Subject: aquarium
Title: unknown
Artist: Andrew Paavola
Date: unknown, c. 2000s
Size: 6 5/8″ x 7 3/8″
Media: color print on paper
Frame: blue thrift store wooden frame added by me, 11″ x 14″
I was at a suburban art fair in the park. One of the booths had art by Andrew Paavola, and I purchased this, because I like swimming and tentacles. And cartoons. So, this does not actually qualify as a second-hand thrift store find, except for the frame.
Paavola is the cartoonist of the comic strips, Bully, at GoComics.com, and Daisy. He also wrote wordless books, My Ball of Goo and Zeke. (1) Paavola is a freelance cartoonist and illustrator, and he attended Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. (2) It is entirely possible that I met the artist at the booth that day, but I don’t recall. The business card along with this print says, Art With Character, Huntsville, Ohio. In 2021, he travels with Carisa to art shows with an art booth, Otter Be Happy. They have a website and a Facebook page. (3)
This has three panels and two insets. The middle panel depicts reality, and has the largest area. Small round inserts bridge to the top and bottom panels. Initially, I read it as a comic strip from top to bottom. Panel: Kid is swimming with a friendly octopus. Inset: Happy kid is thinking. Panel: Amazed kid is looking at an aquarium. Inset: Octopus is thinking. Panel: Excited octopus is riding a motorbike with kid.
When you get to the lower inset and panel, you realize the octopus’ thought and desires mirror the kid’s. You reevaluate the center panel to see there are two equal characters, not just a viewing kid and subject octopus. Both have dreams and desires. Both imagine living in an impossible place where basic breathing would be a problem. Both wish to be friends sharing an adventure.
The kid and the octopus don’t seem to be named characters in Paavola’s other works. The kid works as a stand-in for me, or maybe the artist as a youth. In the end, I also identify with the octopus.
This artwork obviously is within the tradition of cartoons and comics. Black inked line drawings are filled with bright colors. Humorous exaggeration makes it very compelling to enter the fantastic imaginary world of these two.
I don’t remember what I paid for this. A 2012 picture from Otter Be Happy shows a larger framed version for over one-hundred dollars. (4) This print has the artist’s signature in the center panel and also under the bottom panel.
It seems like many of Paavola’s art works compare and contrast the elements of water and air. Here the denizens each press against the glass separating their dreams of camaraderie.
- My Ball of Goo, by Andrew Paavola, Jan. 2019, Issue 01., Silent Gem Comics.
- Comixology. https://www.comixology.com/Andrew-T-Paavola/comics-creator/198888
- Otter Be Happy. https://otterbehappy.com, https://www.facebook.com/Otter-Be-Happy-Studio-213500368754237/
- Otter Be Happy. https://www.facebook.com/213500368754237/photos/a.265038323600441/265043240266616/?type=3&theater
Rumpus Art Panel 