc and helps deter outsiders from buying signed books from him just to flip them for higher prices online. Most of the signed copies Stuart stocks sell out right away. This is because they are going right into the collections of fans who treasure them. Win-win.

Signings at a convention...